Part 7 (1/2)

CAPTAIN RAYMOND paused, seemingly lost in thought. All waited in silence for a moment, then Violet, laying a hand on his arm, for she was seated close at his side, said with a loving smile into his eyes:

”My dear, I fear we have been tiring you.”

”Oh no, not at all!” he replied, coming out of his revery and taking possession of the pretty hand with a quiet air of owners.h.i.+p.

”I am sure n.o.body else is,” said Walter; ”so please go on, sir, won't you? and tell us all about the taking of the forts and the city.”

”I will,” replied the captain. ”By the way, I want to tell you about a powder boy on board of the _Varuna_, Oscar Peck, a lad of only thirteen years, who showed coolness and bravery which would have ent.i.tled a man to praise.

”Captain Boggs was very much pleased with him, and in his report to Farragut praised him warmly. He said that seeing the lad pa.s.s quickly he asked where he was going in such a hurry. 'To get a pa.s.sing box, sir,'

replied the lad; 'the other was smashed by a ball.' When the _Varuna_ went down Oscar disappeared. He had been standing by one of the guns and was thrown into the water by the movement of the vessel. But in a few minutes he was seen swimming toward the wreck. Captain Boggs was standing on a part of the s.h.i.+p that was still above water, when the lad climbed up by his side, gave the usual salute, and said, 'All right, sir, I report myself on board.'”

”Ah,” cried Walter exultantly, ”he was a plucky American boy! I'm proud of him.”

”Yes,” said the captain, ”and the more men and boys we have of a similar spirit the better for our dear land.

”But to go on with my story. Captain Bailey moved on up the river with his crippled vessel, the _Cayuga_, leaving the _Varuna_ to continue the fight at the forts.

”A short distance above Fort St. Philip was the Quarantine Station.

Opposite to it was a Confederate battery in charge of several companies of sharp-shooters, commanded by Colonel Szymanski, a Pole.

”On perceiving the approach of the _Cayuga_, they tried to flee, but a volley of canister-shot from her guns called a halt, and they were taken prisoners of war.

”By that time the battle at the forts was over and the remaining twelve s.h.i.+ps presently joined the _Cayuga_. Then the dead were carried ash.o.r.e and buried.”

”And where was Butler all this time, sir?” queried Walter.

”He had been busy preparing for his part of the work while the naval officers were doing theirs,” was the reply. ”His men were in the transports at the pa.s.ses and could hear distinctly the booming of the guns and mortars, but the general was at that time on the _Saxon_, which was following close in the rear of Bailey's division, until the plunging of shot and sh.e.l.l into the water around her warned Butler that he had gone far enough. He then ordered the _Saxon_ to drop a little astern, an order which was by no means disagreeable to her captain and was promptly obeyed, for he had on board eight hundred barrels of gunpowder; a dangerous cargo, indeed, when exposed to the fiery missiles of the enemy.”

”Wasn't it?” exclaimed Rosie.

”Where was Porter just then, sir?” asked Walter.

”He and his mortar fleet were still below the forts,” replied the captain, ”and just as Butler had ordered his vessel away from that dangerous spot, the rebel monitor _Mana.s.sas_ came moving down into the midst of his fleet. She had just been terribly pounded by the _Mississippi_ and was a helpless wreck, but that was not perceived at first, and some of the mortars opened fire upon her, but stopped when they saw what was her condition: her hull battered and pierced, her pipes twisted and riddled by shot, smoke pouring from every opening. In a few minutes her only gun went off, flames burst out from stern, trap-door, and bow port, and she went hissing to the bottom of the river.

”Butler now hurried to his transports and took them to Sable Island, twelve miles in the rear of Fort St. Philip. From there they went in small boats, through the narrow and shallow bayous, piloted by Lieutenant Weitzel. It was a most fatiguing journey, the men sometimes having to drag their boats through cold, muddy water waist deep. But the brave, patriotic fellows worked on with a will, and by the night of the 27th they were at the Quarantine, ready to begin the a.s.sault on Fort St.

Philip the next day, when they were landed under cover of the guns of the _Mississippi_ and the _Kineo_. Butler sent a small force to the other side of the river above Fort Jackson, which Porter had been pounding terribly with the sh.e.l.ls from his mortars. On the 26th, Porter sent a flag of truce with a demand for the surrender of the fort, saying that Farragut had reached New Orleans and taken possession.

”Colonel Higginson, the commander of the fort, replied that he had no official report of that surrender, and that until he should receive such he would not surrender the fort; he could not entertain such a proposition for a moment.

”On the same day, General Duncan, commander of the coast defences, but at that time in Fort Jackson, sent out an address to the soldiers, saying, 'The safety of New Orleans and the cause of the Southern Confederacy, our homes, families, and everything dear to man yet depend upon our exertions. We are just as capable of repelling the enemy to-day as we were before the bombardment.'

”Thus he urged them to fight on. But they did not all agree with the views he expressed. They could see the blackened fragments of vessels and other property strewing the waters of the river as it flowed swiftly by, and the sight convinced them of the truth of the report which had reached them of the fall of New Orleans. They had heard, too, of the arrival of Butler's troops in the rear of Fort St. Philip.

”Doubtless they talked it all over among themselves that night, as a large number of them mutinied, spiked the guns bearing up the river, and the next day went out and surrendered themselves to Butler's pickets on that side of the river, saying they had been impressed, and would not fight the government any longer. Their loss made the surrender of the fort a necessity, and Colonel Higginson accepted the generous terms offered him by Porter. He and Duncan went on board the _Harriet Lane_ and the terms of surrender were reduced to writing.

”While that was going on in her cabin, a dastardly deed was done by the Confederate officer Mitch.e.l.l, who, as I have said, commanded the battery called the _Louisiana_. It lay above the forts. He had it towed out into the strong current, set on fire and abandoned, leaving the guns all shotted, expecting she would float down and explode among Porter's mortar fleet; but a good Providence caused the explosion to come before she reached the fleet. It took place when she was abreast of Fort St.

Philip, and a soldier, one of its garrison, was killed by a flying fragment. Then she went to the bottom, and the rest of the Confederate steamers surrendered.