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steamer and several barges had passed through it; when the rapid fall
1 of the river closed it for the season.
A third and more determined effort to flank the defenses of
Vicksburg was made on the east side of the
Mississippi, by way of the “
Yazoo Pass;” which, leaving the great river a little below
Helena, flows through
Moon Lake into the
Coldwater, and down this stream into the
Tallahatchie, which, uniting with the
Yallobusha, forms the
Yazoo.
Brig.-Gen. L. F. Ross, with a division of
Gen. McClernand's corps from
Helena, and the 12th and 17th Missouri, of
Sherman's corps, headed this expedition, some 5,000 strong, which included the large gunboats
Chilicothe and
De Kalb, five smaller ones, and eighteen transports, under the command of
Lt. Watson Smith.
The passage through the levee of the
Mississippi having been considerably enlarged, our vessels in succession boldly entered on the narrow, tortuous, but now headlong current, which bore them under a gigantic, over-arching forest, into
Moon Lake, and thus onward to the
Coldwater.
So constant and formidable were the obstacles encountered, in the shape of abrupt turns, fallen trees, inadequate depth, and sturdy limbs that swept away smoke-stacks and other standing fixtures, that three days were required for this transit, though the distance was barely twelve miles. Of course, the
Rebels, who were fully and constantly posted, did not diminish these impediments, but were prone to aggravate them.
Proceeding
2 down the
Coldwater, the obstacles to be overcome were changed rather than diminished.
The channel was a little wider, but hardly less crooked, while its cur rent was sluggish; the impulse gained from the
Mississippi having been lost by a diffusion of the water over the swamps and bottoms on either side.
Two mortar-boats here overtook the flotilla; and the mouth of the
Coldwater was at length reached: our vessels having experienced some damage to rudders, wheels, and other works, but having encountered no serious resistance from the enemy; and with no vessel sunk or disabled.
Moving down the
Tallahatchie, to a sharp easterly bend ten miles above its junction with the Yallobusba, the expedition was brought
3 to a stand, just above the little village of
Greenwood.
Maj.-Gen. W. W. Loring had been dispatched
4 from
Jackson to the
Yazoo to bar any access by our forces to the valley of that river; and, having hastily studied its configuration and that of its chief tributaries, had chosen this as the point most favorable for resistance.
The meeting streams approach within a mile, two or three moles above their junction; receding directly afterward.
Loring, with his engineer,
Maj. Meriwether, had obstructed the
Tallahatchie by a raft,
5 with an old steamboat sunk behind it, and thrown a line of defenses, composed of cotton-bales and earth, across the neck of the peninsula; its best guns,