Part 7 (1/2)

At the same time, the effect was to intensify the desire to act--to redeeht upon his command; and the state of affairs elsewhere on the river was beco such as to justify enterprise by the reasonable hope of substantial results A series of circumstances which have been often narrated, and nowhere in amanner than by General Grant in his personal memoirs, had led to the abandon by the Ar the Mississippi Central Railroad

Instead of this original plan of can, the Mississippi River was now adopted as the line of advance and of co this new line had been ht with him 32,000 troops, and on the 26th of Deceround between theOn the 29th the army assaulted the works on the hills before them, but were repulsed

Sher to be carried, had deterht of the eneher up the Yazoo; but the heavy rains which characterized the winter of 1862-'63 in the Mississippi Valley round on which the troops were, and it became necessary to re-embark them The transports were then moved out into the Mississippi, where they were joined by General McClernand, the senior general officer in the department under Grant himself

McClernand now decided to attack Arkansas Post, on the Arkansas River, which enters the Mississippi fro The Post was primarily intended to close the Arkansas and the approach to the capital of the State of the sah fifty miles from the mouth of the river, it was, by the course of the streaarrison, being five thousand strong, was thus dangerously placed to threaten the communications by the latter river, upon which the arn; and it had already given evidence of the fact by the capture of a valuable transport This post was reduced on the 11th of January, and McClernand next day started troops up the White River, a tributary of the Arkansas Fronore that Vicksburg and the Mississippi were the objective of the can, McClernand was speedily and pere absolutely no confidence in the capacity of his senior subordinate, could dispossess hi it hily did, and on the 30th of January joined the ar the west bank of the river above Vicksburg

Serious action on the part of the arorous character there could be no doubt, though his conspicuous ability was not yet fully recognized, was evidently at hand; and this circumstance, by itself alone, iiving the substantially to the great common end Never in the history of combined movements has there been more hearty co-operation between the arn of 1863, under the leadershi+p of Grant and Porter From the nature of the enemy's positions their forcible reduction was necessarily in the main the task of the land forces; but that the latter were able to exert their full strength, unweakened, and without anxiety as to their long line of co, was due to the incessant vigilance and activity of the Mississippi flotilla, which grudged neither pains nor hard knocks to support every movement But, besides the care of our own communications, there was the no less i up those of the enemy Of these, the most important ith the States west of the Mississippi Not to speak of cereals and sugar, Texas alone, in the Southwest, produced an abundance of vigorous beef cattle fit for food; and from no other part of the seceded States could the armies on the east banks of the Mississippi be adequately supplied

Bordering, moreover, upon Mexico, and separated from it only by a shoal river into which the United States shi+ps could not penetrate, there poured across that line quantities of h the Mexican port of Matamoras a safe entry, everywhere else closed to them by the sea-board blockade For the transit of these the nuhty Red River, offered peculiar facilities The principal burden of breaking up these lines of supply was thrown upon the navy by the character of the scene of operations--by its nureat river itself, and by the overflow of the land, which, in its deluged condition during the winter, effectually prevented the ut saw his opportunity, as well as that of the upper river flotilla To wrest the control of the Mississippi out of the enereat ain; until that could be effected, the patrol of the section between Vicksburg and Port Hudson would ut pondered long and anxiously He clearly recognized the advantage of this service, but he also knew the difficulties involved inhis necessary communications, and, above all, his coal At no time did the enemy cease their annoyance from the river banks Constant brushes took place between their flying batteries and the different gunboats on patrol duty; a kind of guerrilla warfare, which did not cease even with the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, but naturally attained its greatest ani in the balance The gunboats could repel such attacks, though they were often roughly handled, and several valuable officers lost their lives; but not being able to pursue, the mere frustration of a particular attack did not help to break up a systereat annoyance Only a force able to follow--in other words, troops--could suppress the evil ”You will no doubt hear more,” the admiral writes on the 1st of February, 1863, ”of 'Why don't Farragut's fleet move up the river?' Tell theut waits upon Banks as to when or where he will go”

Still, even while thus dancing attendance upon a so; so that when occasion arose he was, as always, ready for immediate action--had no unforeseen decision toof the day (about January 20th) that I reported to him at New Orleans,” writes Admiral Jenkins, ”he sent everybody out of the cabin, and said: 'I wish to have some confidential talk with you upon a subject which I have had intime I have never hinted it to any one, nor does the departhts The first object to be accomplished, which led me to think seriously about it, is to cripple the Southern ar off their supplies from Texas Texas at this time is, and must continue to the end of the war to be, their main dependence for beef cattle, sheep, and Indian corn If we can get a few vessels above Port Hudson the thing will not be an entire failure, and I am pretty confident it can be done'”

Jenkins naturally suggested that the co-operation of the army by an active advance at the same time would materially assist the atte in entire conformity with his own opinion; and several intervieere held, without, however, their leading to any definite promise on the part of General Banks

Meanti the mortar flotilla had been appointed to the co rear-adut the i and Port Hudson In the , and had since then been actively supporting the various undertakings of the land forces Three days after Grant joined the army, on the 2d of February, the ra batteries from above, and successfully reached the river below Ten days later, Porter sent on one of his newest ironclads, the Indianola, whicheven hit, although twenty minutes under fire The latter vessel took with her two coal barges; and as the experies loose above the batteries, and trusting to the current to carry them down to the Queen of the West, the question of supplies was looked upon as settled The Indianola was very heavily arht her capable of ainst her

Unfortunately, on the 14th of February, two days only after the Indianola got down, the Queen of the West was run ashore under a battery and allowed to fall alive into the hands of the enemy The latter at once repaired the prize, and, when ready, started in pursuit of the Indianola with it and two other steamers; one of which was a ram, the other a cotton-protected boat filled with riflemen There was also with them a tender, which does not appear to have taken part in the fight On the night of February 24th the pursuers overtook the Indianola, and a sharp action ensued; but the strength of the current and her oieldiness placed the United States vessel at a disadvantage, which her superior arht, counterbalance She was ra condition, her commander ran her on the bank and surrendered This put an end to Porter's attempts to secure that part of the river by a detachh when the Queen of the West was sent doas much marred by the loss of that vessel; and the subsequent capture of the Indianola transferred so much power into the hands of the Confederates, that control could only be contested by a force which he could not then afford to risk

The up-river squadron having failed to secure the coveted command of the river, and, besides, transferred to the eneut felt that the tirowing more and more restless, more and more discontented with his own inactivity, when such an i to be done The news of the Queen of the West's capture made him still more uneasy; but when that was followed by the loss of the Indianola, his decision was taken at once ”The time has come,” he said to Captain Jenkins; ”there can be no o--army or no ar the assistance which the squadron would derive in its attempt to pass the batteries from a demonstration made by the army The permanent works at Port Hudson then mounted nineteen heavy cannon, many of them rifled; but there were reported to be in addition as many as thirty-five field-pieces, which, at the distance the fleet would have to pass, would be very effective If the army made a serious diversion in the rear, ut's purpose to run by did not transpire The advantage to be gained by this naval enterprise was so eneral could scarcely refuse, and he proht or ten thousand troops

On the 12th of March, within a fortnight after hearing of the Indianola affair, Farragut was off Baton Rouge On the 14th he anchored just above Profit's Island, seven miles below Port Hudson, where were already assembled a number of the mortar schooners, under the protection of the ironclad Essex, forht with hi shi+ps, unfitted for blockade duty by their indifferent speed, but carrying heavy batteries If the greater part got by, they would present a force calculated to clear the river of every hostile steamer and absolutely prevent any considerable a transferred from one shore to the other

For the purpose of this passage Farragut adopted a soain used at Mobile, and which presents particular advantages when there are eneed Three of his vessels were screw steae and battery; three others coht He directed, therefore, that each of the former should take one of the latter on the side opposite to the eneuns as possible, on the unengaged side, free for use in case of necessity In this way the s the offensive power of the larger Not only so; in case of injury to the boilers or engines of one, it was hoped that those of her consort h To equalize conditions, to the slowest of the big shi+ps was given the e was obtained in this fight, as at Mobile, froement of the vessels in pairs, which will be mentioned at the time of its occurrence The seventh shi+p at Port Hudson, the Mississippi, was a very large side-wheel steauards of her wheel-houses, she was chosen as the odd one to whoned

[Illustration: ORDER OF ATTACK ON BATTERIES AT PORT HUDSON, MARCH 14, 1863

A Hartford (flag-shi+p), Captain James S Palmer _a_ Albatross, Lieut-Com John E Hart B Richmond, Commander James Alden _b_ Genesee, Coahela, Captain J P McKinstry _c_ Kineo, Lieut-Com

John Waters D Mississippi, Captain Melancton Smith E Essex, Commander C H B Caldwell F Sachem, Act Vol Lieut Amos Johnson G G Mortar schooners H Spot where Mississippi grounded]

Going up the river toward Port Hudson the course is nearly north; then a bend is reached of over ninety degrees, so that afterthe turn the course for some distance is west-southwest The town is on the east side, just below the bend From it the batteries extended a hty to a hundred feet high

Between the two reaches, and opposite to the town, is a low, narrow point, froerous shoal makes out The channel runs close to the east bank

The squadron ree above Profit's Island but a few hours, waiting for the cover of night Shortly before 10 P M it got under way, ranged as follows: Hartford, Richside, the Mississippi bringing up the rear Just as they were fairly starting a steahts and -shi+p slowed down, and the new arrival caeneral that the army was then encamped about five miles in rear of the Port Hudson batteries

Irritated by a delay, which served only to attract the enemy's attention and to assure himself that no diversion was to be expected from the army, the admiral was heard to e for all the good he is doing us” At the same moment the east bank of the river was lit up, and on the opposite point huge bonfires kindled to illulect of which by the enee of the lower forts

The shi+ps nowto the force of the current At 11 P M the Hartford had already passed the lower batteries, when the enemy threw up rockets and opened fire This was returned not only by the advancing shi+ps, but also by the ironclad Essex and the mortar schooners, which had been stationed to cover the passage

The night was calm and damp, and the cannonade soon raised a dense s the shi+ps fro their movements far -shi+p, being in the advance, drew soh even she had fro to enable the pilot to see Herthe pilot in thetube to comely attributed her safety; but the vessels in the rear found it i their way after their leader Had the course to be traversed been a straight line, the difficulty would have been much less; but to make so sharp a turn as awaited the obscurity As the Hartford atteht her on the port boung her head round toward the batteries, and nearly threw her on shore, her steine and that of the Albatross, her consort, were then brought into play as an oars the other; that of the Albatross was backed, while that of the Hartford went ahead strong In this way their heads were pointed up streah clear; but they were the only ones who effected the passage

The Richmond, which followed next, had reached the bend and was about to turn when a plunging shot upset both safety valves, allowing so ines could not be efficiently worked

Thinking that the Genesee, her companion, could not alone pull the two vessels by, the captain of the Richahela, third in the line, ran on the shoal opposite to the toith so side of her, tore loose froround for twenty-fiveher off She then atteain to run the batteries, but when near the turn a crank-pin becaeable, she drifted down strea lost six killed and twenty-one wounded The Mississippi also struck on the shoal, close to the bend, when she was going very fast, and defied every effort to get her off After working for thirty-fivethat the other shi+ps had passed off the scene leaving her unsupported, while three batteries had her range and were hulling her constantly, the co officer ordered her to be set on fire The three boats that alone were left capable of floating were used to land the crew on the west bank; the sick and wounded being first taken, the captain and first lieutenant leaving the shi+p last She re, when she floated and drifted down strea clear of the vessels below At half-past five she blew up Out of a shi+p's company of two hundred and ninety-seven, sixty-four were found , of whom twenty-five were believed to be killed

In his dispatch to the Navy Department, written the second day after this affair, the adain to report disaster to a part of his command A disaster indeed it was, but not of the kind which he had lately had to coain”

see it The stern resolution hich the Hartford herself was handled, and the steadiness hich she and her companion renched out of the very jaws of destruction, offer a consummate example of professional conduct; while the fate of the Mississippi, deplorable as the loss of so fine a vessel was, gave rise to a display of that coolness and efficiency in the face of ier which illustrate the annals of a navy as nobly as do the most successful deeds of heroism

Nevertheless, it must be admitted that the failure to pass the batteries, by nearly three fourths of the force which the adht necessary to take with him, constituted a very serious check to the operations he had projected Fro is over two hundred miles; and while the two shi+ps he still had were sufficient to blockade the mouth of the Red River--the chief line by which supplies reached the enemy--they could not maintain over the entire district the watchfulness necessary wholly to intercept communication between the two shores Neither could they for the briefest period abandon their station at the river'san opportunity to the eneent necessities which forced hie of stores From the repulse of five out of the seven shi+ps detailed for the control of the river, it resulted that the enemy's communications, on a line absolutely vital to hiic importance, were impeded only, not broken off It becomes, therefore, of interest to inquire whether this failure can be attributed to any oversight or e--in the tactical dispositions, to use the technical phrase In this, as in every case, those dispositions should be conformed to the object to be attained and to the obstacles which must be overcome