Web Author's Notes:
Website contributor H. Arlan Heiser provided images of the diary kept by his great grandfather Sgt. John Caskey Hall, Co. C. Along with many other contributions from Mr. Heiser, this website is extremely grateful to him for sharing his ancestor's diary, giving us another glimpse into the activities of the 16th Ohio and the people and times of the Civil War.

This page ends the diary kept by Sgt. Hall. Hall and the regiment arrived back in New Orleans on April 21, 1864. The regiment was then sent to Alexandria, Louisiana, on the Red River, arriving there on April 26, to support Gen. Nathaniel Banks' efforts to take Louisiana from the Confederates. The 16th Ohio helped build the famous "Bailey's Dam", which raised the level of the Red River and allowed the stranded Federal gunboat fleet to retreat back down the river to the safety of the Mississippi River. Gen. Banks' Union forces, including the 16th, retreated from Alexandria on May 13, abandoning the city back to the Rebels.

The 16th Ohio camped in various places along the Mississippi River near Morganza's Bend, Louisiana, participating in a number of patrols and skirmishes, until October 6 when the regiment was ordered to return home to Ohio for mustering out of the military. The regiment arrived at Camp Chase, Ohio (near Columbus) on October 14 and was mustered out on October 31, 1864.