MAP SHOWING THE DEFENSES OP THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE POSITIONS OP THE MORTAE-PLEET AT THE OPENING OP THE BOMBARDMENT.
״CLIFTON" AND ״ WESTFIELD," ALTERED NEW TORN CITY FERRY-BOATS.	״OWASCO."	"HARRIET LANE.
MORTAR-STEAMERS ATTACKING THE WATER-BATTERY OF FORT JACKSON.
great fury; "but it was some time before they could obtain our range, as we were well concealed behind our natural rampart. The enemy’s fire was rapid, and, finding that it was becoming rather hot, I sent Lieutenant Guest up to the head of the line to open fire on the forts with his 11-inch pivot. This position he maintained for one hour and fifty minutes, and only abandoned it to fill up with ammunition. In the meantime the mortars on the left bank (Queen’s division)wei׳e doing splendid work, though suffering considerably from the enemy’s fire.
I went on board the vessels of this division to see how they were getting on, and found them so cut up that I considered it necessary to remove them, with Farragut’s permission, to the opposite shore, under cover of the trees, near the other vessels, which had suffered but little. They held their position, however, until sundown, when the enemy ceased firing.
At 5 o’clock in the evening Fort Jackson was seen to be on fire, and, as the flames spread rapidly, the Confederates soon left their guns. There were many conjectures among the officers of the fleet as to what was burning. Some thought that it was a fire-raft, and I was inclined to that opinion myself until I had pulled up the river in a boat and, by the aid of a night-glass, convinced myself that the fort itself was in flames. This fact I at once reported to Farragut.
At nightfall the crews of the mortar-vessels were completely exhausted; but when it became known that every shell was falling inside of the fort, they redoubled their exertions and increased the rapidity of their fire to a shell every five minutes, or in all two hundred and forty shells an hour. During the night, in order to allow the men to rest, we slackened our fire, and only sent a shell once every half hour. Thus ended the first day’s bombardment, which was more effective than that of any other day during the siege.
Next morning the bombardment was renewed and continued night and day until the end, with a result that is thus described in a letter from Colonel
the good effect of all this care was shown in the final result of the mortar practice.
Having finished the preliminary work, on the 16th of April Farragut moved up his fleet to within three miles of the forts, and informed me that I might commence the bombardment as soon as I was ready. The ships all anchored as they came up, but not in very good order, which led to some complications.
The place which I had selected for the first and third divisions of the mortar-vessels was under the lee of' a thick wood on the right bank of the river, which presented in the direction of the fort an almost impenetrable mass. The forts could be plainly seen from the mast-heads of the mortar-schooners, which had been so covered with brush that the Confederate gunners could not distinguish them from the trees. The leading vessel of the first division, of seven vessels, under Lieutenant-Commanding Watson Smith, was placed at a point distant 2850 yards from Fort Jackson and 3680 yards from Fort St. Philip. The third division, commanded by Lieutenant Breese, came next in order, and the second division, under Lieutenant Queen, I placed on the east side of the river, the head of the line being 3680 yards from Fort Jackson.
The vessels now being in position, the signal was given to open fire; and on the morning of the 18th of April the bombardment fairly commenced, each mortar vessel having orders to fire once in ten minutes. The moment that the mortars belched forth their shells, both Jackson and St. Philip replied with
and coal. All the steamers of the mortar-fleet were then sent to her assistance, and after eight days’ hard work they succeeded in pulling the Mississippi through. To get the Pensacola over looked even more difficult. I asked Captain Bailey to lend me the Colorado for a short time, and with this vessel I went as close as possible to the Pensacola, ran out a stream-cable to her stern, and, by backing hard on the Colorado, soon released her from her disagreeable position. The next day at 12 o’clock I passed her over the bar and anchored her off Pilot Town.
The U. S. Coast Survey steamer Sachem, commanded by a very competent officer, Mr. F. H. Gerdes, had been added to the expedition for the purpose of sounding the bar and river channel, and also to establish points and distances which should serve as guides to the commander of the mortar-flotilla. Mr. Gerdes and his assistants selected the positions of the bomb-vessels, furnished all the commanders of vessels with reliable charts, triangulated the river for eight miles below the forts, and planted small poles with white flags on the banks opposite the positions of the different vessels, each flag marked with the name of a vessel and the distance from the mouth of its mortar to the center of the fort.
The boats of the surveyors were frequently attacked by sharp-shooters, who fired from concealed positions among the bushes of the river bank. During the bombardment the Coast Survey officers were employed day and night in wat ching that the vessels did not move an inch from their places, and
Union forces. A dozen improvised gun-boats would have held the entire length of the river if they had been sent there in time. The efficient fleet with which Du Pont, in November, 1861, attacked and captured the works at Port Eoyal could at that time have steamed up to New Orleans and captured the city without difficulty. Any three vessels could have passed Forts Jackson and St. Philip a month after the commencement of the war, and could have gone on to Cairo, if necessary, without any trouble. But the Federal Government neglected to approach the mouth of the Mississippi until a year after hostilities had commenced, except to blockade. The Confederates made good use of this interval, put-tingforth all theirresourees and fortifying not only the approaches to New Orleans, but both banks of the river as far north as Memphis.
Farragut experienced great difficulty in getting the larger vessels over the bar. The Hartford and BrooMyn were the only two that could pass without lightening. The Richmond stuck fast in the mud every time she attempted to cross. The Mississippi drew two feet too much water, and the Pensacola, after trying several times to get over, ran on a wreck a hundred yards away from the channel. There she lay, with her propeller half out of water, thumping on the wreck as she was driven in by the wind and sea. Pilots had been procured at Pilot Town, near by; but they were either treacherous or nervous, and all their attempts to get the heavy ships over the bar were failures. Farragut felt extremely uncomfortable at the prospect before him, but I convinced him that I could get the vessels over if he would place them under my control, and he consented to do so. I first tried with the Richmond (Commander Alden), and, although she had grounded seven times when in charge of a pilot, I succeeded at the first attempt, crossed the bar, and anchored off Pilot Town. The next trial was with the frigate Mississippi. The vessel was lightened as much as possible by taking out her spars, sails, guns, provisions,
SECTION OF FORT ST. PHILIP DURING THE ENGAGEMENT.
The details of the fort drawn from a photograph.
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