Cruise of the U.S. Flag-Ship Hartford – From the Personal Journal of Wm. C. Holton.

April 18th. Warm weather; nothing worthy of mention has occurred during these twenty-four hours; at anchor off mouth of Red River. Col. Ackelon’s plantation and residence a little distance ahead of us on the left bank of the river; it is a beautiful place; the Colonel I believe to be a good Union man; the Admiral’s, Captain’s, and ward room and forward officer’s table are supplied with the fruits and vegetables of the season, grown upon his place. I believe he has five inland plantations, making, with the one fronting upon the river, six, and is very wealthy; he owns at least one thousand negroes; he is afflicted with the gout; is a man in the prime of life, and a cripple; he owns a beautiful mansion in Nashville, Tenn., which his wife is living in at present; our officers have often gone ashore and dined with him, and he has been on board and paid his respects to Admiral Farragut and Commodore Palmer several times; be has also been so kind as to allow us to bury some of our men who have been so unfortunate as to get killed by the enemy, or die of fever contracted in this southern clime.