[
159]
General Gibson estimated the loss of his whole command at 93 killed, 45 wounded and 250 captured, out of a total of less than 2,000.
Said
Gibson, in closing his report: ‘
Lieut. A. G. Clark of my staff, commandant of the post, was killed while charging at the head of the garrison guard to dislodge the enemy when he had turned the left flank.
Louisiana has not lost during the war a truer man or a more thorough-going soldier.
The list might be prolonged, for we left behind, filling soldiers' graves, many of the bravest and the best; and if any credit shall attach to the defense of
Spanish Fort, it be. longs to the heroes whose sleep shall no more be disturbed by the cannon's roar.
“ On May 8th, upon the occasion of the surrender of
General Taylor,
General Gibson issued an address to the
Louisiana brigade, in which he said: ” There is nothing in your career to look back upon with regret.
You have always been in front of the enemy; you have never feasted in soft places in the rear, nor fought your battles at comfortable firesides.
Your banners are garlanded with the emblems of every soldierly virtue.
More than twenty battlefields have seen them unfurled.
They were never lowered save over the bier of a fallen comrade.
Forget not the good and true men who have fallen. ... Comrades, henceforth other duties will devolve upon you. Adversities can only strengthen the ties that bind you to your country and increase the obligations you owe to her interests and her honor.
As soldiers you have been among the bravest and most steadfast, and as citizens be law-abiding, peaceable and industrious.
You have not surrendered and will never surrender your self-respect and love of country.’
Taylor, in his new department, without a strong army, was as much a problem in the field as he had been when with Stonewall Jackson in the valley of Virginia, or teaching Banks the art of war in West Louisiana.
On May 8, 1865, he surrendered to General Canby at Citronelle, 40 miles north of Mobile.
