been posted in front of the Licking bridge, prevented a third detachment of Morgan's troops from entering the town by another route. But their resistance was only temporary, for soon the want of ammunition on the part of the Federals, and the overwhelming masses of the guerrillas, gave the latter the preponderance. At this crisis Colonel Landrum, who com manded the Union men, called upon the remaining citizens of the town to come forward and assist in defending it against the common enemy. Many complied with the requisition, and an extemporaneous force charged upon Morgan's troops, through one of the streets. But it was soon apparent that even this effort would be unavailing. The horde of the Rebel chief was pressing gradually into the town by different openings and avenues, and resistance at last became wholly futile. Colonel Landrum then gave the order to retreat. The Rebels took possession of the place. Their object was merely rapine and plunder. They supplied themselves with horses, carriages, provisions, and other property, wherever they found them. They were sadly disappointed, however, in not finding money. After the marauders had accomplished their purpose, as far as they were able, they evacuated the town, leaving behind them their deadand wounded. The Federal loss was two killed, twenty-eight wounded. After these achievements Morgan was compelled to retreat from the limits of Kentucky. By the end of July that State was free from his presence. The difficult task of capturing him had been undertaken by several Union officers of rank; but in vain. The fault lay not so much in them, as in the peculiar nature of the service in question. Morgan and his men were mounted on the swiftest steeds in the country. His march was not encumbered by baggage or wagons. He might be easily pursued, but not so easily overtaken; and the utmost that could be accomplished was to drive him away before the approach of a more regular and substantial force.

On the 17th of July, an important event took place in connection with the civil and political history of the Southern Rebellion. On that day President Lincoln approved, and by his approval converted into law, the Confiscation and Emancipation Act, which had already been passed by both Houses of Congress. This act was a continuance of the vigorous measures which had been adopted by the administration, to crush by every lawful means the power of the insurgent States. It provided in substance that whoever should thereafter be guilty of treason against the United States, should either suffer death, or be fined and imprisoned, and his slaves, if he have any, should be declared free; and also, that if any person should in any way encourage and assist the existing rebellion, he should be fined and imprisoned, and his slaves, if he have any, should be set free. It enacted that no person thus aiding the rebellion, in any way, should thenceforth be competent to collect debts which might be due him in the loyal States, or in the District of Columbia; and that the slaves of persons

EXPEDITION SENT TO TRENTON AND POLLOCKSVILLE.

307 who had been engaged in hostility against the Government of the United States, who had escaped within the lines of the Federal armies, should not be restored to their masters, but be declared free. It provided that no fugitive slave who had thus escaped should be restored to his master, unless the master should prove that he was loyal to the Federal Government, and had taken no part in the Rebellion against it, or in any manner assisted it; that it should be proper for the President, if he desire so to do, to employ persons of African descent to assist in the suppression of the Rebellion, in such manner as he may deem expedient; and that it may also be lawful for him to make provision for the colonization and settlement of such negroes, who, having been set free through the operation of this act, might desire to locate themselves beyond the limits of the United States. These various provisions, which were evidently founded on indisputable principles of abstract justice and political wisdom, indicated more clearly than ever, the determination of the Federal Government not to trifle with its enemies; and it must be admitted that they thereby inflicted a heavy blow upon the insurgents, in the most tender and jealously guarded portion of their interests.

General Burnside having been ordered to transfer a large portion of his troops from Newbern, in North Carolina, to the army of the Potomac, under General McClellan, the remainder of the force which he left behind him was placed under the orders of General Foster. That officer deemed it expedient, on the 29th of July, to send two expeditions inland from Newbern, for the purpose of ascertaining the strength of the enemy in that vicinity, and to demonstrate to the Rebels that, though the Federal forces had been diminished, they still remained formidable and efficient. Accordingly, one detachment under Colonel Lee was sent to Trenton, on the Trent river, another, under Colonel Fellows, was despatched to Pollocksville, thirteen miles distant from Newbern. The former body, in their march toward Trenton, encountered a portion of the pickets of the enemy, who instantly fled. A number of the third New York cavalry started in pursuit, but were unable to overtake them. At the bridge which spanned the Trent, a few shots were exchanged between the parties, after which the Rebels again retreated, having set fire to the bridge. After some effort the conflagration was extinguished, and the Federals proceeded into the town. They found it entirely evacuated by the troops who had been posted there, and deserted by the majority of the inhabitants. The Federals proceeded to refresh themselves after their journey of twenty miles, and at five o'clock in the afternoon, resumed their march for the purpose of forcing a junction with the force under Colonel Fellows at Pollocksville. This result was effected without difficulty. The latter town was also found to have been abandoned by the Rebel force which had previously occupied it, and an easy triumph awaited the visitors. On the third day after the expedition started out, it returned to Newbern, without having

incurred any loss, but having accomplished an important purpose in demonstrating to the disloyal inhabitants of the adjacent country that the Federal forces in their vicinity were on the alert, and prepared to crush any attempt which might be made to resist their supremacy.

The successful effort recently made by the Rebel battering ram Arkansas, to defy the Federal fleet which opposed her approach to Vicksburg, was a just ground of mortification to the officers who should have defeated the attempt; and the demoralizing effect of her triumph upon the Federal troops, and the cause of the Union in that vicinity, was so potent that it was evident that something should be done to diminish its influence. Accordingly, Lieutenant-Colonel A. W. Ellet proposed to Commodore Davis to renew the attack upon her, and offered himself to command the steam ram Queen of the West, which should make the assault upon her, on condition that Commodores Davis and Farragut would occupy the batteries above and below Vicksburg during the operation. The purpose of this stipulation was to prevent the Rebel batteries from damaging or disabling the Queen of the West while making her approach to the Arkansas.

After a short deliberation, the proposition of Colonel Ellet was accepted. It was arranged that the expedition should start at daylight, and every preparation was previously made that prudence and tact could devise to secure success. Colonel Ellet manned his battering-ram with a selected crew of the best material in the fleet. The plan of attack adopted was as follows: three of the vessels of Commodore Davis-the Benton, the Cincinnati, and the Louisville-were to commence an assault upon the upper Rebel batteries; and the Bragg was to lie behind the bend of the river, ready to attack the Arkansas in case she escaped above. The Essex was to precede the Queen of the West down the river, grapple the Arkansas, draw her out into the stream, and thus give the Queen of the West searoom to run at her, and destroy her by her herculean and resistless, blows During the progress of these events, the vessels under the command of Commodore Farragut were to attack and engage the Rebel batteries below the city. A better plan could not possibly have been devised. The issue, however, furnished a marvelous illustration of the familiar adageman proposes but God disposes.

At the time appointed, the Essex, which was to occupy the van, led off in gallant style down the river. The Queen of the West then followed; but as she passed the flagship of Commodore Davis, the latter, waving his hand, exclaimed-"Good luck! good luck." These propitious words were unfortunately misunderstood by Colonel Ellet for an order to "go back." He obeyed, though surprised at such a command; and it was not till after the lapse of some time that the mistake was corrected. The Queen then resumed her progress toward the Arkansas, but the delay had sepa

ATTACK ON THE ARKANSAS BY COLONEL ELLET.

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rated her so far from the Essex, that the latter, having delivered a broadside at the Rebel ram, and being defeated in her attempt to grapple her, passed on down the stream. As the Queen approached the Arkansas, the batteries on the shore opened on her with tremendous fury. In vain Colonel Ellet listened for the promised assistance of the gunboats of the two commodores. Instead of their drawing the hostile fire of the foe, it was all concentrated on the devoted Queen of the West. It was now evident to Colonel Ellet that his position was a desperate one. He seemed to have been mysteriously abandoned to destruction by every vessel of the Federal fleet which should have co-operated with him. Nevertheless he did not despair, though a deluge of flaming thunderbolts hemmed him in on all sides. He determined to strike or to perish.

To increase the peril of his position he found the Arkansas moored in an unfavorable position for his assault. He was compelled to approach her by a circular route, and to strike her against the current, which would necessarily diminish both the accuracy of his aim, and the momentum of his blow. Consequently, when he charged upon her, the eddies of the stream altered his course so far that he struck her aft of her aft side gun, and the blow, though violent, was glancing. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, the Arkansas reeled and quivered beneath the assault, and it was at first thought that she was sinking. But it soon became evident that the rebound was almost harmless, and that no very serious damage had been inflicted. Colonel Ellet was now convinced that his only possibility of escape was by a rapid retreat, but even that was a forlorn and hopeless undertaking. Four Rebel batteries were now playing upon his boat, and as she, partially crippled as she already was, slowly struggled up the river, she was assailed by all their guns, together with the guns of the Arkansas. Her situation was terrible. Already she had been struck twenty-five times. Her chimney-stacks were perforated with balls. One of her steam-pipes had been shot away. Large holes had been bored through her sides and her bow. Several immense round shot passed over the head of Colonel Ellet, who, during the passage, lay flat upon the deck. A fifty-pound round rifled shot passed through the pilot-house, within a few inches of the helmsman. Two engineers were thrown down by the wind of the passing shot. Shells exploded in the cabin, shivering every thing within it to pieces. The machinery of the vessel was damaged and wrenched in various places. She was blackened, splintered, and shattered in every part of her exterior and her interior. Her appearance when she reached a point beyond the range of the guns of the enemy, resembled that of a complete wreck. And yet she did not sink; and what is still more marvelous, not a man on board of her had been killed-several had been slightly wounded. The engineers and firemen below expected at every moment to see a shot explode her boilers, which accident would

have inflicted instant death upon them; but that catastrophe did not occur.*

At length the Queen of the West regained her anchorage. The excuses given by Commodores Davis and Farragut for not rendering her the promised assistance, were remarkable. The former urged that after the Queen of the West passed him on her downward way, he found the baties of the enemy on the shore become so dangerous to several of his unboats, that he ordered them to sail up the river beyond their reach. At er having done so, he remembered his promise to assist the operations of the Queen of the West, and returned. But it was then too late to render her any assistance. Commodore Farragut plead that he found it impossible to weigh his anchors, and thus come within range of the batteries at the appointed time, and was thereby prevented from taking part in the engagement.

Notwithstanding the failure of this enterprise, the success with which the Queen of the West ran the gauntlet of the batteries of the enemy, rivalled, and even excelled, the boasted heroism displayed by the Arkansas on a previous occasion, in defying the guns of the Federal fleet; and in so far, the achievement was a success, by causing the laurels of the foe to wither, in presence of the greater daring and glory of the resolute commander of the Federal ram.

The important part which the navy of the United States had performed during the progress of the Rebellion, on many important occasions, very justly attracted to it the special attention of the people and the Government of the United States. Serious objections were made to the manner in which the several ranks and grades of the officers were then constituted, and a change was demanded by the popular voice on the subject. The result was, that a new arrangement was made, and new grades were estab lished, which gave a more favorable opportunity for the promotion of those who distinguished themselves in the service, while it conferred higher dignities upon those veteran commanders who had already attained eminence by a long term of patriotic devotion to the service.t

*It is worthy of remark, that the heroism of these men on this memorable occasion, was astonishing. Not a single indication of fear or terror was exhibited; and it is equally deserving of notice, that the firemen, who were negroes recently taken from the ad acent plantations, displayed a fortitude and firmness under these appalling circumstances, quite equal to that of their white associates.

It was on the 16th of July, 1862, that the Senate and House of Representatives made this alteration, and ordered as follows: That the active lists of line officers of the United States Navy shall be divided into nine grades, taking rank according to the date of their commission in each grade, as follows:

I:... Rear Admirals.

II....Commodores.

III.... Captains.

IV....Commanders.

V....Lieutenant-Coinmanders.

VI.... Lieutenants.
VII....Masters
VIII.... Ensigns.

IX....Midshipmen.