Up the steep hill they trudged, sweating in the sticky June heat, staggering under the weight of the coffin, the white flag of truce flying before them in the hot summer sun.  The guns of their federal gunboat, the USS Albatross, anchored in the Mississippi off Bayou Sara, fell silent behind them as the ship's surgeon and two officers struggled toward St. Francisville atop the hill.
   The procession was not an impressive one, certainly not an unusual event in the midst of a bloody war, and it would no doubt have escaped all notice but for one fact... this was the day the war stopped, if only for a few mournful moments.
   It was June 12, 1863, and the Siege of Port Hudson was pitting 

under Union Commander Banks, fighting over the all-important control of traffic on the Mississippi River.
   Port Hudson and Vicksburg were the only rebel strongholds left along the Mississippi, and if the Union forces could wrest from them control of the river traffic, they could cut off supplies from the west and completely surround the Confederacy.
   Admiral David  Farragur had attempted to destroy Confederate cannons atop the bluffs from the river, but of his seven ships, four were turned back, and one was completely destroyed, and his flagship and the USS Albatross passed upriver safely, leaving ground troops to fight it out for nearly another month.

  the federal commander of the Albatross, had just the week before posted a touching letter to his wife, left behind with their young son Elliott in Schenectady, New York.  Praising his little boat for getting through the fearsome firing from the batteries atop the bluffs at Port Hudson, Commander Hart promises after the war to take his wife on a trip down the river to see the famous battlefields.  As he writes he can  hear the cannons booming to the 

And he answered none.  And just then Kitty, ship's mouser, produced kittens which Hart insisted become part of the official report.... important to note the wartime births as well as the all too-often deaths. 
   A valiant naval officer who's skill and bravery were renown, Commander Hart would have even more lasting impact through his death, which occurred as the Albatross lay at anchor near Bayou Sara, having shelled both that low-lying port settlement and the city of St. Francisville atop the bluffs.  Masonic and Naval records list Hart as having "suicided," died by his own hand "in a fit of delirium".  Perhaps he suffered from dementia induced by yellow fever, for a mere four days earlier he had certainly exhibited no depression or despair in his letter home.  At any rate, Hart most certainly died.  

desirous of burying their commander ashore rather than consigning the remains to the river waters.  A boat was sent from Albatross under flag of truce to ascertain if there were any Masons in the town of St. Francisville.  Now it just so happened that the two White brothers living near the river were masons, and they informed the little delegation that there was indeed a Masonic Lodge in the town, in fact one of the oldest in the state, Feliciana Lodge No. 31 F and AM.  It's Grand Masters was absent, serving in the Confederate Army and it's Senior Warden,  W.W Leake was likewise engaged.  But according to Masonic correspondence, "Brother Leake's headquarters were in the saddle".   He was reported to be in the vicinity, and was soon found and persuaded to honor the request.  As a soldier, Leake reportedly said, he considered it his duty to permit burial of the armed forces of any government, even one presently at war with his own, and as a Mason, he knew it to be his duty to accord Masonic burial to the remains of a brother Mason without taking into account the nature of their relations in the outer world. 
   The surgeon and officers of the USS Albatross,  struggling up from the river with Hart's body, were met by W.W. Leake, the White brothers, and a few other members of the Masonic lodge. In the procession was also a squad of Marines at trail arms.  They were met at Grace Episcopal Church by the Reverend Mr. Lewis, rector, and with full Episcopal and Masonic services, Commander John E. Hart was laid to rest in the Masonic burial lot in Grace's peaceful cemetery, respect being paid by

  And soon after the war resumed.  Lee's northern invasion turned back at Gettysburg  July 3, Vicksburg falling July 4, and Port Hudson finally surrendering July 9, all in one catastrophic week.  
   But for one brief touching moment, the war had stopped in St. Francisville, and Masonic Brotherhood overcame War.

(This article is a reprint written by Anne Butler, for the St. Fransicville Democrat on June 25, 1998)