was crowded with the crew, a hundred and seventy-five in number, who had descended from the deck to avoid the shells of the enemy. The horrors of the scene which immediately ensued transcended all powers of description. The hot vapor burnt and withered in a moment the mass of living victims, inflicting instant death upon some, and upon the rest, agonies far more terrible than death. Forty-five expired instantly. The remainder, scalded to a crimson hue, screamed and groaned, writhing with intense suffering. They rushed simultaneously toward the port-holes. Maddened and frantic with their insupportable torments, they threw them. selves into the river. Soon seventy or eighty persons were struggling in the water. At that awful moment, when common humanity would have dictated even among savages a cessation of the contest, the Rebels continued to fire upon the drowning wretches, as with desperation they strove to reach the land. Very few succeeded in doing so. Out of a hundred and seventy-five, who but a few moments before were in vigorous life, scarcely thirty escaped. Captain Fry, the commander of the Rebels, ordered his sharpshooters to distribute themselves along the shore, and to pick off the exhausted fugitives as they approached. This diabolical command was obeyed with an eagerness of cruelty such as would have disgraced a Fejee islander. The chief officer of the Conestoga promptly lowered his boats, and endeavored to rescue those who were yet alive. As soon as these emissaries of mercy came within range, they were also fired upon by the enemy. Both the gigs were struck, but fortunately were not sunk, and they succeeded in saving some from a watery grave. In the meantime the Federal troops on shore had reached the Rebel works, and having witnessed the scene enacted upon the river, assaulted the enemy with a commendable and intensified degree of enthusiasm. They soon charged upon them with the bayonet. A brief but desperate resistance was made. In a short time, however, the two forts were carried and occupied by the Federals. The enemy then fled toward St. Charles. Their entire force consisted of five hundred men. Of these fifty were captured; about a hundred were killed and wounded; the rest escaped. Among the prisoners was Captain Fry, the commander of the Rebels. He had formerly been an officer in the Federal service. The indignation of the Union troops against him was so intense, that it was with difficulty that Colonel Fitch could preserve his life from their assaults, by extending to him a clemency and a protection which he did not deserve. Except for the calamity on the Mound City, the expedition would have had unmixed success. In the end, nearly a hundred persons died in consequence of the terrible accident which had occurred. In a few days the Federal fleet resumed its progress up the White river; the obstructions in the stream were removed; and it eventually reached its destination without any further opposition or casualty.

Among the minor movements which took place in different portions

EXCURSION OF COLONEL HOWARD TO SWIFT CREEK. 277

of the field of conflict, to which a brief allusion may be made, was one which, about this period, set forth from Newbern under Colonel Howard, for the purpose of expelling the roving bands of the Rebels from the peninsula which intervenes between the Neuse and the Pamlico rivers. The expedition consisted of the seventeenth Massachusetts, part of the third New York cavalry, and a detachment of the Marine Artillery, with eight guns. These troops were placed on board the steamers Union, Allison, the Highland Light, and the gunboat Picket. Scarcely had these vessels sailed four miles up the Neuse, when they grounded on a bar, and their progress was stopped. General Foster was then informed by a messenger of the disaster which had occurred. He immediately sent the steamers Pilot Boy and Alice Price to the rescue. After some delay the vessels were relieved, and proceeded up the stream as far as Swift creek, at which point the enemy were reported to have erected some breastworks, and to have made it the centre of their raids in the vicinity, The troops were disembarked, and so completely were the Rebels taken by surprise, that several of them were captured. The seventeenth Massachusetts, commanded by Colonel Fellows, then led the advance, and occupied Swift Creek village. Colonel Howard took possesion of the bridge, and shelled the Rebels, whose breastworks of shingle lay on the opposite side of the stream. A few shots were returned by the foe, when the order was given to the Federal forces to charge. The enemy did not await the onset. As the Union troops approached they abandoned their intrenchments in dismay, and fled through the woods in all directions. Their running was so much better than their fighting, that only two prisoners. were taken, although a vigorous pursuit was made. On examination the works were found to be insignificant, and they could have presented little resistance to the Federal guns. After this easy conquest the troops returned to Newbern. The effect produced by the expedition upon, the Rebels in the vicinity was beneficial, as their excursions in that portion of the country, in small detached companies, thenceforth terminated.

The Federal commanders on the Mississippi continued their operations for the purpose of opening the navigation of that great commercial artery with the most commendable energy and ability. Vicksburg now alone remained, throughout its whole extent, in the possession of the enemy. The situation of this city was remarkable. It is built on the eastern bank of the river, on a considerable elevation. Steep bluffs exist both above and below it, whose height above the level of the stream is nearly a hundred feet. The Rebels had erected strong batteries in the vicinity of the town, and their position was such that the guns of the besieging vessels could not be brought to bear with much effect upon them, while they, from their superior elevation, possessed every advantage. In other respects, also, the situation of the place was peculiar. At this point the Mississippi makes an abrupt bend, in shape not unlike a horse-shoe, inclosing within its

embrace a strip of land little more than half a mile in width. At the extremity of this bend the city is built. These topographical oddities sug. gested to the minds of the Federal commanders, at a later period, the expedient of cutting a canal across this peninsula, thus opening a new channel for the river, and setting back the city several miles from the margin of the stream which was the source of its opulence, the avenue of its commerce, and chief implement of its resistance to the Federal Government. On the 21st of June Captain Porter, belonging to the fleet of Commodore Davis, who was then above Vicksburg, made a reconnoissance in the Octorara, for the purpose of ascertaining the best position at which his flotilla might be anchored. General Van Dorn commanded the Rebel forces at this place. These numbered eighteen thousand men. Having accomplished his purpose Captain Porter returned to his station. Commodore Davis then prepared to approach the city and commence the bom bardment. On Thursday, the 26th of June, a formidable fleet, consisting of about forty vessels of all descriptions, including transports, appeared before Vicksburg. An attack was immediately commenced, which was chiefly directed against the fortifications on the bluff below the town. The Rebel batteries responded with spirit. The firing continued during the whole day, and ceased only at the approach of night. On the next day it was resumed. In the afternoon the order was given to shell the town. Then the water batteries of the enemy responded, and the contest was kept up during the rest of the day. At night all the Federal captains of divisions were summoned to meet the commander on his flag-ship. They there received directions to resume the fire upon the city during that night, from all their mortars; and to continue the bombardment until further orders. Accordingly, at the appointed moment, the entire fleet of mortars, twenty in number, commenced the deadly music of their assault. The scene which ensued was extremely grand and imposing. The sound of the guns resembled a continuous peal of thunder, and the loud reverberations seemed to emulate the most furious discharges of heaven's artillery. The repeated explosions of the shells illuminated the midnight heavens far and near with incessant flashes of lurid light. The earth and river shook with the terrible concussions. The enormous shells, as they descended upon the doomed city, appeared like messengers of destruction from some distant

*The fleet of Commodore Porter consisted of the following vessels of war: Octorara, flag-ship, Geo. Brown, Executive Officer; Westfield, Commander W. B. Benham; Harriet Lane, J. M. Wainwright; Clifton, C. H. Baldwin; Miami, A. D. Harrel; Owasco, John Guest; J. P. Jackson, S. E. Woodworth. Commanding divisions of the mortar flotilla were Lieutenant Watson Smith, commanding first division; Lieutenant W. W. Green, commanding second division; Lieutenant R. R. Breese, commanding third division. The vessels composing the squadron of Commodore Davis were the Benton, Carondelet, Cincinnati, and Louisville. Those of Commodore Farragut were the Hartford, Brooklyn, Sciota, Oneida, Pinola, and the gunboats.

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and hostile sphere. Soon the city was in flames in various places; and after the lapse of an hour the order was given to suspend the bombardment. On the next day Commodore Farragut, who lay five miles below Vicksburg with his fleet of wooden vessels, sent word to the commander of the mortars above, that if he would engage the forts on the following morning before daylight, he would attempt to pass the batteries on the bluff, and unite their fleets. The suggestion was complied with, and his entire flotilla, consisting of three men-of-war, two sloops-of-war, and three gunboats, succeeded in making the passage during the bombardment. The flag-ship of the commodore was struck twice in the hull, suffering some damage. The other vessels escaped serious injury. This action lasted an hour and thirty minutes. Its result convinced the Federal commanders that however much their shot might injure the town, it would be impossible to cap. ture or destroy the batteries which lined the bluffs, without the assistance of a land force. The entire fleet then proceeded a short distance above Vicksburg and anchored. The mere destruction of the town alone would have been barren of results. Commodore Farragut therefore resolved to reopen the navigation of the Mississippi, which was the chief matter in dispute, by digging a new channel across the peninsula already described, named Cross-bend, thereby leaving Vicksburg at a harmless and impotent distance from the passing stream. Hundreds of negroes were immediately impressed from the adjoining plantations, and set to work in digging. This novel undertaking would require to be half a mile in length, about fifty feet in width, and eight feet below the water level. The chief disad vantage which attended the enterprise was the fact that at that period the water of the river was falling instead of rising. During the engagement before the town, and in the passage of the fleet of Commodore Farragut, the Federal loss was fifteen killed and thirty wounded. That of the Rebels was severe among the troops of Van Dorn, who then occupied Vicksburg. Leaving the Federal commanders and their difficult enterprise at that city, which was still in an inchoate condition, we will turn our attention to the more important but not very felicitous events which at this period transpired in the vicinity of the Rebel capital.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE INTRENCHMENTS OF THE FEDERAL ARMY BEFORE RICHMOND-THEIR EXTENT INACTIVITY OF THE FEDERAL FORCES-CONCENTRATION OF REBEL TROOPS IN RICHMOND-GLOWING EXPECTATIONS OF THE LOYAL COMMUNITY-THEIR DISAPPOINTMENT-THE TRANSFER OF MCCLELLAN'S BASE OF SUPPLIES AND OPERATIONS TO HARRISON'S LANDING-FIRST ATTACK OF THE REBELS ON HIS TROOPS AT MECHANICSVILLE-INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE-COMMENCEMENT OF THE MARCH TOWARD THE JAMES RIVER-BATTLE OF GAINES' MILLS-DESPERATE FIGHTING-HEROISM AND VALOR ON BOTH SIDES-VICISSITUDES OF THE STRUGGLETHE RETREAT CONTINUED TOWARD JAMES RIVER-DISPOSAL OF THE SICK AND WOUNDEDPERTINACIOUS PURSUIT BY THE REBELS-SINGULAR CARAVAN OF WAGONS, CATTLE, AND FUGITIVES BATTLE OF PEACH ORCHARD-ITS RESULTS-BATTLE AT SAVAGE'S STATIONRESOLUTE ASSAULTS OF THE ENEMY-APPALLING SCENES-IMPORTANT RESULTS-THE RACE TO WHITE OAK SWAMP-THE FEDERAL TROOPS WIN THE RACE.

AFTER the battle of Fair Oaks, which occurred on the first of June, 1862, the Federal army under General McClellan proceeded to assume its position before Richmond, to dig trenches and erect breast works, and to prepare for a final assault upon the city. This magnificent army consisted, when it first arrived before Yorktown, of a hundred and twenty thousand men. Subsequently the divisions of General Franklin, containing twelve thousand, of General McCall, numbering ten thousand, and a detachment from Baltimore and Fortress Monroe, including eleven thou sand, were added to it. Thus the entire number of Federal troops who had marched to the conquest of Richmond, formed a magnificent array of about a hundred and fifty thousand men. The line of redoubts and

intrenchments which they erected and occupied as they lay before the city, extended nearly fifteen miles, in the form of a colossal crescent, the right extremity reaching to the Meadow bridge at Hanover, the left resting upon Long bridge at Henrico. Portions of this immense line were within view of Richmond, whose tapering spires and swelling domes were visible in the distance. The most efficient and numerous array of the nation, its pride and hope, after many months of assiduous preparation and of mysterious delay, had at length reached the goal of their aspirations. The heart of this pestilent Rebellion lay directly before them. The last deadly blow at its pernicious life was anxiously expected from day to day by millions of patriots, when suddenly all was deranged by the new exigencies of the occasion, and by the unquestionable vigor, valor, and skill of the Rebel commanders who defended the city.

During the long interval which elapsed between the battle of Fair Oaks and the first attack made on the Federal troops on the 26th of June, a large portion of the army which General Beauregard had unaccountably withdrawn from Corinth, was transferred to Richmond. General Jack