Naval Battles

The Red River

As all the principal engagements of the Red River expedition have been fully described in another part of this work (see Cyclopedia of Battles), it is only designed in the present chapter to briefly outline the part taken by the navy in this unfortunate and futile campaign, concluding with an Page 233 account of the events ending in the capture of Mobile, Alabama, which finally fell into Union hands when the war was practically over.

Upon the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson in July, 1863, two important fields in the southwest claimed the attention of the authorities at Washington—Mobile and Texas. Both General Banks and Admiral Farragut were anxious to proceed with as little delay as possible against Mobile, whose defenses were being constantly strengthened by the enemy, and whose capture must some time be undertaken. The possession of Mobile, with its important railway communications, would have greatly strengthened General Sherman during his hazardous campaign in 1864 through the heart of the Confederacy. However, considerations of public policy, chief among which was the attitude of France, made Texas the first point of attack. As previously intimated, the French emperor, Napoleon III, was showing a decided disposition to take advantage of the troubles of the United States. French troops had already marched into Mexico and on June 10, 1863, had entered the Mexican capital. French agents were now scheming to induce Texas to secede from the Confederacy and establish an independent government once more. France would thus have an independent state between her projected Mexican empire and whichever power, Union or Confederacy, should prevail in the war. These and other considerations led the Federal authorities to take steps in the fall of 1863 to reassert their authority in this region. Halleck advised a movement by way of the Red river to Shreveport, 400 miles from the Mississippi in the extreme northwestern corner of Louisiana. Operating from Shreveport, northern Texas could be occupied. The Red river was very low at this time of the year, so it was decided to wait for the spring rise, and meanwhile, General Banks was ordered to try and obtain a foothold in southern Texas Page 234 as by way of the seacoast. Banks made his first attempt to enter Texas at Sabine pass in September, 1863, with a joint expedition consisting of 4,000 troops under Major-General Franklin on transports, and the gunboats Clifton, Sachem, Arizona and Granite City, commanded by Lieutenant Frederick Crocker of the Clifton. The gunboats were of too light armament to cope with the enemy's works at the pass and both the Clifton and Sachem were disabled and forced to surrender. As a result of this disaster the transports and the other gunboats withdrew and the expedition was abandoned. Late in October another expedition was organized, wherein Banks planned to land near the Rio Grande on the western boundary of Texas and then to work his way eastward. The land forces consisted of 3,500 men under General Dana, and the naval force consisted of the ships-of-war Monongahela, Owasco and Virginia, together with some light gunboats, Captain James H. Strong of the Monongahela being senior officer present. Brownsville on the Rio Grande was occupied, and the control of Matagorda bay was secured, but little else was accomplished by the expedition. The force was too small to reduce the powerful works at Galveston and the mouth of the Brazos river, and as reinforcements were not forthcoming Banks decided to wait for spring and operate by way of the Red river and Shreveport.

General Sherman furnished for the expedition 10,000 men under General A. J. Smith, who met Porter at the mouth of the Red river March n. Banks' army, consisting of part of the 13th and 19th army corps under Gens. Franklin and Emory, was to advance by way of Opelousas and meet Porter and Smith at Alexandria on the 17th, but was slow in starting and did not arrive at Alexandria until the 26th. The naval part of the expedition under Admiral Porter consisted of the Essex, Commander Robert Townsend; Eastport, Lieutenant-Com. S. L. Page 235 Phelps; Lafayette, Lieutenant-Com. J. P. Foster; Choctaw, Lieutenant-Com. F. M. Ramsay; Black Hawk, Lieutenant-Com. K. R. Breese; Benton, Lieutenant-Com. J. A. Greer; Louisville, Lieutenant-Com. E. K. Owen; Carondelet, Lieutenant-Com. J. G. Mitchell; Osage, Lieutenant-Commander T. O. Selfridge; Ouachita, Lieutenant-Commander Byron Wilson; Lexington, Lieutenant G. M. Bache; Chillicothe, Lieutenant S. P. Couthouy; Pittsburg, Lieutenant W. R. Hoel; Mound City, Lieutenant A. R. Langthorne; Neosho, Lieutenant Samuel Howard; Ozark, Lieutenant G. W. Browne; Fort Hindman, Lieutenant John Pearce; Cricket, Master H. H. Gorringe; Gazelle, Master Charles Thatcher. The Ozark, Osage and Neosho were single turreted ironclads of very light draught and each mounted two n-inch guns. Smith's troops in transports started up the Red river with the fleet March 12, 1864. The water was so low the larger vessels could barely pass the bar at the mouth of the river, and unless the predicted rise in the river occurred soon it was feared the fleet would meet with serious difficulties higher up. The enemy had learned of the projected movement and planted formidable obstructions across the river 8 miles below Fort De Russy to prevent the passage of the gunboats. It was therefore decided to land the troops in order to obviate any delay in reaching Fort De Russy. Porter and the larger part of the fleet followed by the transports turned off into the Atchafalaya river, while the rest of the vessels under Lieutenant-Com. Phelps pushed on up the river to remove the obstructions. The troops were landed at Simsport on the 13th, marched 28 miles to Fort De Russy and assaulted and carried the works before sunset of the 14th, Confederate General Walker having withdrawn the main body of his troops from the fort, leaving only a small garrison of 300 men and 24 officers to offer what slight resistance they could to the Federal forces. With Fort De Russy were taken 8 heavy guns and 2 field-pieces. Meanwhile Phelps' detachment had succeeded in removing Page 236 the obstructions in the Red and the admiral with some of the advanced vessels of the fleet reached the fort in time to witness its surrender, Phelps was now ordered to hasten on to Alexandria with some of the fastest gunboats hoping to capture some steamers there with steam down. On the approach of the Federal forces the enemy under General Taylor hastily evacuated Alexandria, where Phelps arrived on the 15th just in time to see six steamers escaping up "the Falls." One of the vessels grounded and was burned by the enemy. The rest of the squadron arrived at Alexandria on the following day, together with about half of Smith's corps, in transports, under command of General Mower. General Smith and the rest of his troops arrived on the 18th after destroying the works at Fort De Russy. This was as high as any of the naval vessels had gone in 1863, and a long journey of 340 more miles must be made before reaching Shreveport, the important depot of the Confederates west of the Mississippi. The voyage had been comparatively easy up to this point, but serious difficulties were met with as soon as Alexandria was passed—difficulties made greater by the exceptionally low stage of water. Mahan says: "The slope from Shreveport to Alexandria at high water is a little over 100 feet, but immediately above the latter place there are two small rapids, called the Falls of Alexandria, which interrupt navigation when the water is low. The annual rise begins in the early winter, and from December to June the river is in fair boating condition for its usual traffic. But water enough for the gunboats and transports to pass the falls could not be expected before the spring rise in March. The river, however, can never be confidently trusted. For twenty years before 1864 it had only once failed to rise, in 1855, but this year it was exceptionally backward, and so caused much embarrassment to the fleet."

Pending the arrival of Banks' army, which did not reach Page 237 the rendezvous at Alexandria until the 26th, the time was employed by Porter in getting his vessels over the rapids. By the 29th all were above the falls except the long, heavy ironclad Eastport, which caused a delay of two days longer, being finally dragged over the rocks by main force. In addition, some 30 transports on which General Smith's command was embarked ascended the falls, and convoyed by gunboats proceeded to Grand Ecore, where the troops disembarked and encamped at Natchitoches, 4 miles distant, to which point Banks had marched his own army by land. A division of Smith's forces, numbering about 2,500 men, under General T. Kilby Smith, was placed in charge of the transports, which proceeded up the river with the gunboats to meet the army at Springfield landing, about 30 miles below Shreveport. The army left Natchitoches April 6-7, the fleet and transports also got under way on the 7th, with the understanding that they would meet the army at Springfield landing on the 10th. Phelps, with some of the heavy boats which drew too much water to go any higher at the present stage of the river, remained at Grand Ecore. The admiral went ahead with the Cricket, Hindman, Lexington, Osage, Neosho, Chillicothe, Gazelle and Ouachita, and despite the many difficulties of navigation arrived promptly at the place of rendezvous. Both Porter and Smith were somewhat surprised that no portion of the army had yet arrived, as it was not thought the enemy under Taylor was in sufficient force to delay for any length of time the thirty odd thousand men with Banks. The Confederates had obstructed the channel at Springfield landing with a very large steamer, whose ends rested on the banks, the hull being broken amidships and resting on the bottom. Porter and Kilby Smith were planning how to remove this obstruction, when it was learned that the army had met with serious reverses and was retreating. Banks also sent orders to Kilby Smith Page 238 to return with his troops and transports to Grand Ecore. As there was no reason for Porter to take a different course, the gunboats were distributed among the transports in a manner to protect them as much as possible, and the vessels moved down the river as rapidly as the intricacies of navigation would permit. On the nth they had passed below Coushattee chute, where a series of attacks began and continued until the fleet was once more below Alexandria. On the afternoon of the 12th a sharp engagement took place near Blair's landing between the gunboats Osage and Lexington which were protecting the rear of the fleet, and a brigade of 2,500 infantry under General Thomas Green, assisted by a 4-gun battery. The enemy suddenly appeared on the right bank, posted their battery some 100 yards below the Osage and abreast the Lexington, but as the banks of the river were 20 feet high at this point, the enemy was forced to plant his guns close to the edge of the stream in order to bring them to bear, and the enfilading fire of the Lexington soon forced him to retire with one of his guns dismounted. The singular engagement continued for three-quarters of an hour, when the enemy drew off badly punished, having lost about 700 killed and wounded, among the former being General Green. The transport Black Hawk, which had lately served as General Banks' headquarters' vessel, was lashed to the Osage during the fight, owing to the fact that the transport had been helping the ironclad to turn the bends of the river. About 40 of General Kilby Smith's men, on board the Black Hawk, found a safe refuge on the Osage during the engagement. The Black Hawk was riddled with bullets, as was the exposed wood-work of the Osage, though the Union loss was only 7 men wounded. As Kilby Smith reported that a number of his transports were also actively engaged in this fight, a brief extract from a letter written by Commander Selfridge Page 239 to Admiral Porter in 1880 is here inserted. After a detailed description of the engagement, he says in conclusion, "It is very certain no transports were in sight from my decks. They may have been a little below, concealed by the bend, but too far to have had any influence upon the result, the whole brunt of which fell upon the Osage. The battery unlimbered abreast of the Lexington and was driven off by her fire. No better proof of the absence of General Smith's transports from the fight can be cited than the fact that none of them, except the Black Hawk, showed any marks, while she was literally riddled with bullets. There might have been a small gun on the Black Hawk, but it was never fired. As to the siege-guns on the exposed forecastle of the Rob Roy, if fired, it was at too long range to have been of any service." So much for the facts of this controversy, and in refutation of the statement often made that this was a fight in which transports were chiefly engaged. Shortly before this engagement Porter, who had been in the rear with his flag-ship, the Cricket, but had pushed ahead in the effort to prevent the enemy from planting his batteries a few miles below Pleasant Hill landing, where they could fire down upon the decks of the transports in passing. As the gunboats had to follow the long bends of the river, while the enemy could cut across, the Confederate General Harrison, who had crossed the river in the rear of the fleet with 1,900 mounted men and 4 or 5 pieces of artillery, succeeded in posting his guns on a high bluff 3 miles below Pleasant Hill landing. During the night of the nth the fleet safely ran the Harrison battery. While the transports were passing the gunboats kept up a vigorous fire of grape and canister into the woods and not a vessel was injured. The river continued to fall rapidly and when the vessels reached Campti, a small village some 24 miles below the landing, several of them went hard aground. There Page 240 was increasing danger for the larger boats as the river continued to fall, and there was also a strong probability that the Confederates would assemble along the river in greater force during the night to resist the further progress of the fleet. ^Consequently Porter hurried on the 13th to Grand Ecore and explained the condition of things at Campti to General A. J. Smith, who promptly sent a force of infantry and cavalry up the river to clear the banks of Confederates as far as the transports. On the 15th all the vessels arrived safely at Grand Ecore. Phelps, who had been left at this point with the heavy gunboats, had been mindful of the falling river and had moved all his vessels below the bar, recalling only four to cover the army on its return to Grand Ecore. It soon became evident that Banks intended to retreat with his army to Alexandria and Porter thereupon directed all the large vessels to get over the bar below Grand Ecore and proceed down the river, which was constantly falling and grave doubt was felt as to the ability of the vessels even now to pass over the falls above Alexandria. The Lexington and Osage were detailed to remain with the transports. On the 16th news was received that the Eastport had been sunk by a torpedo 8 miles below Grand Ecore. Lieutenant-Com. Phelps and the officers and crew of the Eastport, assisted by two pump-boats sent from Alexandria and the Cricket, Juliet and Fort Hindman, made the most strenuous effort to save the crippled Eastport, but were finally obliged to blow her up on the 26th some 60 miles farther down the river, where she had become hopelessly stranded. Meanwhile Banks had evacuated Grand Ecore on the 22nd and marched for Alexandria. He fought a sharp engagement in crossing the Cane river, and his rearguard was daily harassed by the enemy who followed him closely. On the 26th and 27th the troops finally marched into Alexandria without having sustained any very serious losses.

When the army departed from Grand Ecore, Porter with his little squadron of light-draughts, badly hampered by the crippled Eastport, was left above to make his way down to Alexandria as best he could. The road to Alexandria diverged from the river after crossing the Cane river, so that no further support could be counted on from the army. The boats began the hazardous downward trip as soon as the Eastport was destroyed, but the explosion which shattered the ironclad had barely taken place when the trouble began. The Cricket, with the admiral's flag, had been tied to the right bank 300 yards below the Eastport, and now a force of 1,200 infantry rushed from a concealed position and poured in a sharp fire of musketry on the vessels, at the same time attempting to board and capture the Cricket. Captain Gorringe of the Cricket was not caught napping, but returned the fire with a shower of grape and canister, while the other vessels assisted with a cross-fire, and the attack was quickly repulsed. The vessels then proceeded down the river in close order, the Cricket in advance, followed by the Juliet lashed to the pump-boat Champion, the other pump-boat Champion No. 5, and the Hindman bringing up the rear of the column. They were not again molested until they reached a bluff at a bend some 20 miles below, where the enemy was found posted in force with 18 pieces of artillery. As the Cricket approached the shore the enemy appeared and she was subjected to a murderous fire of shell. Says Porter: "During the four minutes the Cricket sustained the enemy's fire, she had 12 killed and 19 wounded, most of the latter severely. She was struck 38 times with shell, which generally burst in small fragments, otherwise they would probably have disabled the boilers and machinery. The whole ship's company of this little vessel amounted to but 50 persons, of whom one-third were negroes picked up along the Mississippi, but there was Page 242 no flinching, although the Cricket had but four officers, all of whom were wounded." The engineer of the vessel was killed with his hand on the throttle and as he fell shut off the steam, but the rapid current carried the Cricket rapidly down the stream and below the batteries. One bursting shell wounded the pilot and killed all the gun's crew forward, when the admiral himself took charge of the vessel and ran it by the battery. Soon after passing below the Cricket ran aground and stuck fast for 3 hours, but was fortunately out of sight of the enemy, though still within range of their guns. When the enemy believed they had disabled the Cricket they turned their attention to the other boats. The Juliet was disabled by a shot in her machinery; the rudder of the pump boat lashed to her was struck; the other pump-boat received a shot which exploded her boilers, and almost the entire ship's company, many of whom were negroes fleeing from Grand Ecore, perished either by scalding or drowning. The confusion in the center prevented Phelps from coming to the assistance of the admiral as promptly as he wished with the Hindman, but he now steamed down and engaged the batteries, enabling the Juliet in tow of the Champion to join him. During the brief engagement the Juliet had been much cut up, and had lost 15 killed and wounded. After making needed repairs during the following night, the three boats still above again started down the river past the batteries, the crippled Juliet being taken alongside the Hindman. Unfortunately a shot passed through the pilot-house of the Hindman which cut the wheel ropes and rendered her unmanageable, causing the two gunboats to drift broadside down stream, all the while under a sustained fire from the batteries. The vessels would strike first one bank and then the other, but went clear each time and finally passed below without serious injury. In their helpless condition they could not bring their guns to bear with good effect and the remaining Page 243 pump-boat was captured with all her crew, after her pilot had been twice severely wounded and her captain killed. The loss of the Hindman during the two engagements was 3 killed and 5 wounded, though she had been repeatedly struck and was much damaged. A few miles below the batteries the two gunboats met the ironclad Osage coming to their relief. She had been sent by Porter and in her anxiety to reach the scene of action had run ashore.

During the long voyage of 300 miles up the river and return none of the transports had been lost, though constant and most strenuous exertion on the part of the naval vessels was required to bring about this result. Of Porter's squadron, all returned safely to Alexandria except the Eastport and the two Champions. The little squadron of light-draughts, as they came down last from Grand Ecore, barely escaped the clutches of the enemy, who gathered in force along the banks of the river and made every effort to capture the little tinclads, one of which had the commander-in-chief of the naval forces on board. Only by the display of the utmost resourcefulness and gallantry on the part of officers and men were these vessels finally saved. Extraordinary perils were met and overcome by these gallant little vessels in their efforts to save the big ironclad Eastport, and the voyage had been a most trying one for all the vessels. All had experienced the unusual difficulties attending navigation of the river when the water was exceptionally low, the boats were jumped over sand-bars and logs time and time again, the guns being frequently first removed to lighten the boats, and Porter describes the obstacles overcome "as enough to appeal the stoutest heart." The whole expedition was ill-advised and unfortunate, but aside from the almost insuperable difficulties presented by bad roads and a river which was falling when it should have been rising, there was little harmony between the chiefs of the army, an almost total lack of cooperation between army and Page 244 navy—facts which in themselves would have put the success of the expedition in serious jeopardy had nature imposed no obstacles.

Despite the many difficulties previously overcome, a more serious danger now confronted Porter's squadron at Alexandria. When the admiral arrived there with the Cricket April 27, fourteen naval vessels were still above the falls, while below them stretched a mile of bare rocks, through which ran a channel only 20 feet wide and about 4 feet deep. The gunboats needed at least 7 feet of water to pass the rapids, and for a time it looked as though the most valuable part of the Mississippi squadron must be sacrificed. In this desperate situation relief came in the person of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, of the 4th Wis. infantry, then serving as chief engineer of Franklin's 19th corps. Bailey was a practical lumberman and experienced in the work of driving logs. To lift a log jam over rifts or other obstructions was familiar work to him, and his practical knowledge had been applied after the fall of Port Hudson to float two steamers, which had been left hard aground in Thompson's creek by falling water. While at Grand Ecore, knowing that the vessels might experience trouble in passing the falls, Bailey suggested to General Franklin his plan of building wing dams to raise the water in the river. Franklin was himself an engineer and approved of the plan, as did some of the other engineers, though general skepticism prevailed and many openly scoffed at the idea. The plan was now again broached at Alexandria, was approved by Porter, and secured the cordial endorsement of General Banks. Mahan's admirable description of Bailey's great engineering feat tells the story: "Bailey had the faith that moves mountains, and he was moreover happy in finding at his hands the fittest tools for the work. Among the troops in the far southwest were two or three regiments from Maine, the north-easternmost of all the states. These men had been woodmen and lumbermen from their youth, Page 245 among their native forests, and a regiment of them now turned trained and willing arms upon the great trees on the north shore of the Red river. There were many others who, on a smaller scale and in different scenes, had experience in the kind of work now to be done. Time was pressing, and from 2,000 to 3,000 men were at once set to work on the 1st of May. The falls are about a mile in length, filled with rugged rocks which, at low water, were bare or nearly so, the water rushing down around, or over, them with great swiftness. At the point below, where the dam was to be built the river is 758 feet wide and the current was then between 9 and 10 miles an hour. From the north bank was built what was called the 'tree dam,' formed of large trees laid with the current, the branches interlocking, the trunks down stream and cross-tied with heavy timber. Upon this were thrown brush, brick, and stone, and the weight of water as it rose bound the fabric more closely down upon the bottom of the river. From the other bank, where the bottom was more. stony and the trees less plenty, great cribs were pushed out, sunk and filled with stone and brick—the stone being brought down the river in flatboats, the bricks obtained by pulling down deserted brick buildings. On this side, a mile away, was a large sugar-house, which was torn down and the whole building, machinery and kettles, went to ballast the dam. Between the cribs and the tree dam a length of 150 feet was filled by four large coal barges, loaded with brick and sunk. This great work was completed in eight working days, and even on the eighth, three of the lighter vessels, the Osage, Neosho and Fort Hindman, were able to pass.: the upper falls and wait just above the dam for the chance to . pass. But the heavier vessels had yet to delay for a further rise. In the meantime the vessels were being lightened by their crews. Nearly all the guns, ammunition, provisions, chain cables, anchors, everything that could affect the draught, were Page 246 taken out and hauled round in wagons below the falls. The iron plating was taken off the Ozark, and the sides of our old friends the Eads gunboats, the four survivors of which were here, as ever where danger was. The iron, for want of wagons, could not be hauled round, so the boats ran up the river and dumped it overboard in a five-fathom hole, where the shifting sand would soon swallow it up. Iron plating was then too scarce and valuable to the Confederates to let it fall into their hands. Eleven old 32-pounders were also burst and sunk.

"The dam was finished, the water rising, and three boats below, when, between 7 and 10 o'clock a. m. of the 9th, the pressure became so great as to sweep away two of the barges in midstream and the pent up water poured through. Porter rode round to the upper falls and ordered the Lexington to pass them at once and try to go through the dam without a stop. Her steam was ready and she went ahead, passing scantly over the rapids, the water falling all the time. Then she steered straight for the opening, where the furious rushing of the waters seemed to threaten her with destruction. She entered the gap, which was but 66 feet wide, with a full head of steam, pitched down the roaring torrent, made two or three heavy rolls, hung for a moment on the rocks below, and then, sweeping into deep water with the current, rounded to the bank, safe. One great cheer rose from the throats of the thousands looking on, who had before been hushed into painful silence, awaiting the issue with beating hearts. The Neosho followed, but stopping her engine as she drew near the opening was carried helplessly through. For a moment her low hull disappeared in the water, but she escaped with a hole in her bottom, which was soon repaired. The Hindman and the Osage came through without touching.

"The work on the dam had been done almost wholly by the Page 247 soldiers, who had worked both day and night, often up to their waists and even to their necks in the water, showing throughout the utmost cheerfulness and good humor. The partial success, that followed the first disappointment of the break, was enough to make such men again go to work with good will. Bailey decided not to try again, with his limited time and materials, to sustain the whole weight of water with one dam, and so, leaving the gap untouched, went on to build two wing-dams on the upper falls. These, extending from either shore toward the middle of the river and inclining slightly down stream, took part of the weight, causing a rise of I foot 2 inches and shedding the water from either side into the channel between them. Three days were needed to build these—one a tree and the other a crib dam—and a bracket dam a little lower down to help guide the current. The rise due to the main dam when breached was 5 feet 4j4 inches, so that the entire gain in depth by this admirable engineering work was 6 feet 6yi inches. On the nth the Mound City, Carondelet and Pittsburg came over the upper falls, but with trouble, the channel being very crooked and scarcely wide enough. The next day the remaining boats, Ozark, Louisville and Chillicothe, with the two tugs, also came down the upper dam, and during that and the following day they all passed through the gap, with hatches closely nailed down and every precaution taken against accident. No mishap befell them beyond the unshipping of rudders and the loss of one man swept from the deck of a tug. The two barges which had been carried out at the first break of the dam stuck just below and at right angles to it, where they staid throughout, affording an excellent cushion on the left side of the shoot. What had been a calamity proved thus a benefit. The boats having taken on their guns and stores as fast as they came below, that work was completed, even by the last comers, on the 13th, and all then steamed down the river Page 248 with the transports in company. The water had become very low in the lower part, but providentially a rise of the Mississippi sent up so much back-water that no stoppage happened."

For his valuable services in rescuing the fleet from its serious predicament Bailey received the thanks of Congress and was made a brigadier-general. The services of Bailey were again called into requisition when the army reached the Atchafalaya, where he built a bridge of transports over which that portion of the army passed which was to march to the mouth of the Red river.

One more disaster befell the navy on this unfortunate expedition. While the fleet and army were still at Alexandria, the enemy succeeded in passing around the city with a force of 6,000 men and some 25 pieces of artillery, with which they planted some masked batteries at a place called Dunn's bayou, 30 miles below. Two light-draught gunboats, the Covington and Signal, owed their destruction to these batteries. They had been sent down from Alexandria to convoy the transport Warner, loaded with cotton, with 400 troops on board, but were not aware that the enemy were below in force. The Warner was in advance, the gunboats following in line ahead when the concealed enemy suddenly opened on the Warner with a furious fire which pierced her boilers and disabled her so that she went ashore and also blocked the channel to the two armed vessels. The infantry now poured in a murderous fire on the transport which killed or wounded a large number of those on board, while both infantry and artillery engaged the gunboats, which had pushed up to rescue the Warner from her dangerous position. The hot fire from the batteries played havoc with the gunboats, putting their steam-pipes and perforating their boilers, but .they continued the engagement for several hours. Lieutenant Lord of the Covington, his vessel being completely disabled and his ammunition exhausted, spiked his Page 249 guns, set fire to his vessel, and escaped to the shore with what was left of his crew. The disabled Signal fought with equal obstinacy, her commander, Lieutenant Morgan, maintaining the fight for half an hour after the destruction of the Covings ton, when he surrendered his vessel, as he found it impossible to burn her with so many wounded on board. When it was recalled that these two little gunboats, lightly armored with quarter-inch iron, defended themselves for 3 or 4 hours against 20 pieces of artillery, well mounted at commanding points on the river and supported by a large force of infantry, the contest appears more worthy of notice than many others more widely heralded. Out of the Covington's crew of 14 officers and 62 men, Lieutenant Lord was able to muster only 9 officers and 23 men, most of whom made their escape up the bank to Alexandria. The enemy sacked and burned the Warner, and the Signal, after the enemy had removed her guns and ammunition, was sunk across the channel of the river.

May 13-14 Alexandria was evacuated, both the army and the navy arriving at the Atchafalaya on the 16th. As the army was moving out of Alexandria on the 13th, fire broke out on the levee, spread rapidly, and a large part of the town was consumed. The origin of the fire was a mystery, but it appears that only half-hearted efforts were made by the soldiers to check its spread. Having crossed the Atchafalaya by the night of the 20th, the army marched to the Mississippi and the expedition was over. General Canby relieved General Banks in command of the Department of West Mississippi, with headquarters at New Orleans, on the 20th. A. J. Smith's corps embarked on transports and returned up the river to Vicksburg and the squadron resumed its station on the Mississippi. Porter being relieved during the summer, Captain Pennock was placed in temporary charge until Admiral Lee assumed the command November 1, 1864.

The important work of the Mississippi squadron from this time on to the close of the war consisted in efficiently patrolling the vast network of waters embraced by the Mississippi and its main affluents, in convoying transports, repelling guerrillas and detached bodies of the enemy's troops, etc. The Red river was blockaded, but not occupied, as was true of much of the Yazoo valley. Several minor expeditions and reconnoissances were also undertaken on the Washita, Arkansas, Black and Yazoo rivers, but the main operations of the war were now being carried on east of the Mississippi. After the opening of the river in July, 1863, Porter had divided the vast stretch of waters under his jurisdiction, first into eight and later into ten districts, two of which embraced the region of the Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland. While Sherman was engaged in his Atlanta campaign, and during the operations of Hood and Thomas about Nashville, the region of the Tennessee and the Cumberland was the scene of renewed activity and an nth division was formed, composed of the upper waters of the Tennessee above the Muscle shoals, in command of Lieutenant Moreau Forrest. Lieutenant-Com. Shirk commanded the lower river, and Fitch remained in charge of the Cumberland.