April 13, 1863, The Daily Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia)
A terrible tornado passed over Bayou Teche, La., on the 29th ult. It swept over a tract only two hundred yards in breadth. The residence of Mr. Honore Dejean was lifted up and carried some distance, killing nearly all in it, including Mr. Dejean, Mrs. Dejean, Emile and Matilda, their daughters, Mrs. Zeringus and child, a young man and a colored boy. Oaks, five feet in diameter, were torn up and broken like flax. As it crossed the bayou, it overturned a forest of very large gum trees, all of which it rooted up or decapitated at different lengths from the ground, say from 15 to 30 feet, and, strange to say, they were the full length mentioned above, one half carried off and the other left standing.