* * * Again and again was the sound repeated. must not be supposed, however, that * * It was apparent that the because our broadside guns were the mortar boats had opened fire. *tools we principally worked with, our But while the mortar boats were at bow and stern chasers were idle. We work, the Essex was not idle. Unman- soon opened with our bow eightyageable as she is, especially in so strong pounder Dahlgren, which was followed a current, she did not follow the rest of up not long after by the guns astern, the fleet, but remained at the head of giving evidence to the fact that we had the bummers,' doing admirable service passed some of the batteries. with her heavy guns. * * "The action now became general. The roar of cannon was incessant, and the flashes from the guns, together with the flight of the shells from the mortar boats, made up a combination of sound and sight impossible to describe. To add to the horrors of the night, while it contributed toward the enhancement of a certain terrible beauty, dense clouds of smoke began to envelop the river, shutting out from view the several vessels and confounding them with the batteries. It was very difficult to know how to steer to prevent running ashore, perhaps right under a rebel battery or into a consort. Upward and upward rolled the smoke, shutting out of view the beautiful stars and obscuring the vision on every side. Then it was that the order was passed, 'Boys, don't fire till you see the flash from the enemy's guns.' That was our only guide through the palpable obscurity.' 66 "But this sole dependence on the flashes was likely to be attended with serious consequences, as the following incident will show: We had got nearly into the middle of the hornet's nest, when an officer on the topgallant forecastle called out: 'Ready with the port gun.' The gun was got ready and pointed, and was about to be discharged, when Lieutenant Terry called out: 'Hold on; you are about to fire into the Hartford.' And such was the fact; for the flash of the Hartford's guns at that moment revealed the spars and rigging of that vessel. Consequently the gun was not fired, nor was it discharged during the engagement, the fighting being confined entirely to the starboard side. Still the fight went on. * * * "So thick was the smoke, that we had to cease firing several times; and, to add to the horrors of the night, it was next to impossible to tell whether we were running into the Hartford or going ashore, and, if the latter, on which bank, or whether some of the other vessels were about to run into us or into each other. All this time the fire was kept up on both sides incessantly. It seems, however, that we succeeded in silencing the lower batteries of field pieces. "While a brisk fire was kept up from the decks of the several vessels, the howitzers in the tops were not permitted to remain idle. * ** * * * "I would occasionally get up and walk about the topgallant forecastle for a change of position. During one of these peregrinations a terrific explosion took place beneath me. A shell had entered the forward port on the starboard side, and exploded right under the gun, splintering a part of the carriage in front, indenting the gun itself, and cutting off the two legs of a boatswain's mate at the knees and an arm at the elbow, shaking the topgallant forecastle as if with an earthquake. I knew nothing of what had taken place till some time afterward. * * * "This battery [the writer is alluding to the central battery] stands on a bluff so high, that a vessel in passing immediately underneath cannot elevate her guns sufficiently to reach those on the battery; neither can the guns on the battery be sufficiently depressed to bear on the passing ship. In this posi tion the rebel batteries on the two horns. of the crescent can enfilade the passing vessels, pouring in a terrible cross fire, which the vessel can return, though at a great disadvantage, from her bow and stern chasers. We fully realized this last night; for, as we got within short range, the enemy poured into us a terrible fire of grape and canister, which we were not slow to return-our guns being double-shotted, each with a stand of both grape and canister. Every vessel in its turn was exposed to the same fiery ordeal on nearing the centre battery, and right promptly did their gallant tars return the compliment. This was the hottest part of the engagement. We were literally muzzle to muzzle, the distance between us and the enemy's guns being not more than twenty yards, though to me it seemed to be only as many feet. 66 * * * Shortly after this close engagement we seemed to have passed the worst. The enemy's shot and shell no longer swept our decks like a hail-storm; but the fire from the batteries was kept up in a desultory manner. The starboard bow gun could no longer be brought to bear. Consequently Lieutenant Terry ordered the men on the topgallant forecastle to leave the guns in that part of the ship, and to descend to the main deck to help work the broadside guns. Our stern chasers, of course, were still available. I left my station on the topgallant forecastle shortly after the men who had been working the bow guns, and passed under where I had been sitting, taking up my station on the port side, just opposite the forward gun on the starboard side, where but a few minutes before a shell had exploded. I was not long in this position when there came a blinding flash through the very port I was opposite to, revealing a high bank right opposite, so close that a biscuit might have been tossed from the summit on board the Richmond. SimSimultaneously there came a loud roar, and I thought the shot had passed through the port I was opposite to. Indeed, so close were we to the battery, that the flash, the report, and the arrival of the shot, crashing and tearing through our bulwarks, were instantaneous, there not being the intermission of a second between. * * * "It was no easy matter, in the midst of such a dense cloud of smoke, to know where to point our guns. Even the flashes of the enemy's guns shone dimly through the thick gloom. Several times the order was given to cease fire, so as to allow the smoke to clear away; but, as there was scarcely a breath of wind stirring, this was a very slow process; still the order was necessary, to prevent *** * * * "Denser and denser became the dark volume of smoke, rendering it next to impossible for the pilot to know where to put the vessel's head. Lieutenant Terry, therefore, stationed himself at the head of the ship, where there was a better chance of penetrating the gloom than on the bridge. Loud rose his voice, even amidst the roar of cannon and the shrieking of shot and shell, directing how the vessel's head should be placed. The order was taken from him by the men all along the deck, and by them conveyed to the quartermasters at the wheel. At times this was a difficult matter; for the noise of battle would sometimes drown the necessary orders thus conveyed. As it was, it seemed to me that a great deal of the manoeuvring was sheer guess work. It could scarcely be otherwise. This was the moment of peril for the Richmond; for had she gone on shore under the batteries, it would have been all up with her. "Matters had gone on in this way for nearly an hour and a half-the first gun having been fired at about half-past eleven o'clock-when, to my astonishment, I heard some shells whistling over our port side. Did the rebels have batteries on the right bank of the river? was the query that naturally suggested itself to me. To this the response was given that we had turned back. I soon discovered that it was too true. Our return was, of course, more rapid than our passage up. The rebels did not molest us much, and I do not believe one of their shots took effect while we were running down rapidly with the current. It was a melancholy affair, for we did not know but what the whole expedition was a failure; neither could we tell whether any of our vessels had been destroyed, nor how many. We had the satisfaction of learning soon afterward, however, that the Hartford and the Albatross had succeeded in rounding the point above the batteries. All the rest were compelled to return." Two, only, of the vessels of Admiral Farragut's squadron, his flag-ship the Hartford and the gun-boat Albatross, succeeded in passing the batteries at Port Hudson. The Mississippi was destroyed, and the rest, after being more or less damaged, were forced back. The former unfortunately got aground opposite the centre and strongest of the forts, and thus became the object of the enemy's concentrated fire. Her commander, after persisting for half an hour in the unequal struggle, gave orders for the burning and abandonment of his vessel. In the mean time the enemy continued their fire, riddling her with shot and destroying many lives. While the crew A were preparing were preparing to burn and abandon her, two shells struck her and set her in flames. As the fire approached the magazine, all, including the wounded men, left in the boats, and landed on the shore opposite the batteries. loud cry of exultation arose from the enemy when they beheld the burning ship. The Mississippi, lightened by the departure of her 300 men, swung off into deep water, and, after turning with her head down stream, exploded. The Hartford and Albatross, which had succeeded in passing the batteries. at Port Hudson, continued their course up the river. At Grand Gulf they were unexpectedly forced to run the gauntlet of a formidable battery lately established; but they moved on undauntedly, though roughly treated on their way. Both vessels were more or less injured by the fire of the enemy, but returned it vigorously. The Hartford was struck fourteen times, and had three men killed. Again, on their passage, they were met by a heavy cannonade from the enemy's batteries at Warrenton. After a severe engagement, they passed and anchored on the 26th of March below Vicksburg, at the mouth of the canal cut by the Unionists through the neck of land opposite. Admiral Farragut was thus enabled to send his secretary to communicate with General Grant and Admiral Porter. The messenger arrived in safety, and soon an attempt was made · by Admiral Porter to send reinforcements and supplies. Two rams, the Switzerland and Lancaster, and several flat-boats with coal, were dispatched the three steamers weighed anchor, and, from above. One of the rams, the moving down, engaged the batteries at Lancaster, was destroyed while striving Grand Gulf. to pass the batteries at Vicksburg; the other, the Switzerland, was disabled, but was rescued by the Albatross, which towed her to a safe position, while the coal barges fortunately floated down the stream without damage. The Switzerland having been repaired, joined the Hartford and Albatross, and, all three now fully supplied, prepared for a cruise down the Mississippi. In the mean time, during a heavy blow from the north, on the 29th of March, the Vicksburg, with which Colonel Ellet had his famous encounter under the guns of the enemy, drifted from her moorings, and floating down the river, went ashore opposite the anchorage of the Hartford and Albatross. Farragut sent an officer to board her, who reported that all her machinery had been removed. While the Admiral was hesitating as to what disposition to make of the empty hull, the enemy came down, on the night of the 30th of March, and burnt her. On the morning of the 31st of March, the Hartford, Albatross, and Switzerland passed Warrenton, on their course down the river. On reaching their anchorage at Turner's plantation, inquiries were made in regard to the wreck of the Indianola, which had been seen at this place on the passage up the river. No traces of her were left, and it was reported that she had slid off into deep water during the late gale. At six o'clock in the evening (March 31st), "This battery," reported Admiral Farragut, "consisted of some two or three heavy guns, sent down from Vicksburg. One of these guns was mounted upon a steamer, which had been concealed up the Big Black River. The enemy had also a light field battery. They struck the Switzerland twice, doing no damage, however. The Albatross was not struck at all. The Hartford was struck only once, but this shot struck an iron hammock stancheon, and threw a fragment of it forward nearly half the length of the ship, and killed a man named Jones, a landsman. This was the only casualty. "We passed this battery in about fifteen minutes, and anchored below Grand Gulf for the night." On the 1st of April, the little squadron again got under weigh, and proceeded to the mouth of the Red River, where it anchored, after destroying on its passage a large number of skiffs and flat-boats. The three steamers were now principally engaged in blockading the Red River, through which the enemy were obtaining their supplies from Western Louisiana and Texas. They also kept a vigilant guard along that part of the Mississippi over which they held command. On the 6th of April they moved down to Bayou Sara, and seizing some ten thousand sacks of corn, threw them into the river. They then sailed down to within five miles of the |