miles, succeeded in destroying an army wagon train, and a quantity of stores, ammunition, etc., belonging to the en

emy.

On February 14th, Colonel Ellet captured a rebel steam transport on the Red River, at a point about fifteen miles above the mouth of the Black River. At the time of her capture this rebel vessel had on board two lieutenants and fourteen privates of the rebel army, and was laden with four thousand five hundred bushels of corn. The prisoners were put on shore, and the vessels sent under guard to a secure position.

Colonel Ellet then went about thirty miles further up the Red River, with the intention of capturing or destroying three other steamers which were lying under the protection of a rebel battery. The rebels opened upon the Queen with four pieces of artillery, and the pilot having purposely run the vessel aground, she was brought within easy range, and so crippled by the shots from the rebels that she had to be abandoned, Colonel Ellet and others escaping on bales of cotton, while the remainder of those on board were captured by the rebels.*

On the night of the 13th, the U. S. gunboat Indianola successfully ran by the batteries of Vicksburg, for the purpose of supporting the Queen of the West in her movements; but, after the former had passed Natchez, the captain was informed of the capture of the latter vessel by those who had escaped. The Indianola, under the guidance of Colonel Ellet, who had located his head-quarters on the captured vessel Era, then returned towards the Red River, with the intention of destroying the battery and retaking the Queen of the West.

* One of those was Mr. Finlay Anderson,

On arriving at the mouth of the Red River, it was ascertained that the rebels had several armed vessels up that stream, and, under the circumstances, it was deemed advisable not to proceed farther, but to return at once to Vicksburg. While ascending the river, Colonel Ellet's vessel was fired upon several times.

The Indianola was then detailed to blockade the mouth of the Red River, barges of coal having been floated by the batteries, to keep her well supplied with fuel.

At about half-past nine P. M. on February 24th, four armed rebel vessels approached the Indianola under the cover of darkness. The captured Queen of the West, which the rebels had armed and manned, and another ram, made the first attack upon the Indianola, and in a short time the engagement became general at close quarters. The other two rebel vessels were merely cotton clad, and not being heavily armed, could do but little damage to the Union gunboat. The rebel rams plunged with their prows at the Indianola, with great violence, but it was not until the sixth blow was administered that any serious damage was inflicted.

The engagement lasted one hour and twenty-seven minutes, after which the Indianola became so damaged that the captain ran her ashore, and surrendered her to the rebels, first destroying all documents of value that had been on board. But, before the rebels could take possession of their prize, her stern had sunk under water, and her guns rendered useless, the lighter ones having been thrown overboard.

The Indianola was finally destroyed by the rebels about the beginning of March, 1863. The following extract from the Vicksburg Whig, of March 5th, 1863, explains the reason of her destruction:

DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIANOLA.

"We stated a day or two since that we would not enlighten our readers in regard to a matter which was puzzling them very much. We alluded to the loss of the gunboat Indianola, recently captured from the enemy. We were loath to acknowledge she had been destroyed, but such is the case. The Yankee barge sent down the river last week was reported to be an iron-clad gunboat. The authorities, thinking that this monster would retake the Indianola, immediately issued an order to blow her up. The order was sent down by a courier to the officer in charge of the vessel. A few hours afterwards another order was sent down countermanding the first, it being ascertained that the monstrous craft was only a coal boat: but before it reached the Indianola she had been blown to atoms-not even a gun was saved. Who is to blame for this folly-this precipitancy ?"

About this time the commander at Memphis thought it necessary to suppress the circulation of an opposition newspaper, within the limits of the army lines; but General Grant, respecting the principle laid down with regard to the liberty of the press, at once rescinded the order, as soon as he had been made aware of the fact.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE LAKE PROVIDENCE CANAL.

THE success of a bayou canal in Missouri, near the vicinity of Island No. 10, induced the engineers on General Grant's staff to examine into the probable chances of success for a similar canal, from the bayous above Vicksburg to the bayous below the city. Captain F. E. Prime and Colonel G. G. Pride made a reconnoissance along a portion of the route, and reported the practicability of the plan. General Grant therefore determined to try the project, if for no other purpose than to engage the enemy's attention while he matured his own plans. Having more troops at Young's Point than could, at that moment, be there employed to advantage, and knowing that Lake Providence was connected by Bayou Baxter with Bayou Macon, a navigable stream, he set the men to work upon the canal between the Mississippi and the lake, so as to keep them from demoralizing idleness, and to divert the attention of the enemy.

To a person studying the map it would seem a very feasible project to connect the Mississippi River with the lake, especially when the level of the former lay somewhat higher than that of the latter. The lake is situated in Carroll County, La., about one mile west of the Mississippi River, which without doubt originally flowed through its bed, but had changed its course during one of the many freaks of Nature by which the channel of that great stream had been turned aside from its primary path. The length of the lake is about six miles, and it is fed by the Bayou Macon

and the Bayou Tensas. One point of the lake, which is half-moon shaped, approaches nearer to the Mississippi River than the other, and at this point the canal was cut. It was supposed by the engineers that a highway could be made from the Mississippi, seventy-five miles above Vicksburg, through Lake Providence, thence by the bayous into the Tensas River, which falls into the Black River at Trinity, La. The Black River pursues its course and falls into the Red River, by three channels, at a point about thirty miles above the mouth of the latter, which opens into the Mississippi River at the northern limit of Point Coupee Parish, and at about fifty miles above the fortified position of Port Hudson.. If this route had been made practicable, it would have opened a water communication between the positions above and below Vicksburg, and enabled General Grant to co-operate with General Banks, who was preparing to invest Port Hudson. Under cover of this engineering movement, General Grant began moving his forces below the line of the city of Vicksburg, and occupied certain points a short distance inland from the Louisiana shore of the Mississippi River.

The work of opening the Lake Providence route progressed rapidly, and one steamer and a number of barges were taken through the canal; but, about the middle of April, the Mississippi River began to fall with unusual rapidity, and the roads becoming passable between Milliken's Bend and New Carthage, the proposed water route was abandoned as unnecessary, and, with the low stage of water, mpracticable.

It appears from General Grant's report of the capitulation of Vicksburg, that he had but little faith in the success of the Lake Providence scheme; but was willing to allow the experiment to be tried, as it employed his men and covered his real movements from the enemy.