56 took place. After moving thirty miles, the Although Gen. Banks had declared in the commencement of the campaign that his occupation of the country would be permanent, such was now the state of affairs as to require his withdrawal, the season having passed for operating with any chance of success. Preparations for this object were soon commenced. The position of the fleet was most serious, and its extrication is thus related by Rear-Admiral Porter: MISSISSIPPI SQUADRON, FLAGSHIP BLACK HAWK, } MOUTH RED RIVER, May 16th, 1864. SIR: I have the honor to inform you that the vessels lately caught by low water above the falls at Alexandria, have been released from their unpleasant position. The water had fallen so low that I had no hope or expectation of getting the vessels out this season, and, as the army had made arrangements to evacuate the country, I saw nothing before me but the destruction of the best part of the Mississippi squadron. There seems to have been an especial Providence looking out for us in providing a man equal to the emergency. Lieut.-Col. Bailey, Acting Engineer of the 19th Army Corps, proposed a plan of building a series of dams across the rocks at the falls, and raising the water high enough to let the vessels pass over. This proposition looked like madness, and the best engineers ridiculed it; but Col. Bailey was so sanguine of success that I requested to have it done, and he entered heartily into the work. Provisions were short and forage was almost out, and the dam was promised to be finished in ten days or I was doubtful the army would have to leave us. about the time, but I had no doubt about the ultimate success, if time would only permit. Gen. Banks placed at the disposal of Col. Bailey all the forces he required, consisting of some three thousand men and two or three hundred wagons. All the neighboring steam-mills were torn down for material; two or three regiments of Maine men were set at work felling trees, and on the second day after my arrival in Alexandria, from Grand Ecore, the work had fairly begun. Trees were falling with great rapidity, teams were moving in all directions, bringing in brick and stone; quarries were opened; flat-boats were built to bring stone down from above, and every man seemed to be working with a vigor I have seldom seen equalled, while perhaps not one in fifty believed in the undertaking. These falls are about a mile in length, filled with rugged rocks, over which at the present stage of water it seemed to be impossible to make a channel. The work was commenced by running out from the complished, notwithstanding there was a current running of nine miles an hour, which threatened to It will take too much time to enter into the details sweep every thing before it. of this truly wonderful work; suffice it to say that the dam had nearly reached completion in eight days' working time, and the water had risen suffiOsage, and Neosho, to get down and be ready to pass ciently on the upper falls to allow the Fort Hindman, the dam. In another day it would have been high enough to enable all the other vessels to pass the upper falls. Unfortunately, on the morning of the 9th inst., the pressure of water became so great that it swept away two of the stone-barges which swung in below the dam on one side. Seeing this unfortu nate accident, I jumped on a horse and rode up to where the upper vessels were anchored, and ordered the Lexington to pass the upper falls if possible, and thought I might be able to save the four vessels below, immediately attempt to go through the dam. I not knowing whether the persons employed on the work would ever have the heart to renew the enterprise. The Lexington succeeded in getting over the upper falls just in time, the water rapidly falling as she was passing over. She then steered directly for the opening in the dam, through which the water was rushing so furiously that it seemed as if nothing but Thousands of beating destruction awaited her. hearts looked on anxious for the result. The silence was so great as the Lexington approached the dam that a pin might almost have been heard to fall. She entered the gap with a full head of steam on, pitched down the roaring torrent, made two or three spasmodic rolls, hung for a moment on the rocks below, was then swept into deep water by the currents, and rounded to safely into the bank. Thirty thousand voices rose in one deafening cheer, and universal joy seemed to pervade the face of every man present. The Neosho fclbwed next-all her hatches battened down, and every precaution taken against accident. She did not fare as well as the Lexington, her pilot having become frightened as he approached the abyss, and stopped her engine when I particularly ordered a full head of steam to be carried. The result was that for a moment her hull disappeared from sight, under the water. Every one thought she was lost. She rose, however, swept along over the rocks with the current, and fortunately escaped with only one hole in her bottom, which was stopped in the course of an hour. The Hindman and Osage both came through beautifully without touching a thing, and I thought if I was only fortunate enough to get my large vessels as well over the falls my fleet once more would do good service on the Mississippi. The accident to the dam, instead of disheartening Col. Bailey, only induced him to renew his exertions, after he had seen the success of getting four vessels through. The noble-hearted soldiers, seeing their labor of the last eight days swept away in a moment, cheerfully went to work to repair damages, being confident now that all the gunboats would be finally brought over. The men had been working for eight days and nights, up to their necks in water, in the broiling sun, cutting trees and wheeling bricks, and nothing but good humor prevailed among them. On the whole, it was very fortunate the dam was carried away, as the two barges that were swept away from the centre swung around against some rocks on the left and made a fine cushion for the vessels, and prevented them, as it afterward appeared, from running on certain destruction. The force of the water and the current being too great to construct a continuous dam of six hundred feet across the river in so short a time, Col. Bailey determined to leave a gap of fifty-five feet in the dam, and build a series of wing dams on the upper falls. This was accomplished in three days' time, and on the 11th instant the Mound City, the Carondelet, and Pittsburgh came over the upper falls, a good deal of labor having been expended in hauling them through, the channel being very crooked, scarcely wide enough for them. Next day the Ozark, Louisville, Chillicothe, and two tugs also succeeded in crossing the upper falls. Immediately afterward the Mound City, Carondelet, and Pittsburgh started in succession to pass the dam, all their hatches battened down and every precaution taken to prevent accident. The passage of these vessels was a most beautiful sight, only to be realized when seen. They passed over without an accident except the unshipping of one or two rudders. This was witnessed by all the troops, and the vessels were heartily cheered when they passed over. Next morning at ten o'clock, the Louisville, Chillicothe, Ozark, and two tugs passed over without any accident except the loss of a man, who was swept off the deck of one of the tugs. By three o'clock that afternoon, the vessels were all coaled, ammunition replaced, and all steamed down the river with the convoy of transports in company. A good deal of difficulty was anticipated in getting over the bars in lower Red River-depth of water reported only five feet; gunboats were drawing six. Providentially, we had a rise from the back-water of the Mississippi-that river being very high at that time-the back water extending to Alexandria, one hundred and fifty miles distant, enabling it to pass all the bars and obstructions with safety. Words are inadequate to express the admiration I feel for the ability of Lieut.-Col. Bailey. This is without doubt the best engineering feat ever performed. Under the best circumstances, a private company would not have completed this work under one year, and to an ordinary mind the whole thing would have appeared an entire impossibility. Leaving out his ability as an engineer-the credit he has conferred upon the country-he has saved the Union a valuable fleet, worth nearly $2,000,000; more, he has deprived the enemy of a triumph which would have emboldened them to carry on this war a year or two longer, for the intended departure of the army was a fixed fact, and there was nothing left for me to do in case that event occurred but to destroy every part of the vessels, so that the rebels could make nothing of them. The highest honors the Government can bestow on Col. Bailey can never repay him for the service he has rendered the country. To Gen. Banks, personally, I am much indebted for the happy manner in which he has forwarded this enterprise, giving it his whole attention night and day; scarcely sleeping while the work was going on; attending personally to see that all the requirements of Col. Bailey were complied with on the instant. I do not believe there ever was a case where such difficulties were overcome in such a short space of time, and without any preparation. Previous to passing the vessels over the falls, I had nearly all the guns, ammunitions, provisions, chain cables, anchors, and every thing that could effect their draft taken out of them. * * * * * * * I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, DAVID D. PORTER, Rear-Admiral. Hon. GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C. The last of the gunboats passed the falls on May 12th, and Alexandria was evacuated on the next day. As early as 10 A. M. the town was discovered to be on fire in several places. Various opinions existed as to its origin, but nothing positive was known. It is situated on a plain, in the centre of a rich cotton-growing region, with six hundred inhabitants. The fire spread with great rapidity. Gen. Banks made Women gathering their helpless babes in their arms, rushing frantically through the streets with cries that would have melted the hardest hearts to tears. Little boys and girls were running hither and thither crying for their mothers and fathers; old men leaning on a staff for support to their trembling limbs, were hurrying away from the suffocating heat of their burning homes. The helpless wives and children of absent husbands and fathers were almost in the twinkling of an eye driven into the streets, leaving every thing behind but the clothes they then wore. Owing to the simultaneous burning in every part of the city, the people found no security in the streets, where the heat was so intense as almost to create suffocation. Everybody rushed to the river's edge, being protected there from the heat by the high bank of the river. The steamboats lying at the landing were subjected to great annoyance, the heat being so great that the decks had to be flooded with water to prevent the boats from taking fire. Among those who thus crowded the river bank were the wives, daughters, and children, helpless and now all homeless, of the Union men who had joined the Federal army since the occupation of Alexandria. Their husbands had already been marched off in the front toward Semmesport, leaving their families in their old homes, but to the tender mercies of the Confederates. The torch had now destroyed their dwellings, their household goods and apparel, the last morsel of provisions, and left them starving and destitute. As might be expected, they desired to go along with the Federal army, where their husbands had gone. They applied to be allowed to go aboard the transports. They were refused! They became frantic with excitement. The officers of the boats were desirous of doing so, but there was the peremptory order not to allow any white citizen to go aboard. It had been expected when the army arrived that the occupation would be permanent, and that protection would be given to all who came forward and took the oath of allegiance; while those who would not were threatened with banishment and confiscation of property. Hundreds came forward and took the oath. An election was held, and delegates were sent to the constitutional convention then in session at New Orleans. A recruiting office was opened, and a large number of white men were mustered into the United States service. Quite a number of permanent citizens of Alexandria took the oath, and were promised protection. Their houses and other property were now all reduced to ashes, and they turned out in the world with nothing, absolutely nothing, save the amnesty oath. They could not now go to the Confederates and apply for charity. They too applied to be allowed to go aboard the transports and go to New Orleans. They were refused in every in stance! The guns taken from the boats above the falls were bursted; and when every thing was ready, the fleet, last of all, moved away, leaving the place wrapped in a dense volume of smoke. The fleet proceeded down the river about ten miles, and laid up for the night. On the next day the advance of the army was overtaken by the fleet, and on the 16th both began to arrive at Semmesport. The Atchafalaya was crossed the next day by the army, by means of twenty |