Part 15 (2/2)

When Porter had waited a short time at the appointed place of meeting for Banks's army a messenger reached him with news of that General's defeat and his hurried retreat. Porter saw that it would not do for him to delay an hour. He had had great difficulty in getting his fifty vessels up the narrow stream, whose current was falling so rapidly that it already appeared impossible to get the fleet past the snags and shoals to the point of safety two hundred miles below.

Improving every moment and under a continual fire from the sh.o.r.e, Porter managed to descend something more than half way down the river to Grand Ecore, where he found Banks and his demoralized army. Porter advised the commander to remain where he was until the spring rains would enable the fleet to ascend the river again, but Banks was too frightened to do anything but retreat, and he kept it up until he arrived at New Orleans.

The river fell so rapidly that all the fleet would have been stranded above the falls but for the genius of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, of Wisconsin, a military engineer who accompanied Banks's expedition.

Under his direction several thousand men were set to work, and, at the end of twelve days, they had constructed a series of wing dams, through which the vessels were safely floated into the deeper water below the falls. This accomplished their deliverance from what otherwise would have been certain destruction. Porter p.r.o.nounced the exploit of Bailey the greatest engineering feat of the whole war. One of the Admiral's most pleasing traits was his appreciation of the services of his a.s.sistants. He complimented Bailey in glowing terms in his official report, secured his promotion to brigadier-general and presented him with a sword which cost nearly a thousand dollars.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BREAKING THROUGH THE DAMS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.]

Porter was now transferred to the North Atlantic Squadron and commanded the powerful naval contingents in the two attacks on Fort Fisher, December, 1864, and January, 1865. In the latter Porter and General Terry succeeded in capturing the last important sea fortress belonging to the Confederates. Porter was promoted to be vice-admiral in 1866 and admiral in 1870. He was superintendent of the naval academy until 1869, and died in Was.h.i.+ngton, February 13, 1891, one day before the death of General Sherman.

CHAPTER XXV.

Charles Stuart Boggs--His Coolness in the Presence of Danger--His Desperate Fight Below New Orleans--His Subsequent Services.

When the gallant Lawrence, mortally wounded on the _Chesapeake_, was dying, he called out in his delirium, ”Don't give up the s.h.i.+p!” thus furnis.h.i.+ng a motto that has served times without number for the American navy. Among the mourning relatives left by Lawrence was a married sister, Mrs. Boggs, who lived in New Brunswick, N.J., where a son was born to her in January, 1811, and named Charles Stuart.

It was probably the admiration formed for his heroic uncle which led the boy to determine to follow in his footsteps, for he was appointed a mids.h.i.+pman when fifteen years old, and saw active service in the Mediterranean against the Greek pirates, to which reference has been made in a previous chapter. He was made lieutenant in 1833. One of the most marked traits in young Boggs was his perfect coolness in times of peril and his instant perception of the best thing to do. The following incident will ill.u.s.trate this remarkable power on his part, which was united to a gentleness of disposition that made one wonder at his daring and intrepidity.

During the war with Mexico Lieutenant Boggs was ordered to the steamer _Princeton_, which took a leading part in the bombardment of the Castle of St. Juan de Ulloa and of Tampico. The brig _Truxton_ unfortunately ran aground on the bar of Tuspan River and had to be surrendered to the Mexicans. The _Princeton_ was ordered to destroy her. Anchoring near the wreck, a boat was manned and placed in charge of Lieutenant Boggs, to whom the work of destruction was intrusted.

The boat had nearly reached the stranded vessel when it was caught in one of the tropical tempests, which sometimes appear with cyclonic suddenness in that part of the world. It was impossible to board the wreck, and equally impossible to get back to the _Princeton_. A powerful current set in toward sh.o.r.e, in which direction the gale was blowing.

The combined efforts of the st.u.r.dy rowers could not check the progress of the boat, which perhaps would have been the right course to take but for an alarming discovery.

On the beach a company of Mexican soldiers were drawn up with a field piece, making ready to annihilate the little American company, as they could do without the slightest difficulty before the gallant sailors could land and make a charge. Here was a dilemma indeed. Nothing could extricate the boat and its crew from their peril and not a man could raise a finger to help himself.

There was only one person who saw the only possible thing to do.

Lieutenant Boggs ordered the single white s.h.i.+rt in the party to be torn up, tied on the end of a boathook and displayed as a flag of truce.

Then, by his directions, the men rowed with all speed straight for the enemy, who were thus disarmed of their hostile purpose. Walking up to the leader of the company, the lieutenant explained that he had been sent to destroy the _Truxton_, but had been driven ash.o.r.e against his will. He hastened to explain to the officer that he had no intention of attacking the town, but he should do so if any one tried to prevent his destruction of the stranded vessel.

When the insignificance of the American party is remembered, there was something amusing in this; but the Mexican officer not only gave his promise, but entertained his visitors until the gale was over. Then the _Truxton_ was fired and Boggs returned to his s.h.i.+p.

He was on the Pacific coast when the Civil War broke out, serving as inspector of lighthouses. Chafing under idleness, he pet.i.tioned the Government to give him active employment afloat. His wish was granted and he was placed in command of the _Varuna_, a pa.s.senger steamer, purchased by the Government and changed into a gunboat. Admiral Farragut was making his preparations to attack New Orleans, and the _Varuna_ was added to his fleet. She was a very swift but frail craft, a fact which led Farragut to grant Boggs' request to be allowed to run ahead of the position that had been a.s.signed him.

In order to get up all the steam possible, the pork among the s.h.i.+p's store was flung into the blazing furnace under the boilers. The craft went through the water at a tremendous speed, and upon coming opposite the forts, Boggs fired his starboard battery and then ordered grape and canister to be used as rapidly as possible. Work had hardly begun when the Confederate gunboats appeared on every hand. With the same coolness that he had shown when driven ash.o.r.e in Mexico, the command was given for the guns to be fired ”on both sides.” Indeed, there were so many targets that it would have been about as difficult to miss as to hit one.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ATTACK ON ROANOKE ISLAND--LANDING OF THE TROOPS.]

The _Varuna_ did terrific work, her gunners displaying fine markmans.h.i.+p.

The formidable craft _Governor Moore_ had detected her in the early morning light, and steaming after her, fired a shot when only a hundred yards away, but missed. The _Varuna_ replied, killing and wounding men on the _Governor Moore_ at every shot. One of the enemy's shot, however, raked the _Varuna_, killing four men and wounding nine.

Another struck the _Varuna's_ pivot gun and killed and wounded a number more. Then the _Governor Moore_ rammed the _Varuna_ twice in quick succession.

But while the Confederate was doing so, Boggs planted three 8-inch sh.e.l.ls into his antagonist, which set her on fire and compelled her to drop out of action. Her loss had been heavy and her engines were so battered that her commander ran her ash.o.r.e, where she was burned to the water's edge.

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