These were simple and short. The Confederate troops were drawn up in line, Gardner at their head, every officer in his place. The right of the line rested on the edge of the open plain south of the railway station; the left extended toward the village. At the word "Ground arms" from their tried commander, followed by the command of execution from the bugles, every Confederate soldier bowed his head and laid his musket on the ground in token of submission, while Gardner himself tendered his sword to Andrews, who, in a few complimentary words, waived its acceptance. At the same instant the Stars and Bars, the colors of the Confederacy, were hauled down from the flagstaff, where they had so long waived defiance; a detachment of sailors from the naval batteries sprang to the halyards and rapidly ran up the flag of the United States; the guns of Duryea's battery saluted the colors; the garrison filed off as prisoners of war, and all was over.
The last echo of the salute to the colors had hardly died away when Weitzel, at the head of the First Division, now for the first time united, marched off to the left, and began embarking on board the transports to go against Taylor.
With the place were taken 6,340 prisoners of war, of whom 405 were officers and 5,935 enlisted men. The men were paroled with the exact observance of all the forms prescribed by the cartel then in form; yet the paroles were immediately declared void by the Confederate government, and the men were required to return to duty in the ranks. The officers, in accordance with the retaliatory orders of the period, had to be kept in captivity; they were, however, given the choice of their place of confinement. About 211 elected to go to Memphis, and were accordingly sent up the river a few days after the surrender, the remainder were sent to New Orleans with instructions to Emory to keep them safely under guard in some commodious house or houses, to be selected by him, and to make them as comfortable as practicable.(4) There were also captured 20 pieces of light artillery and 31 pieces of field artillery; of these 12 heavy guns and 30 light guns were in comparatively good order.
The total losses of the Corps during the siege were 45 officers and 663 men killed, 191 officers and 3,145 men wounded, 12 officers and 307 men captured or missing; in all, 4,363. Very few prisoners were taken by the Confederates, and little doubt remains that a large proportion of those set down as captured or missing in reality perished.