20 19 vent the sending of Rebel rëenforce- | accordingly turned over the comments to the vital point. The bat- mand. teries carried, our whole army was to John A. McClernand, of Illinois, be hurried thither and solidly estab-a "political General," according lished on the bluff; thence taking to the West Point classification--was all the remaining defenses in flank the coming man. He had been for or in reverse, and fighting its way years a Democratic Representative in on equal terms along the heights into Congress of some note, but had hithVicksburg. erto won no distinction in the field. Having been dispatched from Memphis by Gen. Grant to Vicksburg, he, on his arrival, acquiesced in Sherman's decision to return to Milliken's Bend, where he formally assumed command, and at once addressed himself to the execution of a purpose which he had formed while on his way down the river." This was the reduction of Fort Hindman, otherwise known as The Post of Arkansas, 50 miles from the Mississippi; where a settlement had been made by the French in 1685, on the first high ground reached in ascending from the great river; eligibly situated in a fertile and productive, though swampy, region, and commanding the navigation of the important river whose name it bears. It had been fortified by the Confederates, having a parapet 18 feet across and a ditch 20 feet wide by 8 deep, with strong casemates, a banquette for infantry, and a cordon of rifle-pits. But its guns were too few and light, and their powder inferior; so that Gen. T J. Churchill, who commanded, had never a chance to hold it, with his garrison of hardly 5,000," against the army that now advanced for its reduction -54 regiments in all—which, though doubtless sadly wasted by the bloody campaigns of 1862, must-to say nothing of the fleet-have numbered more than 20,000 men-probably Steele's division and one brigade of M. L. Smith's were accordingly embarked; and Sherman, who had left them at midnight, had, by 4 A. M., every man at his post, listening for the sound of Porter's guns; but no sound came. At daybreak, a line from Steele apprised the General that the fog on the river had been so dense that the Admiral had been unable to move; so that the enterprise must be postponed to the next night. But, when the next night came, it was bright moonlight, rendering the proposed attack quite too hazardous; while each hour's delay must inevitably increase the sad probability that the enemy would divine, or at least suspect, what was meditated, and prepare to render the purposed assault more costly than that of the 29th. The swamp wherein our men were encamped would be drowned by the next heavy rain; there were already ominous rumors afloat, which every thing tended to confirm, that Grant had fallen back, leaving the Rebels free to concentrate 40,000 men at Vicksburg; there was no use in staying: so Sherman resolved to go; and, by sunrise next morning," he had every thing on board, and was on the point of starting for Milliken's Bend; when he was apprised by Admiral Porter that an officer, his senior in rank, had arrived; to whom he 18 Jan. 2, 1863. 19 Jan. 4. 20 Dec. 30. 21 But 3,000 effectives, he reports. ARKANSAS POST TAKEN BY MCCLERNAND. 25,000 to 30,000. Directly after assuming command, Gen. McClernand moved up White river 15 miles, to the cut-off; thence across (8 miles) into the Arkansas," and up to Notrib's farm, three miles below the Fort; where his land forces were all debarked by noon of next day; by which time, our gunboats had shelled the enemy's sharp-shooters out of their rifle-pits along the levee, and were soon furiously bombarding the Fort. And now our soldiers, under Gens. Sherman, Morgan, Steele, D. Stuart, A. J. Smith, and Osterhaus, were pushed up to and nearly around the Fort, despite the obstacles presented by bayous and miry swamps; our men lying on their arms that night, without fires or tents, and being in position for a general assault at 10 next morning." At 1 P. M., the gunboats reopened; and, half an hour later, the brigades of Hovey, Thayer, Giles A. and T. R. Smith, had crossed at double-quick the narrow space of open ground directly in their front, gaining partial shelter in a belt of woods from the heavy Rebel fire which here brought them to a temporary halt; when, supported by Blair's brigade, they charged up to within musket-range of the enemy's defenses, where they again found partial shelter in some ravines, skirted by bushes and fallen timber. Meantime, Gen. Hovey had been wounded by a fragment of shell, and Gen. Thayer had had his horse shot under him; but our gunboats and Gen. Morgan's batteries had covered the advance by a rapid fire, silencing a part of the enemy's artillery; Lt. Webster's and Blount's Parrott guns, with Hoff 22 Jan. 9. 293 man's, Wood's, and Barrett's batteries, rendering efficient service; while Gen. A. J. Smith deployed nine regiments of Burbridge's and Landrum's brigades, supported by three more in reserve, and pressed back the Rebel right behind a cluster of cabins near his intrenchments, whence it was dislodged and driven in by a charge of the 23d Wisconsin, Col. Guppy. Following up his advantage, Smith pushed on his division until it was within 200 yards of the Fort, whence he sent McClernand word that he could almost shake hands with the enemy. By this time, Col. Sheldon, of Osterhaus's division, had sent up Cooley's battery on another face to within 200 yards of the enemy's lines, supported by the 118th and 120th Ohio, with the 69th Indiana in reserve; soon clearing the rifle-pits before them; when the 120th Ohio attempted to scale and carry by assault the east face of the Fort, but were stopped short of the fosse by an impassable ravine. At 31 P. M., the guns of the Fort having been silenced by the fire of our far superior artillery, and Sherman's right having been strengthen-. ed by three regiments from Smith's division, McClernand ordered a general assault: when our men dashed forward, and further resistance being hopeless—a white flag was raised from the ramparts, just as the 120th Ohio, leading the 83d Ohio and 16th Indiana, under Gen. Burbridge, were swarming over the intrenchments on the east, barely in advance of Sherman's and Steele's leading regiments on the north and west. Churchill had received from Lt.Gen. T. H. Holmes [Little Rock], 23 Jan. 11. commanding in Arkansas, a tele- | wounded, and thinks ours was from graphic order to "hold on till help arrived, or till all are dead”—a piece of silly gasconade, which had no warrant in the proximity of a relieving force; but which he says he would have obeyed to the letter, had not "several white flags" been raised, "to my great surprise," by the 24th Texas (dismounted) cavalry. He had no right to be surprised, nor even vexed, if it had really been his intention to subject his men to useless butchery. They had fought with signal gallantry and resolution, so long as hope remained; he admits that the "Fort had now been silenced about an hour, most of the fieldpieces being disabled;" and that his men had "nothing to rely upon now save their muskets and bayonets," against an enemy whose ample artillery was still efficient, who had mastered their defenses, and whose numbers were several times their own. Yet he says he had still a "great hope" to keep our whole army "in check till night; and then, if reenforcements did not reach me, to cut my way out;" and trusts" that the traitor who raised the white flag" (he had already stated that there were "several" such)-" will yet be discovered, brought to justice, and suffer the full penalty of the law." Such swagger had for years diffused an impression that the Southrons were less brave than they were proved by the stern ordeal of battle. Churchill reports his loss at not exceeding 60 killed, and 75 to 80 24 The Missouri Republican has a letter from an eye-witness, dated Arkansas Post, January 12, who makes them 4,500—all of them, but 1,000, from Texas-and adds: "Of the entire force garrisoning the Fort, 1,500 to 2,000. McClernand reports his spoils at "5,000" prisoners, 17 guns, 3,000 small arms, beside large quantities of munitions and commissary stores." He makes his losseskilled, 129; wounded, 831; missing, 17: total, 977. Having dismantled the Fort, destroyed whatever was combustible that he could not take away, and forwarded his prisoners to St. Louis, he rëembarked," pursuant to orders from General Grant, and returned to Milliken's Bend; having meantime sent an expedition, under Gen. Gorman and Lt.-Com. Walker, up the White river, which captured Des Arc and Duval's Bluff, without resistance. Gen. Grant having reorganized and refitted at Memphis his more immediate command, personally dropped down the Mississippi on a swift steamer and met " McClernand, Sherman, and Porter, near the mouth of White river, on their return from their triumphant incursion into Arkansas, accompanying them to Napoleon, where consultations were held, and a plan of action agreed on. MeClernand's force moved down the Mississippi next day; somewhat impeded by a violent storm; but reached, on the 21st, Young's Point, nine miles above Vicksburg, on the opposite bank, facing the mouth of the Yazoo. Here was the head of the canal projected and partly opened, months before, by Gen. Williams," intended to secure a passage up and down the Mississippi for our vessels, 1,000-mostly Texas cavalry-escaped, taking with them a great portion of the baggage. These surrounding the place, and before it could be effected an exit on the night our forces were fully accomplished." 25 Jan. 17. 26 Jan. 18. 27 See page 101. GRANT'S ATTEMPTS TO FLANK THE MISSISSIPPI. out of the range of the Vicksburg batteries, and perhaps change the main channel of the mighty river so as to leave Vicksburg on a bayou two or three miles back from that channel. Here our men were debarked," and work on the canal re.commenced; while Grant's corps was brought down on transports to their aid, and Porter's fleet strengthened by several additional iron-clads and gunboats. Gen. Grant arrived and assumed chief command Feb. 2d. Williams's engineers had located their embryo canal unwisely. At its head, a strong eddy set the current away from the bank, rendering difficult the coaxing of a large body of water into it if it were completed; while its lower terminus was commanded by the batteries of Vicksburg-a serious drawback upon its prospective usefulness. Still, it was judged expedient to complete this, rather than commence a new one; and the river was rising so fast, under the stimulus of incessant rains (which by no means increased the attractiveness to our soldiers of digging up the mire and tough clay), that it was confidently expected soon to obliterate all traces of our engineering blunders. As there was daily increasing peril that it would drown out our camps, compelling our men to rëembark, the excavated earth was all thrown up on the west side, forming an embankment in front of our camps, between them and Vicksburg. Thus the work was proceeding vigorously and hopefully, when" the swelling flood of the Mississippi -now eight feet above the bottom of the canal-broke over the precautionary dam erected across its head, 28 Jan. 22. 295 and at once poured in a flood which filled the embryo internal improvement in a few minutes, burying myriads of implements, and constraining the diggers to run for their lives. Several regiments, quartered in exposed positions, were obliged to move their tents and furniture with remarkable celerity; while some companies were isolated from our main body, and had to be ferried across the new lagoon to rejoin it. The embankment of the Vicksburg and Shreveport Railroad arrested the progress of the inundation northward; and our soldiers stationed below were required to move their tents to the ground above that embankment. And now, after some days' consideration and hesitating effort, it was decided that the canal was an abortion-the Father of Waters having paralyzed it by his veto; while the batteries of Vicksburg frowned grimly, defiantly as ever. Ere this, Gen. Grant-having more hands than work--had had a channel cut from the Mississippi, some 40 to 50 miles above, into Lake Providence; whence there was a continuous water-way, through bayous Baxter and Macon, into the Tensas, and thus into the Mississippi far below Vicksburg, as also into the Washita and Red rivers; while another sidecut, leaving the great river near Milliken's Bend, Bend, communicated, through a net-work of bayous and connecting streams, with the eastern (shorter) branch of the Tensas, and thence, through a similar net-work, regained the lower Mississippi near New Carthage. This one had actually been made so far available, by the help of dredge-boats, that a small 29 March 8, steamer and several barges had passed through it; when the rapid fall" of the river closed it for the season. A third and more determined effort to flank the defenses of Vicksburg was made on the east side of the Mississippi, by way of the 'Yazoo Pass;' which, leaving the great river a little below Helena, flows through Moon Lake into the Coldwater, and down this stream into the Tallahatchie, which, uniting with the Yallobusha, forms the Yazoo. Brig.-Gen. L. F. Ross, with a division of Gen. McClernand's corps from Helena, and the 12th and 17th Missouri, of Sherman's corps, headed this expedition, some 5,000 strong, which included the large gunboats Chilicothe and De Kalb, five smaller ones, and eighteen transports, under the command of Lt. Watson Smith. The passage through the levee of the Mississippi having been considerably enlarged, our vessels in succession boldly entered on the narrow, tortuous, but now headlong current, which bore them under a gigantic, overarching forest, into Moon Lake, and thus onward to the Coldwater. So constant and formidable were the obstacles encountered, in the shape of abrupt turns, fallen trees, inadequate depth, and sturdy limbs that swept away smoke-stacks and other standing fixtures, that three days were required for this transit, though the distance was barely twelve miles. Of course, the Rebels, who were fully and constantly posted, did not diminish these impediments, but were prone to aggravate them. 80 April 10 to 25. 32 March 11. 91 March 2. 39 Feb. 17. Loring reports that this raft had not been completed when our fleet arrived. The New York Tribune correspondent with the expedition Proceeding" down the Coldwater, the obstacles to be overcome were changed rather than diminished. The channel was a little wider, but hardly less crooked, while its current was sluggish; the impulse gained from the Mississippi having been lost by a diffusion of the water over the swamps and bottoms on either side. Two mortar-boats here overtook the flotilla; and the mouth of the Coldwater was at length reached: our vessels having experienced some damage to rudders, wheels, and other works, but having encountered no serious resistance from the enemy; and with no vessel sunk or disabled. Moving down the Tallahatchie, to a sharp easterly bend ten miles above its junction with the Yallobusha, the expedition was brought " to a stand, just above the little village of Greenwood. 33 Maj.-Gen. W. W. Loring had been dispatched " from Jackson to the Yazoo to bar any access by our forces to the valley of that river; and, having hastily studied its configuration and that of its chief tributaries, had chosen this as the point most favorable for resistance. The meeting streams approach within a mile, two or three miles above their junction; receding directly afterward. Loring, with his engineer, Maj. Meriwether, had obstructed the Tallahatchie by a raft, 34 with an old steamboat sunk behind it, and thrown a line of defenses, composed of cotton-bales and earth, across the neck of the peninsula; its best guns, says Lt. Smith's invincible lack of resolution and energy, and manifest indifference, retarded, by several days, the arrival of our vessels at this point, and was the true cause of our utterly needless failure. |
