ON TO VICKSBURG. -- BOMBARDMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STRONGHOLD. --
PORTER'S CRUISE IN THE FORESTS.
While the smaller gunboats were thus making dashes into the enemy's
country, destroying batteries and unfinished war-vessels, and burning
salt-works, the heavier vessels of the fleet were being massed about
Vicksburg, and were preparing to aid the army in reducing that city to
subjection. We need not describe the way in which Gen. Grant had been
rushing his troops toward that point, how for weeks his engineers had
been planning trenches and approaches to the Confederate works, until
toward the middle part of June, 1863, the people in that city found
themselves hemmed in by a huge girdle of trenches, batteries, and
military camps. Gen. Pemberton, with his army of Confederate soldiers,
had been forced backward from point after point, until at last he
found himself in Vicksburg, with the prospect of a long siege before
him, and no way to get past the inexorable lines of blue that
surrounded him. It is true that he had a wonderfully strong position,
and many were the tongues that said Vicksburg could never be taken.
But though stronger than Sebastopol, stronger than the Rock of
Gibraltar, Vicksburg was destined to fall before that mighty army that
encircled it, and was slowly starving the city into subjection.
But the Union soldiers, looking from their camps toward the
Confederate citadel, saw that they had before them some severe work
before that flag that flaunted over the city should be replaced by the
stars and stripes. The city stands on a towering bluff high above the
eastern bank of the Mississippi River. On that frowning height the
busy hands of Pemberton's soldiers had reared mighty batteries, that
commanded the Mississippi for miles up and down stream. To think of
carrying the works by assault, was madness. Sherman had tried, and was
beaten back with terrible loss. Then Grant, with nearly twenty
thousand men, and with the co-operation of the river-flotilla, came
upon the stage, and determined to take the city though it kept him at
bay for months.
All imaginable plans were tried to get the army below the city; for
Grant's command had come down from Cairo, and were at the northern and
most impregnable side of the enemy's works. As at Island No. 10, a
sharp bend in the river made a long peninsula right under the
Confederates' guns. Grant, remembering the plan adopted before, set to
work to cut a canal through the peninsula, so that the gunboats and
transports might get below the forts. Twelve hundred negroes worked
with a will upon this ditch for weeks. Then came a terrible
rain-storm: the swollen, muddy torrent of the river broke in upon the
unfinished canal, and that work was wasted. Then a new plan was
suggested, this time by Commodore David Porter, who all through the
war showed the greatest delight in taking his big gunboats into
ditches where nothing larger than a frog or musk-rat could hope to
navigate, and then bringing them out again safe after all.
The country back of Vicksburg was fairly honeycombed with shallow
lakes, creeks, and those sluggish black streams called in the South
bayous. Porter had been looking over this aqueous territory for some
time, and had sent one of his lieutenants off in a steam-launch to see
what could be done in that network of ditches. When the explorer
returned, he brought cheering news. He was confident that, with tugs
and gangs of axemen clearing the way, the gunboats could be taken up
the Yazoo River, then into a wide bayou, and finally through a maze of
small waterways, until they should reach the Mississippi again below
the Vicksburg batteries. Then the transports could follow, the troops
could march down the other side of the river, be met by the
transports, ferried across, and take Vicksburg on the flank. It was a
beautiful plan; and Porter went to Grant with it, full of enthusiasm.
Gen. Grant considered the matter for some time, but finally gave his
consent, and detailed a number of blue-coated soldiers to aid Porter's
blue-jackets in the work. They first cut the levees, and let the
mighty tide of the Mississippi sweep in, filling the bayous to the
brim, and flooding all the country round about. Then the gunboats
plunged in, and were borne along on the rushing tide until they
brought up, all standing, against the trunks of trees, or had their
smoke-stacks caught by overhanging branches.
Then came the tug of war; and the axemen were called to the front, and
set to work. They chopped their way along for some distance; the rapid
current from the river banging the vessels against the trees and
stumps, until all the standing rigging and light cabins were swept
away. After a good deal of work they saw before them a broad river,
wide enough for two vessels to steam abreast. Soon they drifted out
into it, and the commanding officer sang out cheerily, "On to
Vicksburg, boys, and no more trees to saw." And so they steamed on,
thinking how neatly they should take the "gray-coats" in the rear,
when suddenly a bend in the river showed them, just ahead, a fort in
the middle of the river, with the channel blocked on either side. That
was a surprise. The works were new, and the water was still muddy
about the sunken steamers. Clearly the wily Pemberton had heard of
this inland naval expedition, and was determined to check it
effectually.
The gunboats backed water, and crowded in confused groups. The gunners
in the fort took hurried aim, and pulled the lanyards of their cannon,
forgetting that those pieces were not loaded. It was hard to tell
which party was the more excited at the unexpected meeting. This gave
the blue-jackets a chance to collect their thoughts, and in a minute
or two the gunboats opened fire; but they were soon convinced that the
fort was too much for them, and they turned and crawled back through
the woods to the fleet above Vicksburg. Pemberton scored one point for
successful strategy.
But, even while this expedition was working its way back to the
station of the vessels on the Mississippi, Porter was starting another
through a second chain of water-courses that he had discovered. This
time he was so sure of getting into the rear of Vicksburg, that he
took four of his big iron-clads, and two light mortar-boats built
especially for work in the woods. Gen. Sherman, with a strong
army-force, marched overland, keeping up with the gunboats. Admiral
Porter, in his Memoirs, gives a graphic picture of this expedition.
Back of Vicksburg the country is low, and intersected in every
direction by narrow, tortuous bayous, lined on either side by gloomy
morasses or majestic forests. Into these little-known water-courses
Porter boldly led his ponderous iron-clads; while Sherman, with a
detachment of troops, advanced along the shore, keeping as near the
flotilla as possible. Seldom have naval vessels been detailed upon so
strange a service. For days they steamed on under the spreading
branches of trees, that often spanned the bayous in a mighty arch
overhead, shutting out all sunlight. For a time this navigation of
placid, shady waterways was pleasant enough; but, as they penetrated
farther into the interior, the jackies sighed for the blue waters of
the ocean, or even for the turbid current of the Mississippi. The
heavy foliage that gave so grateful a shade also harbored all sorts of
animals; and coons, rats, mice, and wildcats, that had been driven to
the trees for shelter during the prevailing high water, peered down
upon the sailors, and often dropped sociably down upon the decks of
the vessels gliding beneath.
At some portions of the voyage the flotilla seemed to be steaming
through the primeval forest. The bayou was but a few feet wider than
the gunboats, and its banks were lined by gnarled and knotted old
veterans of the forest,--live oaks, sycamore, and tupelo gum trees
that had stood in majestic dignity on the banks of the dark and sullen
stream for centuries. Sometimes majestic vistas would open; broad
avenues carpeted with velvet turf, and walled in by the massive tree
trunks, extending from the banks of the stream far back into the
country. Again, the stately forests would be replaced by fields of
waving corn or rice, with the tops of a row of negro cabins or the
columned front of a planter's house showing in the distance. Then, as
the flotilla steamed on, this fair prospect would disappear, and be
replaced by noisome cypress brakes, hung thick with the funereal
Spanish moss, and harboring beneath the black water many a noxious
reptile.
So through the ever-changing scenery the gunboats moved along, making
but little progress, but meeting with no serious obstacle, until one
morning there appeared on a bit of high ground, some yards in advance
of the leading gunboat, an army officer mounted on an old white horse.
It was Gen. Sherman, and his troops were in camp near by. He greeted
the naval forces cheerily, and, rallying Porter on the amphibious
service into which his gunboats had been forced, warned him that he
would soon have not a smokestack standing, nor a boat left at the
davits.
"So much the better," said the undaunted admiral. "All I want is an
engine, guns, and a hull to float them. As to boats, they are very
much in the way."
A short time only was spent in consultation, and then Sherman with his
forces left the bayou and plunged into the interior, first warning
Porter that he would have a hard time getting any farther, even if the
enemy did not come down and surround him. But Porter was not the man
to abandon the advance, so long as there was water enough to float his
gunboats. Besides, he had gained some ideas regarding navigation in
the forests, that enabled him to move his fleet forward with more
celerity than at first. When a tree blocked the course of the
iron-clads, they no longer stopped to clear it away by work with the
axes; but, clapping on all steam, the powerful rams dashed at the
woody obstruction, and with repeated blows soon knocked it out of the
way.
Soon after leaving Sherman, Porter saw that the difficulties he had
thus far met and conquered were as nothing to those which he had yet
to encounter. The comparatively broad stream up which he had been
steaming came to an end, and his further progress must be through
Cypress Bayou, a canal just forty-six feet wide..[??-second period a
smudge?] The broadest gunboat was forty-two feet wide, and to enter
that narrow stream made retreat out of the question: there could be no
turning round to fly. The levees rose on either side of the narrow
canal high above the decks of the iron-clads, so that the cannon could
not be sufficiently elevated to do effective work in case of an
attack. But there were nine feet of water in the great ditch; and that
was enough for Porter, who pressed boldly on.
The country into which the combined military and naval expedition was
advancing was in truth the granary of Vicksburg. On all other sides of
the beleaguered city, the Federal lines were drawn so closely that the
wagons laden with farm produce could not hope to pass. But here, back
of the city, and far from the camps of Grant's legions, the work of
raising produce for the gallant people of Vicksburg was prosecuted
with the most untiring vigor. The sight, then, of the advancing
gunboats aroused the greatest consternation. From the deck of his
vessel Porter could see the people striving to save their property
from the advancing enemy. Great droves of cattle were being driven
away far into the interior; negroes were skurrying in all directions,
driving poultry and pigs to the safe concealment of the forest; wagons
groaning under the weight of farm and garden produce could be seen
disappearing in the distance. What the inhabitants could not save they
destroyed, in order that it might not profit the invaders. A short
distance from the mouth of the bayou "were six thousand bales of
cotton piled up on opposite sides of the stream, ready to be taken
aboard a steamer when the war should end. As the gunboats advanced
slowly, making little headway against the two-knot current of the
bayou, Porter saw two men, carrying lighted pine-knots, dash up to the
cotton, and begin to set it afire. The admiral looked on in disgust.
"'What fools these mortals be!'" said he to an officer standing at his
side; "but I suppose those men have a right to burn their own cotton,
especially as we have no way of preventing them."
"I can send a howitzer shell at them, sir," said the officer, "and
drive them away."
But to this Porter demurred, saying that he had no desire to kill the
men, and that they might do as they liked with their own. Accordingly
the officers quietly watched the vandals, until, after twenty minutes'
work, the cotton was blazing, and a dense mass of smoke cut off all
vision ahead, and rose high in the air. Then Porter began to suspect
that he had made a mistake. The difficulties of navigation in the
bayou were great enough, without having smoke and fire added to them.
Yet to wait for the cotton to burn up might cause a serious delay. On
the high bank of the bayou stood a negro begging the sailors to take
him aboard.
"Hallo, there, Sambo!" sung out Porter, "how long will it take this
cotton to burn up?"
"Two day, massa," responded the contraband; "p'raps tree."
That ended the debate. "Ring the bell to go ahead fast," said the
admiral to the pilot; and away went the flotilla at full speed,
plunging into the smoke and fire. It was a hot experience for the
sailors. The heavy iron-clads made but slow progress, and were
scorched and blistered with the heat. The ports were all shut down,
and the crews called to fire-quarters, buckets in hand. To remain on
deck, was impossible. Porter and his captain made the trial, but had
hardly entered the smoke when the scorching heat drove both into the
shelter of an iron-covered deck-house. The pilot standing at the wheel
seized a flag, and, wrapping it about his face and body, was able to
stay at his post. As the flames grew hotter, the sailors below opened
the main hatch, and, thrusting up a hose, deluged the deck with floods
of water. So, without a man in sight, the huge iron ship moved along
between the walls of flame. Suddenly came an enormous crash. The
gunboat shivered, and for a moment stood still; then, gathering
headway, moved on again, though with much ominous grating beneath her
keel. Soon after she passed out of the smoke and heat, and all hands
rushed on deck for a whiff of the fresh, cool air. Their first thought
was of the cause of the collision; and, looking eagerly astern, they
saw a heavy bridge, about fifty feet of which had been demolished by
the tremendous power of the ram. This gave Porter a hint as to the
force he had at his command; and thereafter bridges were rammed as a
matter of course whenever they impeded the progress of the iron-clads.
The astonishment of the people along the shore may well be imagined.
The great and formidable obstacles that stood in the path of the
squadron were, as a rule, overcome by the exertion of the great powers
of the steam-driven, iron-plated vessels; but at last there came a
check, that, though it seemed at first insignificant, terminated the
sylvan manoeuvres of the iron-clad navy. After running the gantlet of
the burning cotton, butting down trees, and smashing through bridges,
the column entered a stretch of smooth water that seemed to promise
fair and unobstructed sailing. But toward the end of this expanse of
water a kind of green scum was evident, extending right across the
bayou, from bank to bank. Porter's keen eye caught sight of this; and,
turning to one of the negroes who had taken refuge on the gunboat, he
asked what it was. "It's nuffin' but willows, sah," he replied. "When
de water's out of de bayou, den we cuts de willows to make baskets
with. You kin go troo dat like a eel."
Satisfied with this explanation, the admiral ordered the tug which
led the column to go ahead. Under a full head of steam, the tug
dashed into the willows, but began to slow up, until, after going
about thirty yards, she stopped, unable to go forward or back.
Undaunted by this unexpected resistance, Porter cried out that the
"Cincinnati" would push the tug along; and the heavy gunboat,
withdrawing a short distance to gain headway, hurled herself forward,
and dashed into the willows with a force that would have carried her
through any bridge ever built. But the old fable of the lion bound
down by the silken net was here re-enacted. The gunboat did not even
reach the tug. The slender willow-shoots trailed along the sides,
caught in the rough ends of the iron overhang, and held the vessel
immovable. Abandoning the attempt to advance, the gunboat strove to
back out, but to no avail. Then hooks were rigged over the side to
break away the withes, and men slung in ropes alongside vigorously
wielded sharp cutlasses and saws; but still the willows retained their
grip. Matters were now getting serious; and, to add to Porter's
perplexity, reports came in that Confederate troops were coming down
upon him. Then he began to lose confidence in his iron-clads, and wish
right heartily for Sherman and his soldiers, of whose whereabouts he
could gain no knowledge. The enemy did not leave him long in doubts as
to their intention, and soon began a vigorous fire of shells from the
woods. Porter stopped that promptly by manning his mortars and firing
a few shells at a range measured by the sound of the enemy's cannon.
The immediate silence of the hostile batteries proved the accuracy of
the admiral's calculations, and gave him time to devise means for
escaping from his perilous position.
How to do it without aid from Sherman's troops, was a difficult
question; and in his perplexity he exclaimed aloud, "Why don't Sherman
come on? I'd give ten dollars to get a telegram to him." The admiral
was standing at the moment on the bank of the bayou, near a group of
negroes; and an athletic-looking contraband stepped forward, and,
announcing himself as a "telegram-wire," offered to carry the note "to
kingdum kum for half a dollar." After sharply cross-questioning the
volunteer, Porter wrote on a scrap of paper, "DEAR SHERMAN,--Hurry up,
for Heaven's sake. I never knew how helpless an iron-clad could be,
steaming around through the woods without an army to back her."
"Where will you carry this?" asked Porter, handing the despatch to the
negro.
[Illustration: Porter's Flotilla on the Red River.]
"In my calabash kiver, massa," responded the messenger with a grin;
and, stowing the paper away in his woolly hair, he darted away.
The telegram being thus despatched, Porter again turned his attention
to the willows; and, a fortunate rise in the water having occurred, he
was able to extricate his vessels and begin his retreat down the
bayou. He was somewhat perplexed by the silence of the Confederates,
from whom he had heard nothing since his mortars silenced their masked
batteries. The conundrum was solved by the sound of wood-chopping in
the forests ahead, and the discovery shortly after of two heavy logs
lying athwart the bayou, and stopping the progress of the vessels. An
hour's hard work with axe and saw removed this obstruction; and the
tug, slipping through first, shot ahead to prevent any more
tree-felling. The loud reports of her howitzer soon carried back to
the fleet the news that she had come up with the enemy, and was
disputing with them the right to the bayou.
The difficulties of the retreat were no less great than those of the
advance, with the intermittent attacks of the enemy added. The work of
removing heavy, soggy logs, half submerged beneath the black waters of
the bayou, clearing away standing trees, and breaking up and removing
Red-river rafts, wearied the sailors, and left them little spirit to
meet the enemy's attacks. The faint sounds of wood-chopping in the
distance told too well of the additional impediments yet in store for
the adventurous mariners. Scouts sent out reported that the enemy had
impressed great gangs of negroes, and were forcing them to do the work
of felling the trees that were to hem in Uncle Sam's gunboats, for the
benefit of the C.S.A. But the plans of the Confederates to this end
were easily defeated. Porter had not only many willing arms at his
command, but the powerful aid of steam. When the gunboats came to a
tree lying across the bayou, a landing party went ashore and fastened
large pulleys to a tree on the bank. Then a rope was passed through
the block; and one end having been made fast to the fallen tree, the
other was taken aboard a gunboat. The word was then given, "Back the
iron-clad hard;" and the fallen monarch of the forest was soon dragged
across the bayou and out of the way So expert did the jackies become
in this work, that they were soon able to clear away the trees faster
than the enemy could fell them. The tug then went ahead, and for a
time put an end to further tree-chopping, and captured several of the
negro axemen.
From the captured contrabands Porter learned that the attempt to cut
off his retreat was directed by the military authorities at Vicksburg.
This was a startling revelation. He had thought that the Confederates
were in entire ignorance of his movement; and now it turned out that
the wily Pemberton had kept a sharp lookout on the marauding gunboats,
and was shrewdly planning for their capture. While Porter was
pondering over this new discovery, a party of scouts came in, bringing
in four captured Confederates, two of whom were commissioned officers.
The commanding officer, a mere boy, was somewhat chagrined at being
captured, but felt confident that his friends would recapture him
shortly. Porter politely asked him to take a glass of wine and some
supper.
"I don't care if I do," responded the youngster; "and I have the less
compunction in taking it, as it belongs to us anyhow. In two hours you
will be surrounded and bagged. You can't escape. How in the Devil's
name you ever got here, is a wonder to me."
Porter smiled pleasantly, and, helping his guests lavishly, proceeded
to question them on the numbers and position of the Confederate
troops. He learned that a large body of troops had been sent out to
surround the iron-clads, and were even then closing in upon the
intruders. The danger was imminent, but Porter showed no trepidation.
"How far off are your troops?" he asked.
"About four miles. They will bag you at daylight," was the confident
response.
"Well, gentlemen," said the admiral, "Gen. Sherman is now surrounding
your forces with ten thousand men, and will capture them all before
daylight." And so saying the admiral went on deck, leaving his
captives lost in wonder; for the information carried to the Vicksburg
authorities had made no mention of troops.
Though Porter had put on so bold a front before his captives, he
really felt much anxiety for the fate of his iron-clads. He could hear
nothing from Sherman, who might be thirty miles away for all he knew.
Accordingly he retraced his course for a few miles, to throw the enemy
off the scent, and the next day began again his descent of the bayou,
bumping along stern foremost amid snags and standing trees. The enemy
soon gave evidence that he was on the watch, and opened fire with his
artillery from the rear. At this one gunboat steamed back and silenced
the artillery for a time, after which she rejoined her fellows.
Sharp-shooters in the thickets along the levee then began to grow
troublesome; and the whistle of the rifle-balls, with an occasional
_ping_ as one struck the smokestack, warned the sailors that the deck
of a gunboat in a narrow canal was no safe place in time of war. The
high levees on either side of the bayou made it impossible to use the
guns properly: so Porter turned them into mortars, and, by using very
small charges of powder, pitched shells up into the air, dropping them
into the bushes back of the levee. This somewhat checked the fire of
the sharp-shooters, but the decks were still dangerous places to
frequent. A rifle-ball struck Lieut. Wells in the head as he stood
talking to Porter; and he fell, apparently dead, upon the deck. The
admiral beckoned an officer to come and bear away the body; but the
newcomer was also hit, and fell across the body of the first. Porter
concluded that the locality was getting rather hot, and gladly stepped
behind a heavy plate of sheet-iron, which an old quarter-master
brought him with the remark, "There, sir, stand behind that. They've
fired at you long enough."
From behind his shield, Porter looked out anxiously at the forces by
which he was beleaguered. He could see clearly that the Confederates
were increasing in numbers; and, when at last he saw a long gray
column come sweeping out of the woods, his heart failed him, and for a
moment he thought that the fate of his flotilla was sealed. But at
that very moment deliverance was at hand. The Confederates were seen
to fall into confusion, waver, and give way before a thin blue
line,--the advance guard of Sherman's troops. The negro
"telegram-wire" had proved faithful, and Sherman had come on to the
rescue.
That ended the difficulties of the flotilla. The enemy, once brought
face to face with Sherman's men, departed abruptly; and soon the
doughty general, mounted on an old gray horse, came riding down to the
edge of the bayou, for a word with Porter. Seeing the admiral on the
deck of his gunboat, he shouted out, "Hallo! Porter, what did you get
into such an ugly scrape for? So much for you navy fellows getting out
of your element. Better send for the soldiers always. My boys will put
you through. Here's your little nigger. He came through all right, and
I started at once. Your gunboats are enough to scare the crows: they
look as if you had got a terrible hammering."
Somewhat crestfallen, Porter remarked, that he "never knew what
helpless things iron-clads could become when they got in a ditch, and
had no soldiers about." As Sherman declined to come aboard, Porter
went below to look after his two prisoners.
"Well, gentlemen," said he, as he entered the cabin, "you were right.
We are surrounded by troops."
The two Confederates were greatly exultant, but assured Porter that
they would see that he was kindly treated when taken into Vicksburg.
"To Vicksburg!" said he with mock amazement. "Who said any thing of
Vicksburg?"
"Why, of course you'll be taken there as a prisoner, now that our men
have surrounded you."
"Oh, you are mistaken there!" responded Porter. "The troops by whom I
am surrounded are Sherman's boys, six thousand strong." And at this
news the chagrined captives subsided, and began to consider the
prospects of a trip to the North, and incarceration in one of the
military prisons.
Sherman's army soon came up in force, and went into camp along the
road that skirted the levee. As night fell, the scene took on a wild
and picturesque air. In the narrow bayou lay the gunboats, strung out
in single file along a line of half a mile. They bore many signs of
the hard knocks they had received in their excursion through the
woods. Boats, davits, steam-pipes, and every thing breakable that rose
above the level of the deck, had been swept away by the overhanging
boughs, or dashed to pieces by falling trees. The smoke-stacks and
wheel-houses were riddled by the bullets of the Confederate
sharp-shooters. The decks were covered with rubbish of all kinds, and
here and there was a fissure that told of the bursting of some
Confederate shell. The paint was blistered, and peeling off, from the
effects of the cotton-fire through which the fleet had dashed.
On the shore blazed the camp-fires of Sherman's troops; and about the
huge flaming piles the weary soldiers threw themselves down to catch a
moment's rest, while the company cooks prepared the evening meal. Many
of the idle soldiers strolled down to the edge of the bayou, and,
forming a line along the levee, began chaffing the sailors on the
ludicrous failure of their attempt to perform naval evolutions in a
swamp.
"What's gone with your boats, Jack?" sung out one tall fellow in
cavalry garb. "Been in dry-dock for repairs?"
"How do you like playing mud-turtle?" said another. "Better stick to
salt water after this."
"Don't go bush-whacking again, unless you have the soldiers with you.
You look as if your mothers didn't know you were out." And at this a
yell of approval went up all along the line, while the badgered
sailors growled and tried to make sharp retorts to the stinging
ridicule of the landsmen.
So ended this memorable gunboat expedition. It is unparalleled in the
history of warfare. The feats performed by the unwieldy iron-clads in
the narrow bayous gained for them, from Lincoln, the title of
"web-footed" gunboats. They had traversed shallow and tortuous
channels; they had cleared their path of trees, snags, and even
bridges; they had run the gantlet of flaming cotton-bales and
Confederate bullets. After meeting and overcoming so many obstacles,
their final stoppage by a thicket of pitiful willow-shoots irritated
the blue-jackets and their commander extremely. Porter had penetrated
so far into the Yazoo country, that he could see how great damage
could be inflicted upon the Confederates, if the expedition could but
be carried out successfully. He had definite information to the
effect, that, at Yazoo City, the Confederates had a thriving shipyard,
at which they were pressing forward the construction of steam-rams
with which to sweep the Mississippi. To reach that point and destroy
the vessels, would have been a service thoroughly in accord with his
tastes; but the willows held him back. However, he was able to console
himself with the thought that the rams were not likely to do the
Confederates any immediate service; for a truthful contraband, brought
in by the Union scouts, informed the admiral that "dey has no bottom
in, no sides to 'em, an' no top on to 'em, sah; an' dere injines is in
Richmon'."
When the dangers encountered by the gunboats during this expedition
are considered, the damage sustained seems surprisingly small. Had the
Confederates acted promptly and vigorously, the intruders would never
have escaped from the swamps into which their temerity had led them. A
few torpedoes, judiciously planted in the muddy bed of the bayou,
would have effectively prevented any farther advance. More than once
the Confederates posted their artillery within effective range, and
opened a rapid and well-directed fire upon the gunboats, but erred in
using explosive shells instead of solid shot. "They were evidently
greenhorns," wrote Porter, exulting over his narrow escape, "and
failed to understand that we were iron-clad, and did not mind
_bursting_-shell. If they had used solid shot, they might have hurt
us." The infantry forces of the enemy were ample to have given the
marauding gunboats a vast deal of trouble, if the Confederate officers
had been enterprising, and had seized upon the opportunities afforded
them. Night after night the flotilla lay tied up in the centre of a
narrow bayou, with the levees towering so high above the gunboats'
ports, that the cannon were useless. At such a time, a determined
assault by a body of hostile infantry could hardly have been resisted.
Such an attack was the danger which Porter most feared throughout the
expedition, and he nightly made preparations for a desperate
resistance. The widest part of the bayou was chosen for the anchorage,
in order that a strip of water at least four feet wide might separate
the gunboats from the shore. The sides of the iron-clads were then
greased, and the guns loaded with grape, and elevated as much as
possible. Landing parties with howitzers were sent ashore, and posted
so as to enfilade any attacking force; scouts were sent out in all
directions; and the crews of the gunboats slept at their quarters all
night, ready for action at the first alarm. But it is doubtful whether
even these elaborate precautions could have saved the flotilla, had
the Confederates brought one regiment to the assault. However, the
enemy let the golden moment pass; and, after suffering the agonies of
suspense for several days, Porter at last saw his gunboats safely
anchored by the side of Sherman's protecting regiments.
Sherman and Porter held a consultation that night, and concluded that
it was useless to try to get around Vicksburg by hauling the gunboats
through the woods; and the following morning the flotilla started back
to the Union headquarters on the Mississippi.
Gen. Grant was beginning to get impatient. Weeks had passed away, and
there were still no gunboats or transports below the Vicksburg
batteries to aid him in carrying out his military plans. He held a
long consultation with Porter, the outcome of which was that the
admiral decided to run his gunboats and transports right through the
fire of the Confederate guns.
[Illustration: Dummy Gunboat passing Forts on the Mississippi.]
But, before sending a vessel through, Porter thought that he would
test the accuracy of the Confederate gunners by giving them a dummy
to fire at. He took a large flat boat, and built it up with logs and
lumber until it looked like a powerful ram. Two huge wheel-houses
towered amidships, on each of which was painted, in great, staring
letters, "Deluded Rebels, cave in." From the open ports, the muzzles
of what appeared to be heavy rifles protruded; though the guns that
seemed so formidable were really only logs of wood. Two high
smoke-stacks, built of empty pork-barrels, rose from the centre of
this strange craft; and at the bottom of each stack was an iron pot,
in which was a heap of tar and oakum that sent forth volumes of black
smoke when lighted. One dark night the fires in this sham monster were
lighted, and she was towed down to the Confederate batteries, and set
drifting down the river. She was quickly discovered, and the batteries
on the bluffs opened on her with a roar. There was nothing about the
dummy to be hurt, however; and it was impossible to sink her. So she
sailed majestically through the plunging hail of solid shot, and past
the terrible batteries that were thought to be a match for any thing
afloat. The Confederates in the trenches looked at each other in
astonishment and dismay. Word was sent to Gen. Pemberton that a
powerful Yankee iron-clad had passed the batteries unhurt, and was
speeding down the stream. The General's first thought was of a
gunboat, the "Indianola," lately captured from the Federals, and now
being converted into an iron-clad ram. She must be saved from
recapture, even if it should be necessary to destroy her. Word was
hurriedly sent down the river that a formidable ram was bearing down
upon the "Indianola;" and, if the latter vessel was not in condition
to do battle, she should be blown up. Accordingly, while the dummy
ram, caught in an eddy of the river, was whirling helplessly around
just below Vicksburg, the Confederates put the torch to their new
war-vessel, and she was soon a heap of ashes. Porter's little joke was
a good one for the United States.
But all the time that the Union navy was making these futile attempts
to get the better of the wily general who held the fort at Vicksburg,
a constant bombardment of the city was kept up. From gunboats and land
batteries, shells were hurled into the streets of the town, tearing
down houses, killing men, women, and children, and driving the
inhabitants to their cellars, or to deep caves dug in the hills. The
fire from the Union gunboats was most destructive, for they could drop
down to an advantageous point, shell the city until tired, then steam
back into safety again.
Cave-digging in the city became a regular business; and caves brought
from twenty to fifty dollars, according to their size. They generally
consisted of two or three rooms, and people lived in them quite
cheerfully during the time that the iron hail was falling in the
city's streets.
A Northern woman, who was pent up in Vicksburg during the siege, tells
graphically the story of the bombardment:--
"For many nights we have had but little sleep, because the Federal
gunboats have been running past the batteries. The uproar when this is
happening is phenomenal. The first night the thundering artillery
burst the bars of sleep, we thought it an attack by the river. To get
into garments, and rush up-stairs, was the work of a moment. From the
upper gallery we have a fine view of the river; and soon a red glare
lit up the scene, and showed a small boat, towing two large barges,
gliding by. The Confederates had set fire to a house near the bank.
Another night, eight boats ran by, throwing a shower of shot; and two
burning houses made the river clear as day. One of the batteries has a
remarkable gun they call 'whistling Dick,' because of the screeching,
whistling sound it gives; and certainly it does sound like a tortured
thing. Added to all this is the indescribable Confederate yell, which
is a soul-harrowing sound to hear. I have gained respect for the
mechanism of the human ear, which stands it all without injury. The
streets are seldom quiet at night: even the dragging about of cannon
makes a din in these echoing gullies. The other night we were on the
gallery till the last of the eight boats got by. Next day a friend
said to H----, 'It was a wonder you didn't have your heads taken off
last night. I passed, and saw them stretched over the gallery; and
grape-shot were whizzing up the street just on a level with you.' The
double roar of batteries and boats was so great, we never noticed the
whizzing. Yesterday the 'Cincinnati' attempted to go by in daylight,
but was disabled and sunk. It was a pitiful sight: we could not see
the _finale_, though we saw her rendered helpless.
[Illustration: Passing the Vicksburg Batteries.]
"Since that day the regular siege has continued. We are utterly cut
off from the world, surrounded by a circle of fire. Would it be wise,
like the scorpion, to sting ourselves to death? The fiery shower of
shells goes on day and night. H----'s occupation, of course, is gone,
his office closed. Every man has to carry a pass in his pocket. People
do nothing but eat what they can get, sleep when they can, and dodge
the shells. There are three intervals when the shelling
stops,--either for the guns to cool, or for the gunners' meals, I
suppose,--about eight in the morning, the same in the evening, and at
noon. In that time we have to both prepare and eat ours. Clothing
cannot be washed, or any thing else done. On the 19th and 22d, when
the assaults were made on the lines, I watched the soldiers cooking on
the green opposite. The half-spent balls, coming all the way from
those lines, were flying so thick that they were obliged to dodge at
every turn. At all the caves I could see from my high perch, people
were sitting, eating their poor suppers at the cave doors, ready to
plunge in again. As the first shell again flew, they dived; and not a
human being was visible. The sharp crackle of the musketry-firing was
a strong contrast to the scream of the bombs. I think all the dogs and
cats must be killed or starved: we don't see any more pitiful animals
prowling around.... The cellar is so damp and musty, the bedding has
to be carried out and laid in the sun every day, with the forecast
that it may be demolished at any moment. The confinement is dreadful.
To sit and listen as if waiting for death in a horrible manner, would
drive me insane. I don't know what others do, but we read when I am
not scribbling in this. H---- borrowed somewhere a lot of Dickens's
novels, and we re-read them by the dim light in the cellar. When the
shelling abates, H---- goes to walk about a little, or get the 'Daily
Citizen,' which is still issuing a tiny sheet at twenty-five and fifty
cents a copy. It is, of course, but a rehash of speculations which
amuses a half-hour. To-day he heard, while out, that expert swimmers
are crossing the Mississippi on logs at night, to bring and carry news
to Johnston. I am so tired of corn-bread, which I never liked, that I
eat it with tears in my eyes. We are lucky to get a quart of milk
daily from a family near, who have a cow they hourly expect to be
killed. I send five dollars to market each morning, and it buys a
small piece of mule-meat. Rice and milk is my main food: I can't eat
the mule-meat. We boil the rice, and eat it cold, with milk, for
supper. Martha runs the gauntlet to buy the meat and milk once a day
in a perfect terror. The shells seem to have many different names. I
hear the soldiers say, 'That's a mortar-shell. There goes a Parrott.
That's a rifle-shell.' They are all equally terrible. A pair of
chimney-swallows have built in the parlor chimney. The concussion of
the house often sends down parts of their nest, which they patiently
pick up and re-ascend with."
Grant's impassable lines about the beleaguered city soon made
starvation more to be feared than even the terrible shells from the
cannon of the gunboats. Necessaries of all sorts became woefully
scarce in Vicksburg. Five dollars could purchase only a little bit of
mule's flesh, hardly enough for a meal for two people. Flour was not
to be had at any price. Bread was made of coarse corn-meal or grated
peas. The ammunition of the soldiers in the trenches soon began to
give out, and the utmost economy was exercised. Many of the soldiers
were armed with muskets that required caps, and it was not many days
before caps were at a great premium. They were generally smuggled into
the city through the Union lines by fleet-footed carriers, who ran a
long gauntlet of Union pickets. Many were shot down in the attempt,
but more succeeded. One man who brought in sixteen thousand caps, was
nine days travelling thirteen miles, and was fired on more than twenty
times.
But, though Grant could have starved the city into subjection by
simply sitting and waiting, he grew tired of this, and determined to
force matters to an issue. The first thing to be done was to get the
gunboats and transports past the batteries. The transports were put
into shape to stand a cannonade by having their weaker parts covered
with cotton-bales; and on one dark night in June, the flotilla started
down the river, with the iron-clad gunboats in advance. Admiral Porter
led in the "Benton." At eleven o'clock the fleet got under way; and,
as the "Benton" came abreast of the first batteries, the alarm was
given in the Confederate camp, and a fierce cannonade began. Huge
fires were lighted on the shores to light up the river, and make the
gunboats visible to the Confederate cannoneers. The warships swung
grandly around the bend, responding with rapid broadsides to the fire
of the forts. All the vessels were hit once or oftener. The heavy
smoke that accompanies such fierce cannonading hung over the river,
cutting off all view of the surroundings from the sailors. The eddying
currents of the river caught the steamers, swinging them now this way,
now that, until the perplexed pilots knew not which way their vessels
were headed. The blue-jackets at the guns worked away cheerily,
knowing that enemies were on every side of them, and that, no matter
which way their missiles sped, an enemy was to be found. More than one
vessel turned completely around; and once, when the rising breeze
cleared away the smoke, the pilot of the "Benton" found that he was
taking his ship up-stream again, and was in imminent danger of
running down a friendly gunboat. But they all passed on without
receiving any severe injuries, and at five o'clock in the morning lay
anchored far below the city, ready to begin the attack upon the
Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf, which were called "the key to
Vicksburg."