QUIET ALONG THE

CHAPTER XXXV.

MAY, 1862.

COAST-PENSACOLA EVACUATED-HALLECK AT CORINTH -THE ENEMY'S COMMUNICATIONS CUT OFF-NAVAL ACTION AT FORT PILLOW -FIGHT AT FARMINGTON NEAR CORINTH-GALLANT CAVALRY CHARGECORINTH EVACUATED-ELLIOT'S CAVALRY EXPEDITION-BUTLER AT NEW ORLEANS HIS VARIOUS ORDERS-MITCHEL IN ALABAMA-STATE OF AFFAIRS AT THE CLOSE OF THE MONTH-IMPORTANCE OF A VICTORY BEFORE RICHMOND ANXIOUS STATE OF THE PUBLIC MIND.

HILE such stirring events signalized the month of May around Richmond and Washington, exciting news was received from other portions of the country. Quiet however, reigned along the Atlantic slope-nothing of especial interest occurring in Burnside's command or Hunter's department, except the appointment of Stanley as Governor of North Carolina, who was formerly a Member of Congress from that state. South, Pensacola was evacuated on the twelfth, (the troops having gone to reinforce Beauregard) and the navy yard destroyed.

Halleck at Corinth was slowly, yet surely, tightening his coils around the enemy, and the two great armies of the east and west were concentrated for a decisive blow. The fall of New Orleans at the close of April had given a new phase to military affairs in the south west; for no sooner was it accomplished than Farragut began to move up the Mississippi, capturing cities as he went. It was a long way, it was true, to Memphis, and fortifications lined the banks, which were especially strong at Vicksburg. Still, the control of the Mississippi was considered an accomplished fact, and Beauregard must regard it as such, and change his plans accordingly. Meanwhile, however, Halleck steadily pushed forward his

works, and every week found him nearer the enemy's fortifi cations. Various skirmishes took place, in which we usually gained more or less important advantages. One expedition cut the Mobile and Ohio rail road at Purdy, destroying Beauregard's communication with the north. On the third, General Pope, commanding the left wing, sent a force under General Paine to Farmington, where it encountered the enemy between three and four thousand strong, and defeated them with a loss of only fourteen killed and wounded. At the same time, an artillery reconnoissance was made to Ellendale, and destroyed a part of the track of the Memphis and Charleston rail road, thus circumscribing sadly Beauregard's means of obtaining supplies. In the meantime, the rebel commandér received the news of the capture of Baton Rouge. Thus, turn which way he would, he saw only disaster. The sky was black with the gathering tempest, and it thundered all around him.

At fort Pillow, but little progress was made, and it began to look as though nothing would be done there until Farragut should come up from below. The rebels, however, seeing the straitened condition into which they were being forced, resolved to destroy Foote's fleet before the former should arrive, and on Saturday, the tenth, boldly came up from under the guns of the fort and attacked it.

NAVAL ACTION AT FORT PILLOW.

The rebel

Eight iron-clad gun boats, four of them fitted up as rams, advanced early in the morning and offered battle. ram, Louisiana, appeared first around the point, accompanied by four gun boats. The Cincinnati was lying in shore at the time and allowed her to pass in silence. She then swung out into the stream, when the ram turned with the intention of running her down. Captain Stembel of the Cincinnati immediately opened his broadsides, sending his shot crashing

452

REBEL STEAMER SUNK.

against the monster, but without checking her progress. Bow on, under a full head of steam she came, shaking the ponderous shot from her mailed sides like hail stones. Stembel, seeing he could not stop her progress, turned the head of his vessel so that the ram instead of striking him, shot alongsid "coming within close pistol range. Coolly leveling his revol ver, he shot the rebel pilot at the wheel, at the same time receiving a ball in his own shoulder. The boarding crews of both now opened with a close and deadly fire of small arms. The ram endeavored to get her head around again so as to drive her iron prow into the Cincinnati and sink her. Failing in this, the rebel Captain determined to board his antagonist. The vessels were now so near each other, that the gunners could not swab out their guns, and the rebel craft swarmed with boarders, armed to the teeth. Stembel immediately ordered his steam batteries to open, and the hose was turned on the deck of the ram. A cloud of steam obscured the combatants for a moment, and then shrieks and cries arose from the scalded wretches, many of whom jumped overboard to escape their agony. Astounded at this new mode of warfare, the ram withdrew in all haste. In the meantime other rebel gun boats arrived, among them the Mallory, which attempted to repeat the experiment of the Louisiana. As she came rapidly on, the Federal gun boat St. Louis, rushed upon her with a full head of steam, and striking her amid-ships with a terrible crash, nearly cut her in two. water poured into the ugly rent that was made, and in a few minutes she went to the bottom, with nearly all on board. A few clung to the sides of the St. Louis, and a few were picked up by the Cincinnati-the rest found their graves in the muddy waters of the Mississippi. The other gun boats of our fleet now entered the contest, and a close and fierce cannonade followed. A dense cloud of smoke covered the river, wrapping the combatants in its folds-now settling down

The

over the boats and now shooting in swift contortions upward as the heavy broadsides rent it asunder. Soon, a heavy explosion, louder than the roar of artillery, made the banks tremble. A rebel gun boat had been blown up, leaving only fragments of shattered timber where she had floated. Captain Davis, on the flag-ship Benton, coolly directed all the movements of his flotilla, and the answering signals showed that the captains were fighting their ships as composedly as they would execute a maneuver.

At length, the shattered, disabled rebel fleet gave up the contest, and retired under the guns of the fort. Davis had showed that he was worthy to stand in the place of the gallant Foote. Our loss was slight, though it was afterward discovered that the Cincinnati had received serious injury.

Only the day before, Beauregard had made an equally unsuccessful attempt on the land forces that environed him. Farmington, which Pope had captured on the third, and which the enemy retook two or three days after, was again occupied by him on the eighth, while the cavalry pushed on to within three miles of Corinth. The next day the enemy advanced against him in force under General Bragg.

FIGHT AT FARMINGTON.

The action commenced at ten, with artillery, and continued till noon, when it ceased. General Paine, who was in command of our forces, discovering that the rebels were maneuvering to get in rear of him, and cut him off from the main army, determined to withdraw. A swamp was in his rear, across which only a single road led, over which he must carry his entire command. In the mean time, the rebels had moved their artillery so as to deliver a cross fire on this, while their extended wings were sweeping down on either flank. To leave nothing behind, and gain time to get

454

A CAVALRY CHARGE.

his columns across this single, narrow causeway, Paine ordered the Second Iowa cavalry to charge the enemy's guns. It was a desperate order, but Colonel Hatch, to whom it was delivered, cared little for that. Four hundred were to charge in the face of ten thousand; but his only anxiety was lest his men should refuse to follow him. But the brave Iowans were ready to a man. Filing up a ravine as far as they could, to avoid the shot and shell that swept the field, they boldly ascended the slope, face to face with the battery. Quickly forming, they responded to the pealing bugle with loud shouts, and with sabers flashing above their heads, dashed full on the guns. The skirmishers in front went down like bending grain, before their fierce gallop; but the moment the field was cleared of these, the artillery opened on them with canister and shrapnel. Before the destructive fire, that line of horsemen would have disappeared like mist in the hurricane, had not the guns, in the astonishment caused by this sudden apparition, been too much depressed. The fiery loads tore up the ground in front of them, cutting down a hundred horses, but did not stop the remainder. Seeing the clattering tempest full upon them, the affrighted gunners quickly limbered up their pieces. The object of the charge being thus accomplished, which was to silence the battery while the columns could swiftly pass where its cross-fire swept, Hatch ordered the bugle to sound a recall. But the excited troopers never heard it, or if they did, heeded it not, and dashing on the gunners, sabred them at their pieces. They then fell back to the swamp, and the column safely effected its retreat to the farther side.

Pope was not reinforced so as to enable him to hold his ground, because Halleck did not wish to bring on a general engagement at that time, nor on that ground. Refusing to take any great risk, where a cautious advance made success certain, he pushed his army forward, step by step, forcing