[
551]
Naval operations in the Vicksburg campaign.
By the 1st of July, 1862, the
Mississippi had been traversed by the fleet of
Davis from
Cairo down, and by that of
Farragut from the Passes up, and the only point where the
Confederates retained a strong foothold was at
Vicksburg.
The objects of the river operations were to establish communication from the
Ohio to the
Gulf, and to cut off the important supplies drawn by the
Confederacy from
Arkansas,
Louisiana, and
Texas.
The commanders of the Mississippi squadron during this period were, first,
Charles Henry Davis, and later,
David D. Porter, the transfer of the command taking place October 15th, 1862.
The operations of the navy at this time were unique in maritime warfare in the energy and originality with which complex conditions were met.
After the defeat of
Montgomery's flotilla at
Memphis, on the 6th of June, by the combined forces of
Flag-Officer Davis and
Colonel Ellet [see Vol.
I., pp. 449-459], the Mississippi squadron remained at
Memphis for three weeks. Immediately after the battle
Davis had formed the project of sending a force up the
Arkansas and
White rivers to cut off the
Confederate gun-boats which were supposed to have taken refuge there, among them the
Van Dorn, the only vessel remaining of
Montgomery's flotilla.
Davis did not know that the
Van Dorn had made her way into the
Yazoo.
There were, however, two Confederate gun-boats in
White River, the
Maurepas and
Pontchartrain, which had previously been in the flotilla of
Hollins at
Island Number10--the former under
Lieutenant Joseph Fry and the latter under
Lieutenant John W. Dunnington.
On the 10th
Davis received a telegram from
General Halleck urging him to open communication by way of
Jacksonport with
General Curtis, then moving through
Arkansas toward the
Mississippi.
Davis accordingly altered his plan, and directed that the expedition should confine its operations to the
White River.
The force detached for the purpose was composed of the iron-clads
Mound City and
St. Louis, and the wooden gun-boats
Conestoga and
Tyler, under
Commander A. H. Kilty, of the
Mound City, and the 46th Indiana,
Colonel Graham N. Fitch.
Ascending the
White River, the expedition arrived on the evening of the 16th in the neighborhood of
St. Charles, ninety miles from the mouth.
[See map, p. 442.]
Anticipating this movement,
Hindman had taken steps to obstruct the channel at this point, where the first bluffs touch the river.
One hundred men, under
Captain A. M. Williams, C. S. Engineers, were the only force which could be spared for the defense of the place, and their only arms were thirty-five
Enfield rifles which
Hindman had impounded at
Memphis.
Lieutenant Dunnington had placed two rifled 32-pounders in battery on the bluffs, and had manned them with part of the crew of the
Pontchartrain.
Finally,
Fry had stationed the
Maurepas in the river below.
[
552]
The approach of
Kilty's gun-boats was first discovered on the afternoon of June 16th.
Expecting an immediate attack,
Fry placed the
Maurepas across the stream and prepared to defend her. Finding that the gun-boats remained below,
Fry now landed his guns and scuttled his ship, sinking her across the channel.
Two transports also were sunk, and the imperfect obstruction thus created was completed about daylight.
During the night a small rifled Parrott gun was placed in position four hundred yards below
Dunnington's battery, under
Midshipman F. M. Roby. Two rifled
Parrott 8-pounders were also moved up soon after daylight, and placed near
Roby's gun, and the three guns were manned by the crew of the
Maurepas, and fought personally by
Fry, the senior officer present.
Below this second battery
Captain Williams was stationed with his thirty-five men, those without arms having been sent to the rear.
He was presently reinforced by the 12-pounder howitzer from the
Maurepas, manned by some of her crew.
The total force under
Fry's command comprised the men with
Williams, and 79 seamen from the two gun-boats,--in all, 114 persons, to resist the attack of
Fitch's Indiana regiment, and four gun-boats, two of them iron-clads.
Rarely has it happened to such a feeble force to accomplish so much by a determined resistance.
Early on the morning of June 17th the troops landed about two miles below the bluffs.
At half-past 8 the gun-boats advanced to the attack, the
Mound City ahead, followed closely by the
St. Louis, the
Lexington and the
Conestoga bringing up the rear.
They moved slowly, endeavoring to discover the enemy's position, but in total ignorance of the whereabouts of his guns, which were covered by the trees and bushes on the bluffs.
About 9 o'clock
Williams's men were engaged by
Fitch's skirmishers.
The firing disclosed the enemy's advanced position, and the gun-boats opened a heavy fire of grape and shell upon it, compelling
Williams to fall back.
Fry's battery of four light guns, manned by the crew of the
Maurepas, now became engaged with the gun-boats.
At 10
Dunnington opened with his rifled 32-pounders.
Kilty had now to some extent made out the location of the
Confederate guns, and, moving up, replied with a rapid fire, aimed carefully in what was supposed to be the direction of the batteries, the vessel taking a position at point-blank range from both of them.
At the same time
Fitch sent word to him that the troops were ready to storm the batteries, unless he desired to silence them with the gun-boats.
Kilty, unfortunately for himself and his crew, gallantly decided on the latter course.
The
Mound City had been in position less than half an hour, about 600 yards from the batteries, when one of the 32-pounder rifle shot, directed by the skillful and experienced eye of
Lieutenant Dunnington, penetrated the port casemate of the
Mound City just forward of the armor, or, as
Colonel Fitch rather comically described it in his report, “the larboard forequarter of the gun-boat,” and, after killing 8 men at the gun, struck the steam-drum, and went through it directly fore and aft. At the time, the
Mound City was turning her wheel over slowly, and, being in slack water, the wheel kept on turning until the steam was exhausted, and the boat slowly forged ahead, running her nose directly under the battery.
Lieutenant Blodgett immediately
[
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ran up in the
Conestoga, with great gallantry, and making fast to the
Mound City, towed her away from the bank and out of action.
Fitch, seeing the catastrophe, and apprehensive lest another fortunate shot from the enemy should deprive him of his support afloat, gave the signal to cease firing, and assaulted the works simultaneously in front and in flank.
They were quickly carried;
Dunnington and
Williams made good their retreat, but
Fry, who was badly wounded, was taken prisoner with about thirty of his men.
General Hindman reported the
Confederate loss as 6 killed, 1 wounded, and 8 missing.
The scene on board the
Mound City, upon the explosion of the steam-drum, was beyond description.
The gun-deck was at once filled with scalding steam, and many of the crew were instantly killed,--literally cooked alive.
Others, in an agony of pain, jumped into the water, where they were shot at by sharp-shooters from the bluff, under orders from
Dunnington and
Williams.
The boats from the other vessels put off at once to the rescue, and were riddled with shot while picking up their comrades.
Out of 175 officers and men on board the
Mound City, only 23 answered to their names at the roll-call that evening, and these were men and boys that were in the shell-room and magazine when the explosion took place.
The only officers unhurt were
Dominy, the
first master, and
McElroy, the gunner.
Eighty-two men perished in the casemate, 43 were killed in the water or drowned, and 25 were severely wounded.
The latter, among whom was the gallant
Kilty, were sent at once to
Memphis in the
Conestoga.
The
Mound City remained at
St. Charles, under
First Master John H. Duble, of the
Conestoga, with a crew of one hundred of
Fitch's men, her injuries being temporarily repaired.
The expedition continued up
White River as far as Crooked Point Cut-off, 63 miles above
St. Charles, where the gun-boats were compelled to turn back by the falling of the water.
Halleck and
Grant meantime had decided to increase
Fitch's command by the addition of two regiments, which sailed for
White River on the 26th of June, under convoy of the
Conestoga.
Commander John A. Winslow, of
Kearsarge-Alabama fame, who was at this time in command of the forces afloat in
White River, was ordered to give additional convoy as far up as the state of the water would permit.
The bulk of the naval force was then withdrawn, the
Lexington remaining to support
Fitch in his subsequent operations up the river.
Curtis reached
Helena on the 13th of July without communicating with the gun-boats.
[See p. 445.]
During the months of May and June, 1862,
Farragut's fleet had been slowly working up from New Orleans, receiving the surrender of the principal cities on the way, and having an occasional encounter with the Confederate batteries along the river.
None of the latter were at this time of any great importance, although those at
Grand Gulf inflicted some damage on two of the gun-boats which attacked them on June 9th.
No serious obstruction, however, to the passage of the river from
Cairo to the sea now existed, except at
Vicksburg.
The advance division of
Farragut's squadron under
Commander Lee in the
Oneida had summoned
Vicksburg to surrender on the 18th of May, but had met with a refusal.
Farragut, arriving soon after, held a consultation with
[
554]
General Williams, who commanded a small detachment of
Butler's army, and the two came to the conclusion that they had not enough men to make an attempt on
Vicksburg with any hope of success, and
Farragut went back to New Orleans.
Soon after,
Farragut received pressing instructions from the Navy Department to attack
Vicksburg, and in consequence returned up the river with his squadron, the mortar-boats under
Porter, and 3000 troops under
Williams.
On the night of the 26th of June
Porter placed his mortar-boats in position, nine on the eastern and eight on the western bank, the latter, as at New Orleans, being dressed with bushes to prevent an accurate determination of their position.
The next day they opened upon
Vicksburg.
On the 28th
Farragut passed the batteries
with all the vessels of his fleet, except the
Brooklyn,
Katahdin, and
Kennebec, which dropped back, owing to a too rigid adherence to their original orders.
No impression of any consequence was made on the forts, nor were the ships materially injured, notwithstanding the great advantage which the forts possessed in their plunging fire.
The
Hartford was principally damaged by the battery above the town, which was able to rake a passing ship in a position from which the latter could not reply.
Farragut, in his report of July 2d, sums up the situation with the phrase:
The forts can be passed, and we have done it, and can do it again as often as may be required of us. It will not, however, be an easy matter for us to do more than silence the batteries for a time, as long as the enemy has a large force behind the hills to prevent our landing and holding the place.
While
Farragut with the Western Gulf Squadron, so called, was passing the batteries at
Vicksburg, the
Mississippi flotilla was still at
Memphis, except the rams now commanded by
Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred W. Ellet, which had left
Memphis about the 20th, and arrived above
Vicksburg on the afternoon of the 24th.
Here
Ellet opened communication with
Farragut across the neck of land opposite
Vicksburg.
Farragut replied, suggesting the cooperation of
Davis's iron-clads.
Davis received this message at
Memphis on the 28th, and the next day started down the river.
During the interval,
Ellet's audacity was rewarded by another extraordinary success.
Taking the
Monarch and the
Lancaster, the latter under Charles Rivers Ellet, a mere boy nineteen years of age, he steamed fifty miles up the
Yazoo River.
Ellet was in perfect ignorance of what he might find there, whether batteries, gun-boats,
[
555]
or torpedoes.
His rams carried no armament.
As a matter of fact there were at the time in the river two of
Hollins's former fleet, the
Polk and the
Livingston, and the last of
Montgomery's vessels, the
Van Dorn.
These were tied up abreast of a battery at Liverpool Landing, and above them was a barrier made from a raft.
The
Arkansas was at
Yazoo City above the barrier, completing her preparations.
The officer in charge at Liverpool Landing,
Commander Robert F. Pinkney, on the approach of the rams set fire to his three gun-boats, and the purpose of
Ellet's visit being thus easily accomplished, he withdrew again to the
Mississippi.
1
Davis arrived above
Vicksburg on the 1st of July, and joined
Farragut with four gun-boats and six mortar-boats.
The fleets remained here at anchor for several days, while the army was attempting to make a cut-off across the neck of the land opposite
Vicksburg, and thus create a new channel out of range of the batteries on the bluffs.
During this time
Porter continued his daily bombardment.
Beyond this nothing was attempted, there being no force of troops to make it worth while.
While matters were in this condition, it was resolved between the two
flag-officers that a detachment of gun-boats should make a reconnoissance in force up the
Yazoo River.
The shoalness and narrowness of the stream led them to take vessels of the upper squadron in preference to those of the lower, and the following were selected: the
Carondelet,
Commander Henry Walke;
Tyler,
Lieutenant William Gwin, and
Queen of the West.
The
Arkansas, an armored ram with a heavy battery, was known to be up the river, and
Farragut in his report mentions her as one of the objects of investigation.
The engagement that followed has been the subject of much discussion [see p. 572]. The
Queen of the West, which had no weapons except her ram and the muskets of the sharp-shooters, and possibly a borrowed howitzer, immediately proceeded down the river.
The
Tyler, a very vulnerable wooden gun-boat, also retreated, placing herself under the protection of the
Carondelet.
The latter therefore became the principal antagonist of the Confederate ram. It now became a question for
Walke of the
Carondelet to decide whether he would advance to meet the
Arkansas bows on, trusting to the skillful management of the helm to avoid a ram-thrust, or would retreat, engaging her with his stern guns.
He chose the latter course.
2
[
556]
 |
|
The Confederate ram “Arkansas” running through the Union fleet at Vicksburg, July 15, 1862. |
The
Arkansas was decidedly the superior vessel.
Apart from the fact that she was larger, and had at the beginning of the contest somewhat greater speed, she had a more efficient battery, and a far more complete and impenetrable armor protection.
Indeed the Eads gun-boats, of which the
Carondelet was one, were by no means fully armored, their two and one-half inch plating on the casemate covering only the forward end and that part of the sides abreast of the machinery.
The stern was not armored at all. The side armor had no heavy backing, and such as it was could only ward off a shot directly abeam.
It was by no means a complete protection to the boilers, as was shown in the catastrophe at
St. Charles.
The
Arkansas on the other hand had three inches of
railroad iron surrounding her casemate, with a heavy backing of timber and cotton bales.
She had, besides, her ram, which experience had shown was a weapon much to be dreaded.
However, the position adopted by
Walke was the one which, by exposing his weakest point, gave the enemy the benefit of his superiority.
The
Carondelet, instead of presenting her armored bow, armed with three rifled guns, 30, 50, and 70 pounders, presented her unarmored stern, armed with two smooth-bore 32-pounders.
That she escaped total destruction in the running fight of an hour or so that ensued with the two 8-inch guns in the
Arkansas's bow is little short of a miracle.
Walke made a very good fight of it, and both he and
Gwin of the
Tyler, who pluckily supported the
Carondelet, inflicted much injury on their antagonist, riddling her smoke-stack so as nearly to destroy her speed, wounding her captain twice, damaging her wheel, and killing her
Yazoo pilot.
When near the mouth of the river, the
Carondelet's
[
557]
steering gear was disabled and she ran in close to the bank, where the water was too shoal for the
Arkansas to follow her. The latter, therefore, passed her, the two vessels exchanging broadsides, and the
Arkansas continued on her course to
Vicksburg.
Her approach caught the two flag-officers fairly napping.
Notwithstanding their knowledge of her presence in the
Yazoo, and the heavy firing that had been heard for more than an hour, there was, out of the combined fleet of twenty vessels or thereabouts, but one that had steam up, the captured ram
General Bragg, and she did nothing.
The
Arkansas dashed boldly through the mass of clustered vessels, receiving the broadside of each ship as she passed, and delivering her fire rapidly in return.
Her audacity was rewarded by success, for though she was badly battered, she was neither stopped nor disabled.
On the other hand, her shot, penetrating the boiler of the ram
Lancaster, used up that vessel and caused considerable loss of life among her crew.
The
Benton,
Davis's flagship, got under way after
Brown had passed, and followed him “at her usual snail's pace,” to borrow
Davis's phrase, without overtaking him. In a few minutes the
Arkansas was under the guns of
Vicksburg.
A week before, on the 7th of July,
Farragut had written to the department that he hoped “soon to have the pleasure of recording the combined attack by army and navy, for which we all so ardently long.”
In the course of the week that had elapsed these hopes had been pretty well extinguished.
The canal had turned out a failure, and the prospect that a considerable force of troops would arrive had been growing every day more remote.
Before the
Arkansas made her appearance, therefore,
Farragut had already been meditating a return down the river, and the falling of the water and the prevalence of sickness in his crews admonished him to hasten.
He also wished to damage the
Arkansas in the rush by, so as to recover in some measure the prestige lost through her successful passage of the fleet.
Preparations were therefore made for the descent on that very afternoon.
Already on the 10th
Porter had left his station below
Vicksburg with twelve of his mortar-boats, which were to be sent round to the
James River.
Most of the gun-boats of the mortar-flotilla went with him to tow the schooners down.
The force that remained was composed of six mortar-schooners, under
Commander W. B. Renshaw, with the ferry-boat
Westfield.
On the afternoon of the 15th these were moved up into position on the west bank of the river (with the exception of one, the
Sidney C. Jones, which had run on shore and was blown up), and by half-past 3 they were engaged with the batteries.
Davis, in the river above, also stationed three of his vessels, the
Benton,
Louisville, and
Cincinnati, in position to attack the upper batteries, and to aid in covering
Farragut's passage.
Toward 7 in the evening the fleet got under way, consisting of the four sloops, the
Hartford,
Richmond,
Oneida, and
Iroquois, four gun-boats, and the ram
Sumter, which
Davis had lent for the special purpose of attacking the
Arkansas.
The fleet made a gallant dash past the batteries, meeting with little loss, but the attack on the
Arkansas was a failure, for she had shifted her position and could not be readily distinguished
[
558]
by the flashes of the guns.
A single 11-inch shot, however, reached tie ram and inflicted very serious injury, especially to the engine.
Early on the morning of the 22d,
Farragut's reunited squadron being now at anchor below
Vicksburg, another attempt was made on the
Arkansas.
While the upper and the lower fleets were drawing the fire of the batteries in their neighborhood, the
Essex, under
Commodore William D. Porter, started down the river, followed by the
Queen of the West,
Lieutenant-Colonel A. W. Ellet.
The crew of the
Arkansas was small, but they were skillfully handled.
The assailants tried to ram her in succession, but as each came on the beak of the
Confederate was turned toward them, and they only succeeded in giving a glancing blow, and, sheering off, ran on the bank.
Extricating themselves with difficulty, they withdrew as rapidly as they could from their perilous position, the
Essex going below and the
Queen, temporarily disabled, resuming her station with the upper squadron.
One shot from the
Essex did serious damage on board the
Arkansas.
The
Essex and
Sumter were now permanently detained below
Vicksburg.
Shortly after the last engagement
Farragut sailed down the river with
Williams and his troops.
Davis had expected
Farragut's departure, but he had relied on the occupation by the land forces of the point opposite
Vicksburg, by which he communicated with his vessels below.
As these had now departed, nothing could be gained by staying longer in the neighborhood.
Davis accordingly withdrew to
Helena, and for the next four months
Vicksburg was left unmolested.
Williams remained at
Baton Rouge, with the
Essex,
Kineo,
Katahdin, and
Sumter, while
Farragut continued to New Orleans with the rest of his fleet.
At daylight on the 5th of August,
Baton Rouge was unsuccessfully attacked by the
Confederates under
General John C. Breckinridge, and on the 6th the
Arkansas was destroyed.
[See pp. 579 and 583.] The remaining events of the summer of 1862 were of little importance.
Early in August a reconnoissance showed that the
White River had fallen three feet and was impracticable for gun-boats.
Later in the month a more important expedition was sent down the river.
It was composed of the
Benton,
Mound City, and
Bragg, together with four of
Ellet's rams, the
Switzerland,
Monarch,
Samson, and
Lioness, all under
Lieutenant-Commander Phelps, with a detachment of troops under
Colonel Charles R. Woods.
At
Milliken's Bend, thirty miles above
Vicksburg, the Confederate transport steamer
Fairplay was captured, loaded with a heavy cargo of arms and ammunition.
The gun-boats then penetrated far up the
Yazoo River, and two of the rams even ascended the
Sunflower for twenty miles. When the expedition returned to
Helena, it had destroyed or captured a vast quantity of military supplies.
It taught the
Confederates a lesson, however, and it was a long time before the Federal fleet could again enter the
Yazoo with impunity.
The experience of the gun-boats in the
White River showed the necessity of obtaining light-draught vessels for service in the uncertain channels of the tributaries of the
Mississippi, and each additional operation in these rivers
[
559]
confirmed the impression.
As early as the 27th of June
Davis had urgently recommended this step, and his recommendations, sustained by the earnest appeals of other officers, resulted in the creation of the “tin-clads,” or “light-draughts,” which during the next year performed invaluable service.
On the 15th of October
Davis was relieved of this command, having been appointed Chief of the Bureau of Navigation at the Navy Department.
He was succeeded by
Porter.
Two important and much-needed changes in organization took place about this time, the first being the formal transfer of the squadron on the 1st of October from the War Department, under which it had first come into existence, to the Navy Department, which henceforth exercised exclusive direction of it. The second was the order of the
Secretary of War of November 8th, directing
Ellet to report “for orders and duty” to
Porter.
These two changes made the vessels in the
Mississippi for the first time a homogeneous naval force, and swept away all the complications of command which had hitherto vexed and harassed its commander-in-chief.
Porter, as acting rear-admiral, assumed command of the Mississippi squadron at the naval depot at
Cairo, which was now the headquarters.
He received from
Davis intact the squadron as it had come from
Foote — the
Benton, the seven
Eads iron-clads, and the three
Rodgers gun-boats.
He had also
Ellet's nine rams and several very valuable captured vessels, including the
Eastport, and
Montgomery's rams captured at
Memphis — the
Bragg,
Pillow,
Price, and
Little Rebel.
The only vessels that had been withdrawn were the
Essex and
Sumter, now in the river below
Vicksburg.
Porter was also getting at this very time an accession to his force in the new tin-elads,--the
Brilliant,
Rattler,
Romeo,
Juliet,
Marmora,
Signal, and others,--and an equally important accession of iron-clads, the
Lafayette and
Choctaw, altered steam-boats of great power, and the newly (and rather badly) constructed boats,
Chillicothe,
Indianola, and
Tuscumbia.
On the 21st of November
Porter issued orders from
Cairo to
Captain Henry Walke, then in command of the gun-boats patrolling the river below
Helena, to enter the
Yazoo and destroy the batteries as far up as possible.
Accordingly, on the 11th of December the
Marmora and
Signal entered the river for twenty miles. They found that in the interval since
Phelps's raid in August, the
Confederates had been by no means idle.
The channel was full of scows and floats, indicating torpedoes, one of which exploded near the
Signal, while another was discharged by musket-balls from the
Marmora.
Next day, as the river was rising, the light-draughts went in again, supported by two iron-clads, the
Cairo,
Lieutenant-Commander T. O. Selfridge, and the
Pittsburgh,
Lieutenant Hoel.
The
Queen of the West also went in. About a dozen miles up, the
Cairo was struck by two torpedoes, one exploding under her bow, the other under her quarter.
She sank in twelve minutes, disappearing completely save the tops of her smoke-stacks.
The discipline of the crew was perfect, the men remaining at quarters until they were ordered away, and no lives were lost.
Several torpedoes were removed before the expedition returned to the mouth of the river.
The object of both these expeditions was to prepare for the attack on
[
560]
Chickasaw Bluffs.
On December 23d,
Porter, who had now come down from
Cairo, went up the
Yazoo with the
Benton,
Tyler, and
Lexington, three tin-clads, and two rams.
By three days incessant labor, under musketry fire from the banks, the fleet worked up to a point within range of the enemy's heavy batteries at Haynes's Bluff, whose fire the
Benton sustained for two hours. The ship was not much damaged, but her commander,
Gwin, one of the best officers in the squadron, was mortally wounded.
After the failure of the army at that point (December 29th) came the expedition against
Arkansas Post.
The vessels detailed by
Porter for this movement were the iron-clads
De Kalb,
Lieutenant-Commander John G. Walker,
Louisville,
Lieutenant-Commander Elias K. Owen, and
Cincinnati,
Lieutenant George M. Bache; the ram
Monarch,
Colonel C. R. Ellet; the gun-boats
Black Hawk,
Lieutenant-Commander K. R. Breese, and
Tyler,
Lieutenant-Commander James W. Shirk; and the tin-clads,
Rattler,
Lieutenant-Commander Watson Smith, and
Glide,
Lieutenant S. E. Woodworth.
McClernand's force, comprising
Sherman's and
Morgan's corps, accompanied the fleet in transports.
As a feint the vessels ascended the
White River, crossing over to the
Arkansas by the cut-off.
On the 9th of January the army landed three miles below the fort.
Fort Hindman was a square bastioned work, standing at a bend of the river, sufficiently high to command the surrounding country.
It was commanded by
Lieutenant Dunnington, who had done such good service at
St. Charles, and defended by troops under
General Churchill.
On the side facing the river were three casemates, two of them at the angles containing each a 9-inch gun, and the intermediate one an 8-inch. On the opposite side the approaches were defended by a line of trenches a mile in length, beginning at the fort and terminating in an impassable swamp.
[See map and cuts, pp. 452, 453.] In the main work and in the trenches were mounted fourteen lighter pieces, several of them rifled.
Two or three outlying works were built on the levee below the fort, but these were exposed to an enfilading fire from the gun-boats, and at the first attack by the latter were promptly abandoned.
On the afternoon and night of the 10th, the army marched up past the abandoned outworks, and took position about one thousand yards from the fort.
On the afternoon of the same day the three iron-clads advanced to within 300 or 400 yards of the fort and opened with their heavy guns.
When they had become hotly engaged,
Porter moved up the
Black Hawk and the
Lexington, together with the light-draughts, which threw in a destructive fire of shrapnel and rifle-shells.
When the guns on the river-side had been partly silenced,
Lieutenant-Commander Smith in the
Rattler was ordered to pass the fort and enfilade it, which he did in a very gallant and handsome manner.
The
Rattler suffered somewhat, being raked by a heavy shell, and having her cabin knocked to pieces.
After passing the fort she was entangled in the snags above and obliged to return.
As night came on and the troops were not yet in position, the vessels were withdrawn, and tied up to the bank below.
[
561]
The next day at 1 o'clock the army was reported ready, and the fleet moved up to a second attack.
The same disposition was made of the vessels.
All of the casemate-guns were silenced, No. 3, which was in the casemate assigned to the
Cincinnati, being reduced to a complete wreck.
At the same time the troops gradually advanced, and were just preparing for a final assault, when white flags were run up all along the works.
Lieutenant Dunnington surrendered to
Porter, and
General Churchill to
McClernand.
On the 30th of January
Grant assumed command of the army before Vicks-burg.
The enemy's right flank rested on the
Yazoo Valley, a vast tract of partly overflowed country, oval in shape, two hundred miles long, and intersected by innumerable streams and bayous.
This oval valley was bounded by the
Mississippi on the west, and on the north, east, and south by what was in reality one long stream, known in its successive parts as the
Coldwater,
Tallahatchie, and
Yazoo rivers.
The bounding streams made the valley almost an island, the only break in their continuity being at the northern end of the valley, at
Yazoo Pass, a bayou which had formerly connected the
Coldwater with the
Mississippi, but which had been closed by the erection of a levee several years before.
The greater part of the valley was impassable for troops, and the streams were deemed impassable for vessels.
The district was a rich storehouse of Confederate supplies, which were carried in small vessels through obscure passages and channels to
Yazoo City, and thence to
Vicksburg.
At
Yazoo City also, protected from assault by torpedoes and by the forts at Haynes's Bluff, was a large navy-yard, where several gun-boats were in course of erection.
Porter's plan was to cut the levee at
Yazoo Pass, thus restoring the entrance and raising the water in the rivers, and by this means to get in the rear of
Yazoo City before the enemy could prepare his defenses.
Involving, as it did, a circuit of some two hundred miles through the tributary streams in the enemy's country, it was an audacious and original conception, but still a sagacious piece of naval strategy.
General Grant adopted the plan, and on the 2d of February the work of cutting the levee was begun by
Colonel James Harrison Wilson of the
Engineers.
On the evening of the 3d a mine was exploded in the remaining portion of the embankment, and the waters of the
Mississippi rushed through in a torrent, cutting a passage forty yards wide, and sweeping everything before them.
The difference in the levels was eight or nine feet, and some days elapsed before the new entrance was practicable for vessels.
The first reconnoissance developed the fact that the
Confederates had already been vigilant enough to block the way to the
Coldwater by felling trees on the banks of the
Pass.
The removal of these occasioned a further delay of two weeks, when time was of great importance.
The naval expedition, which was commanded by
Lieutenant-Commander Watson Smith, was composed of two iron-clads, the
Chillicothe,
Lieutenant-Commander James P. Foster, and the
DeKalb,
Lieutenant-Commander John G. Walker, and the tin-clads
Rattler,
Forest Rose,
Romeo,
Marmora,
Signal, and
Petrel.
To these were added two vessels of the ram fleet, the
Fulton and
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Lioness.
The only troops at first ordered to accompany the vessels were four thousand men comprising the division under
Brigadier-General L. F. Ross, which, being delayed by the want of boats, only left
Helena on the 23d, arriving a week later at the
Coldwater.
Meantime, as the feasibility of the project became more apparent,
Grant enlarged his plan, and
McPherson's corps,
about 30,000 men, was ordered up, but, owing to delays, only a small part of this force under
Brigadier-General I. F. Quinby took part in the movement.
On the 28th of February
Smith's flotilla reached the
Coldwater.
Notwithstanding the work which had been done by the army pioneers in removing obstructions, the progress of the flotilla had been excessively slow,--hardly more than three miles a day. The tortuous windings of the stream, which imposed the utmost caution on the vessels navigating them in a swift
[
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current, and the overhanging branches of the dense growth of trees lining the banks, which damaged the smoke-stacks and light upper works, made the passage slow and difficult, and caused a number of mishaps.
There appears to be little doubt, however, that if the gun-boats had been pushed they might have got on considerably faster, perhaps with a saving of three or four days. In the
Coldwater they made better time, though still moving slowly, and they only reached the
Tallahatchie on the 6th of March.
After four days more of rather dilatory navigation, they arrived at the junction of the
Tallahatchie and the
Yazoo.
The transports were close behind them.
The Confederates had put to the fullest use the time given them by
Smith's dilatory advance.
A hastily constructed work of earth and cotton bales, called
Fort Pemberton, was thrown up at the junction of the
Tallahatchie and
Yazoo, and though barely completed when the gun-boats arrived, it was armed and garrisoned, and in condition to receive them.
The old
Star of the West, of
Fort Sumter fame, was sunk in the river as an obstruction.
[See p. 550.] The
Chillicothe and
DeKalb attacked the fort on three different days, but their guns alone were not enough to reduce it, and the troops under
Ross could find no firm ground for a landing.
The
Chillicothe was badly racked by the enemy's fire, showing plainly her defective construction.
Smith, who had started on the expedition in failing health, was now sent back in the
Rattler (he died shortly after), and the command of the vessels fell to
Foster of the
Chillicothe.
Finding that nothing more could be accomplished,
Foster decided to return.
On the way back he met
General Quinby's troops descending the
Tallahatchie, and at that officer's request steamed down again to
Fort Pemberton.
On the 5th of April the expedition withdrew, and on the 10th arrived in the
Mississippi, about two months after it had started.
About the middle of March, before the
Yazoo Pass expedition returned,
Porter decided to try another route, through a series of narrow streams and bayous which made a circuitous connection between the
Mississippi and the
Sunflower, a tributary of the
Yazoo River.
Steele's Bayou was a sluggish stream which entered the
Mississippi a few miles above the mouth of the
Yazoo.
Black Bayou, which was little better than a narrow ditch, connected
Steele's Bayou with
Deer Creek, a tortuous river with a difficult and shallow channel.
A second lateral bayou, called
Rolling Fork, connected
Deer Creek with the
Sunflower.
From
Rolling Fork the way was easy, but the difficulties of reaching that point were such that no commander with less than
Porter's indefatigable energy and audacious readiness to take risks that promised a bare chance of success, would have ventured on the expedition.
The flotilla, consisting of the remaining five
Eads gun-boats, the
Carondelet,
Cincinnati,
Louisville,
Mound City, and
Pittsburgh, started on the 14th of March,
Porter commanding in person, while a cooperating detachment of troops under
Sherman marched through the swamps.
After overcoming obstacles that would have been insurmountable to almost any other commander, it arrived early at
Rolling Fork.
Here
Porter was attacked by a small force, which was evidently only the advance-guard of a large army on
[
564]
its way up from
Vicksburg.
Sherman could not come to his assistance, being himself entangled in the swamp.
At the same time
Porter learned that detached parties of the enemy were felling trees in his rear, which would shortly render the bayous impassable, and place his five iron-clads in a position from which they could not be extricated.
Under these circumstances, he wisely abandoned all thought of farther advance, and after dropping down
Deer Creek until he fell in with the army, he succeeded, notwithstanding the additional obstructions which had been placed in the rivers, in retracing his course; and on the 24th of March, after almost incredible difficulties, his iron-clads arrived safe in the
Mississippi.
While the two expeditions were at work in the
Yazoo Valley, a series of detached operations had been going on below
Vicksburg.
The portion of the river that was virtually held by the enemy, from
Vicksburg to
Port Hudson, included the outlet of the
Red River, by which provisions and stores from
Louisiana and
Texas, arms and ammunition from the
Rio Grande, and detachments of men, were forwarded through the trans-
Mississippi country.
On the 2d of February
Porter sent the
Queen of the West, under
Colonel Charles R. Ellet, to the
Red River.
Her passage of the
Vicksburg batteries alone and by daylight — for her start had been delayed for necessary repairs — was made in the true
Ellet fashion.
She was struck thrice before she got abreast of the town.
At this point she turned and delivered a ram-thrust at the enemy's steamer
Vicksburg, which lay at one of the wharves, and damaged her badly; a second attempt to ram was prevented by a conflagration in the cotton bales which
Ellet had placed around his deck.
These were quickly pitched overboard, the ram dashed past the lower batteries, and though struck a dozen times by the enemy's shot, in an hour or two she was ready for active operations and started down the river.
For once the
Confederates were fairly taken by surprise, and before they knew of his approach,
Ellet had run down one hundred miles to the
Red River and pounced upon three heavily laden store-ships.
These were burned, and the
Queen, ascending again until near
Vicksburg, coaled from a barge which
Porter had set adrift the night before, and which had passed the batteries without mishap.
A tender was also found in the
De Soto, a little ferry-boat captured by the army.
With her the
Queen started on February 10th on a second raid, burning and destroying as occasion offered.
Without meeting any serious opposition, this novel expedition proceeded down the
Mississippi, up the
Red River, down the
Atchafalaya, and back again, then farther up the
Red River.
The Confederate ram
Webb, which was regarded as its most dangerous antagonist, was nowhere to be seen.
But the catastrophe was coming.
On the 14th, some fifty miles from the river-mouth,
Ellet captured a transport, the
Era No. 5.
Leaving her at this point, the
Queen hastened up again, followed by the
De Soto, but in rounding a bend of the river she ran aground under a 4-gun battery, whose fire made havoc with her, finally cutting her steam-pipe.
Part of the crew made for the
De Soto in a boat, and the remainder,
Ellet among them, jumped overboard on cotton bales, and drifted down the stream.
Upon reaching the
Era, the
De Soto,
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which had lost her rudder, was burned, the floating contingent was picked up, and the prize, now manned by the crews of the abandoned vessels, made her way to the
Mississippi.
Shortly before this
Porter had sent down the iron-clad
Indianola, under
Lieutenant-Commander George Brown, to support
Ellet in his isolated position.
She had passed
Vicksburg and
Warrenton at night without a scratch, and descending the river met the
Era coming up. Both vessels continued on their way, the
Era to
Vicksburg, and the
Indianola to the mouth of
Red River, where she lay for three days. She then moved up toward
Vicksburg, the two coal barges which she had brought with her being lashed alongside.
While she was working slowly up, the
Confederates, who had meantime repaired the
Queen, fitted out an expedition composed of their prize, together with the
Webb and two cotton-clad steamers.
These followed the
Indianola and overtook her a short distance below
Warrenton.
Engaging
her at night, which gave them peculiar advantages, they succeeded in ramming her seven times, disabling her steering gear, and opening at last one great hole in her side.
The Union vessel, reduced to a sinking condition, was then run ashore and surrendered.
A day or two later,
Porter, whose buoyancy of spirit never deserted him, set adrift from his anchorage a dummy-monitor, constructed out of a coal-barge surmounted by barrels.
The incident was in the nature of a stupendous joke, but it had very practical results.
The dummy passed the
Vicksburg batteries under a terrific fire.
When the
Queen of the West, acting as a picket to the grounded
Indianola, saw this new antagonist coming she only stopped to give the alarm, and fled down the river.
The supposed monitor stuck fast a mile or two above the
Indianola, but the Confederate officer in charge of the work on board the latter did not wait for an attack, but set fire to the recent prize, which was in great part destroyed.
[
566]
Less than three weeks after, on the 14th of March,
Farragut ran the batteries at
Port Hudson.
3 Most of his fleet, including the
Richmond,
Monongahela,
Genesee, and
Kineo, failed to get through, and the
Mississippi was burnt;
4 but the
Hartford and
Albatross made the passage, and, coming up to
Vicksburg, communicated with the vessels above.
At
Farragut's request,
General Ellet sent two of his rams, the
Lancaster and
Switzerland, to join the
Hartford.
The
Lancaster was sunk in passing the batteries, but the
Switzerland managed to get through.
From this time the
Union forces retained control of the mouth of the
Red River and the adjacent waters of the
Mississippi.
The navy was now called upon to cooperate with
General Grant's plan of attacking
Vicksburg by the left and rear.
Porter rapidly made his preparations to descend the river, and on the night of April 16th started with seven of his iron-clads, the
Benton,
Lafayette, and
Tuscumbia, and the Eads gun-boats
Carondelet,
Louisville,
Mound City, and
Pittsburgh.
The ram
General Price and three transports laden with stores accompanied the fleet.
The passage was one of the most brilliant and successful of the many dashes of this kind that were made on the river.
Some of the vessels lost the coal-barges which they carried alongside, and all met with various mischances and damages, but the only casualty of importance was the sinking of one of the transports.
About a week later six more transports ran the batteries.
Of these also one was sunk.
From now on to the
fall of Vicksburg, for over two months,
Porter was in command of three detached fleets, acting from three distinct bases of operation--one the squadron which had remained above
Vicksburg, and which was
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567]
now to operate along the
Yazoo River, the second that which had passed the batteries and was occupied with the river from
Vicksburg 25 miles or more to
Grand Gulf, and the third the vessels in
Red River.
Porter moved from one to the other as occasion required.
His first duty lay at
Grand Gulf, which was really the southern extremity of the
Vicksburg forts.
The batteries were well armed, and one hundred or more feet above the river.
On the 29th of April the seven iron-clads of the lower fleet engaged them for four hours, silencing them, but not destroying the guns.
As the elevation of the batteries made it impossible for the fleet to capture them, the army was landed lower down the river, which resulted in the evacuation of
Grand Gulf on the 3d of May.
5
As
Grant advanced into the interior,
Porter turned his attention to the
Red River.
For the last fortnight
Farragut had been blockading the river with
[
568]
the
Hartford and
Albatross, a service of great importance in view of the active operations on foot along the river, and at the end of that time he was joined by a detached force of gun-boats which had been operating in the
Teche, and which had reached
Red River through the
Atchafalaya.
Banks was then moving against
Alexandria, and a light squadron was formed to go up and cooperate with him. At this juncture
Porter arrived with three ironclads, and with these and a part of
Farragut's detached squadron he steamed up to
Alexandria, where
Banks arrived on May 7th.
After clearing out the
Red River and its tributary the
Black, and destroying much property, the expedition returned,
Banks going to
Port Hudson and
Porter returning to his old station above
Vicksburg.
The
Yazoo River now became for a short time the central point of
Porter's operations.
Nothing had been done there since December except a demonstration during the attack of April 29-30 on
Grand Gulf, which, though conducted with spirit and gallantry, was really only a feint to prevent the enemy from reenforcing his works below
Vicksburg.
In the fortnight that had elapsed, however,
Grant's environment of the town on the east had cut off Haynes's Bluff and the whole Yazoo Valley above it.
Porter immediately sent up the
De Kalb,
Choctaw, and four light-draughts under
Lieutenant-Commander
[
569]
K. R. Breese to open communication.
Pushing on to Haynes's Bluff the
De Kalb,
Lieutenant-Commander John G. Walker, in advance, it was found that evacuation had already begun, and the small force left in the works hastily abandoned them.
The fortifications were of great strength and covered a large area.
On the 20th
Walker with the
De Kalb and
Choctaw and three of the light-draughts, steamed up to
Yazoo City.
The work of destruction, begun by the retreating enemy, was completed by the gun-boats.
The navy-yard, a large and well-equipped establishment, and the only one now remaining to the
Confederates, with its mills and machine-shops and its stores of lumber, was burned, as were also three formidable vessels then in course of construction.
A second expedition under
Walker, a few days later, struck out into the tributary streams, the
Sunflower,
Rolling Fork, and the smaller bayous, burning the transports that had taken refuge there.
Several steamers were sunk by the enemy on
Walker's approach, and three were captured and burnt by his vessels.
Navigation in the
Yazoo Valley was broken up, and the destruction of military supplies and provisions was enormous.
During
Grant's assault on the 22d of May, the fleet below
Vicksburg kept up a heavy fire on the hill and water batteries, and during the siege the mortar-boats were incessantly at work, shelling the city and the batteries.
From time to time the gun-boats joined in the bombardment, notably on May 27th and June 20th.
On the first of these occasions, the
Cincinnati,
Lieutenant George M. Bache, engaged alone the battery on
Fort Hill, the principal work above
Vicksburg, while the other iron-clads, under
Commander Woodworth, were similarly occupied below.
The fire from the upper battery was too much for the
Cincinnati, which sank not far from the shore, losing a considerable number of her crew.
On the second occasion three heavy guns mounted on scows were placed in position on the point opposite
Vicksburg, where they did good execution under
Lieutenant-Commander F. M. Ramsay, enfilading the rifle-pits in front of
Sherman's position and rendering them untenable.
The lower squadron also took part in this bombardment.
In addition to the work of the squadron afloat, when the army called for siege-guns thirteen heavy cannon were landed from the gun-boats and placed in position in the rear of
Vicksburg, where they were constantly and efficiently worked by naval crews, first under
Selfridge, and later under
Walker.
At the same time the squadron was engaged in the duty of patrolling the rivers, keeping open lines of communication, convoying transports, and cooperating with troops in beating off the enemy at detached points.
On the 25th of May
Banks, who had returned with his army from
Alexandria, had invested
Port Hudson, which had been subjected for several nights previous to a bombardment from the
Essex and the mortar flotilla, under
Commander Caldwell.
During the month of June a naval battery of 9-inch guns, under
Lieutenant-Commander Edward Terry of the
Richmond, rendered efficient service in the siege operations.
On the 9th of July
Port Hudson surrendered and the
Mississippi was now clear of obstructions to its mouth.
Besides the main operations at
Vicksburg and
Port Hudson, the navy had been occupied from time to time in detached bodies at other points.
A cut-off,
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570]
at the mouth of the
Arkansas, ingeniously made by
Selfridge in April, had contributed materially to the facility of operations at that place.
In May
Lieutenant-Commander Wilson in the
Mound City effectually destroyed a water-battery at
Warrenton.
In June an attack was made on
Milliken's Bend by Confederate troops from
Arkansas under
Taylor, and the garrison was driven from their works to the levee.
At this critical moment
Ramsay, in the
Choctaw, turned his guns on the successful assailants, and though
unable to see the enemy on account of the intervening bank, he hailed the troops on shore to ascertain their position; and so well placed were the hundred or more shell and shrapnel that he fired that the
Confederates were soon in full retreat.
Finally, on the 4th of July, the day of the
fall of Vicksburg,
General Holmes made his attack on
Helena [see pp. 455-6] with a force of about 8000 men, then garrisoned by 4000 under
B. M. Prentiss.
The enemy had placed batteries in opposition above and below the town, and, making a spirited attack in front, succeeded in carrying a portion of the outlying works.
The garrison fought stubbornly, but were heavily out-numbered.
The wooden gun-boat
Tyler, under
Lieutenant-Commander James M. Prichett, had been covering the approach by the old town road, but seeing the strategic points of the enemy's position,
Prichett with masterly skill placed his vessel where her bow and stern guns could reach the batteries above and below, while her broadside enfiladed the ravines down which the enemy was pouring in masses.
The gun-boat's rapid discharge of shrapnel and shell told heavily upon the
Confederates, who, after sustaining it for a time, fled in disorder,
Prentiss's men pursuing them with the bayonet.
The destructive fire of the
Tyler caused an unusually severe loss.
The
fall of Vicksburg was followed by successful gun-boat raids, one in July under
Selfridge in the
Red,
Black, and
Tensas rivers, the other in August under
Bache in
White River.
General Herron and
Lieutenant-Commander Walker also proceeded up the
Yazoo and retook
Yazoo City, but with the loss of the
De Kalb, destroyed by torpedoes near
Yazoo City.
[See p. 580.] The vessel sank in fifteen minutes, but all hands were saved.
Porter accepted the misfortune with that true understanding of the business of war which had been the secret of so much of his success — that without taking risks you cannot achieve results.
