E. Kirby Smith to Samuel Cooper, June 4, 1863

General S. CooPER, ; Adjutant and Inspector General, 0. S. Army, Richmond, Va. :

GENERAL: I have tne honor to forward Brigadier-General Mouton’s report of his operations in Lower Louisiana.* General Mouton was pushed beyond the Caleasieu by the enemy’s advance. At Niblett’s Bluff I re-enforced him with three regiments of Texas cavalry and a battery of field artillery, ordering him to operate by the Opelousas prairies on General Banks’ flank and rear. When the enemy fell back toward Berwick Bay and Bayou Sara, for their attack on Port Hudson, General Mouton was ordered into the La Fourche country, and was instructed to seize Donaldsonville and threaten their communication with New Orleans. The result of his operations has not yet been heard from.

very respectfully, your obedient servant,