gaged as just described, the troops, which consisted of one snall division of infantry, under General Williams, were far from being idle.

*

An idea had been conceived that it was possible to isolate the city of Vicks burg, which was located on a bend of the Mississippi R.ver, by turning the course of that stream, and thus force the city inland, some six miles.* As the only strategical value of Vicksburg to the rebels was its power in blockading the river, if the channel could be thus changed into another direction, the rebel works would be useless, and could be reduced without much bloodshed, even if they were not voluntarily abandoned. To effect this change in the channel of the river, it was deemed necessary to cut a canal across the neck of land between De Soto and Richmond, La., and nearly opposite Vicksburg. The troops were therefore employed on this work, while the fleet bombarded the city. If the channel had been thus changed, the piece of land cut off in this method would have been taken out of the State of Louisiana, and added to the State of Mississippi.

On the 22d of July, 1862, this canal was declared completed; but the waters of the river were too low to flow through it, at least it was then so supposed; but, afterwards, it was ascertained that the canal was located in the wrong spot, to cause any variation in the channel.

The waters of the river continuing to subside rapidly, it was deemed advisable to raise the siege; and the rebels took this opportunity to fill up the canal cut by the Union troops, and then to add their Vicksburg garrison to the force engaged against Corinth, during the early part of October. They, also, further fortified the hills around

* On many previous occasions, the course of the Mississippi River had been changed in one night, by merely running a plough across a neck of land, and thus making a previous peninsula into an island.

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Vicksburg, on both the land and water sides, so as to ren der it, if possible, perfectly impregnable.

Such was the position of affairs, wheff General Grant commenced his advance into the State of Mississippi; and to prevent the naval vessels from New Orleans from again ascending the river, to co-operate with him, the rebel forces, on November 25th, 1862, fortified Port Hudson, on the southwest corner of East Feliciana County, La., and a short distance above Baton Rouge.

CHAPTER XVI.

FIRST MOVEMENTS TOWARDS VICKSBURG.

GENERAL JOHN A. LOGAN, one of the officers who had served under General Grant, from the first day he assumed command at Cairo, asserted, in the halls of the National Congress, that, if the Mississippi River could not otherwise be opened, "the men of the Northwest would hew their way to the Gulf," if the opportunity was only allowed them. The Government, finding this to be the temper of those hardy Western men, determined to foster that feeling, by not only enlarging General Grant's Department, but also by increasing his forces.

On the 28th of November, a force of infantry and cavalry, under Generals A. P. Hovey and Washburne, arrived at Delta, on the Mississippi River, near the mouth of the Yazoo Pass. They had started the previous day from He lena, on the Arkansas shore, at which point the Union troops about to join General Grant were being concen trated. General Washburne's cavalry made a reconnoissance to the mouth of the Coldwater River, where he captured a rebel camp, a number of horses, arms, and equipments, and routed the enemy. The reconnoissance was pushed along both the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers, thence to Preston, after which an expedition was sent to Garner's Station, to destroy the railroad bridge and track. This expedition was completely successful, as were several others.

of a similar character. The cavalry then returned via Charleston, and formed a junction, near Mitchell's CrossRoads, with General Hov y's forces. The reconnoissance was next pushed up to Panola, where an abandoned rebel camp was discovered, the occupants having fled during the previous night. The cavalry again moved in a southerly. direction to Oakland, and along the road towards Coffeeville. After ascertaining the exact position of the rebel forces, and being engaged in a few skirmishes, this part of the expedition returned to the mouth of the Coldwater River. General Hovey's command also cut some portions of the railroad lines. This movement created quite a panic among the rebels of the Southwest.

Meanwhile, the main forces, under General Grant, moved steadily forward along the line of railroad leading from Grand Junction to Grenada. On November 28th, the advance left Davis's Mills for Holly Springs, Colonel Lee's cavalry pushing on ahead. All along the line of march were evidences of the recent cavalry operations of the Union forces. At ten o'clock of the morning of November 29th, the advance passed through Holly Springs, pushing on rapidly still further south, arriving near Waterford on the 30th. In this place was discovered several evidences of the illegal traffic that had been carried on through the rebel lines; one house, in St. Louis, having a branch clothing establishment for the supply of the rebels. This, and similar facts, led General Grant to issue his order, No. 11.

Cavalry reconnoissances were sent out under Colonel Lee, and discovered the enemy in force on the Tallahatchie. A skirmish took place on November 30th, near Abbeville, resulting in the retreat of the rebels to the defences at that place. On the 2d of December, Abbeville was evacuated, and occupied by the Union forces. A series of skirmishes occurred on December 3d, near Oxford, Miss., between the

Union cavalry advance and the rebels, and resulted in the retreat of the latter. The cavalry then pushed on after Van Dorn's retreating column, and, on December 4th, drove the rebels out of Water Valley, engaging them sharply near Coffeeville, on December 5th.

As the cavalry thus pushed on, they were followed by the main army under General Grant, whose generalship was plainly manifested in every movement he made. By sending General Hovey's forces, via Delta, toward the railroad lines, he created a panic in the very vicinity through which he was marching, thus making his advance almost a bloodless one. The gunboat fleet were also operating along the rivers, especially the Yazoo, in which torpedoes had been sunk by the rebels, to repel the advance. On December 11th, the gunboat Cairo was sunk by the explosion of one of these hidden weapons.

Skirmishes would occasionally take place at the posts left behind General Grant in his advance, but as he always took care that such places should be well guarded, these brief contests did not, at first, interfere with his movements. On December 12th, a skirmish took place at Corinth, but was handsomely repulsed by Colonel (since General) Sweeny.

General Grant's head-quarters had, by this time, been removed to Oxford, Mississippi; but, in consequence of the attack upon and disgraceful surrender of Holly Springs, on December 20th, with all its stores, etc., so necessary to the advance, General Grant's main forces had to fall back to that place, where he located his head-quarters, in order to recruit his supplies. Upon the investigation of the matter concerning this surrender, General Grant found that it was not warranted by any circumstances that attended it, and he expressed his dispicasure in the following condemnatory order :