opening your way down the Mississippi. The reduction of these works is only a question of time, and we are in no hurry on that point. Nothing is lost by a little delay there. I am directing all my attention now to another object, and when that is accomplished the enemy must evacuate or surrender. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"H. W. HALLECK, Major-General Commanding.

"Flag-Officer Foote, commanding Naval Forces."

Foote himself came to the conclusion that the only effectual way of taking the island was to send boats and transports to General Pope, in order that he might cross the river from below, and attack the rebel works from the Tennessee shore. But how to get them to him was the question. To pass the forts was generally considered impracticable. Two councils of all the captains of the fleet were called together by Foote, and they voted that the thing was too hazardous. This plan therefore, for the time, was abandoned. The other plan was to send boats around the forts and island, through the swamps on the western side of the Mississippi, bringing them out at New Madrid. He thus reports concerning this:

"U. S. FLAG-SHIP 'BENTON,' ISLAND NO. TEN,

March 26, 1862.

"SIR,-Since my communication of the 20th instant we have been lying off the forts at long range, occasionally giving a rifle-shot, and more frequently throwing mortar-shells upon the island and at the fortifications on the Tennessee shore. The rebels still hold the forts, but the encampments are moved beyond range, with a sufficient number of men to serve their heavy guns, which seem to be well protected from our shells by their breast works. A communication from General Halleck (a copy of which is inclosed) leads me to hope that we may yet derive support from the Army, irrespective of General Pope's force, which will cross over from New Madrid and attack the enemy in the rear, while we make the attack in front, in case we succeed in getting two steamers and several cutters, which are now working their way toward that point, through the bayous or sloughs. Should this effort be successful, I hope to hear that a land force of some ten thousand men will be in the rebels' rear in the course of five or six days. With the exception of a ridge of higher land

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on the river bank of the Tennessee side, from directly opposite New Madrid to nearly opposite Island No. Ten, the whole country is inundated, or at least so much so as to prevent troops from other points reaching the rebels' rear, showing how admirably their position has been chosen for defense.

"We now have here six iron-plated gun-boats, one wooden gun-boat, the Conestoga, and sixteen mortar-boats; one iron-clad gun-boat being at Nashville, one guarding Columbus and Hickman-the two wooden boats up the Tennessee; while the Essex, Commander Porter, is repairing at St. Louis. We have all the mortar-boats we can use to any advantage, and still want two tow-boats for these, of greater force, as we have a strong current, requiring the greatest vigilance to prevent them and the gunboats from being carried down stream, from the want of steam-power of the latter. Colonel Buford, commanding the troops, has a force of between nineteen hundred and two thousand men; but who, in fact, living, as they necessarily do, aboard the transports-the banks being overflowed, and they surrounded by water-can not accomplish any thing of consequence. Thus we are waiting to open communication with General Pope at New Madrid.

"I forward herewith a copy of a letter sent me by General Strong, commanding at Cairo, from which it will be seen that the rebels have thirteen gun-boats, independent of the five below New Madrid, and the Manassas, or ram, at Memphis. I presume that these boats are not equal to ours; still we have no means of ascertaining their character, especially those at New Orleans. I have ordered the rifle-guns as they arrive at Cairo to be sent to us, as our rifles are unsafe, and must be condemned as soon as others can be supplied. The rifle-shells, as well as those of the 8-inch guns and thirty-twos, also burst prematurely, and I have been obliged to drown all fuses for a distance exceeding one thousand yards.

"I shall proceed with caution in our work here, being fully aware of our disadvantages. If, however, any disaster should occur from circumstances beyond my control, I have ordered the two iron-clad gun-boats Cairo and Louisville, with the wooden boats Taylor and Lexington, to meet at Cairo, or as far down as Columbus, and even Hickman, to prevent the rebel gun-boats from ascending the river beyond Cairo, which place is now so nearly overflowed as to render it necessary for us to remove all our ammunition. I have the honor to be, etc.,

"The Hon. Gideon Welles."

"A. H. FOOTE, Flag-Officer.

The opening of the canal, fifty feet wide and twelve miles long, from the bend of the Mississippi near Island No. Eight, across the neck of the swampy peninsula, to the neighborhood of New Madrid, was the joint work of the Army and Navy, and was one of the most energetic and remarkable achievements of the war. It was actually suggested by General Schuyler Hamilton, and was executed in the space of about two weeks, under the command of Colonel Bissel. Three fourths of a mile was through solid earth, and six miles of the way was hewn through a dense growth of heavy timber, which had to be cut off in some places four feet under water.* Advantage was taken of narrow channels connecting bayous, or places with more open water, and near New Madrid a small stream ran down from the swamp, which aided the enterprise; but it was a herculean task, and for nineteen days soldiers and sailors worked and floundered together in water and mud, cutting down and dragging out trees and stumps, with capstans, saws, and axes. Four light steamers and two or three gunbarges aided them in this. It was impracticable to make a passage deep enough for the great gun-boats; but, after incredible labor, the canal was finished, and in the first week of April a small fleet of light steamers and transports, gliding through the depths of a Mississippi forest, reached New Madrid, with the almost wild rejoicings of the troops there. In the mean time, on the 1st of April, a gallant feat was done by a boat expedition manned by seamen of the Benton and four other gun-boats, with fifty soldiers, the whole under the command of Colonel George W. Roberts, of the Second Illinois Volunteers. At eleven o'clock at night they started, rowing softly, and hugging the eastern shore in the shadow. They proceeded to the upper (Rucker's) battery, or the first of the seven forts on the Tennessee shore, and as they approached

* Lossing's "Civil War in America," vol. ii., p. 244.

Spiking of a Rebel Battery.

279

within thirty feet the sentinels perceived them, uttered a cry of surprise, fired, and fled. The alarm was also communicated to the rebel steamer Grampus; but the movements of the invaders were rapid; they landed, threw out a detachment of twenty men between the battery and the rebel camp, and proceeded to spike the guns, which they did successfully, and returned without loss to the fleet, although the rebel steamer was already bearing down upon them. This shore-battery, consisting of eleven guns, one of them a 10-inch columbiad, was one of the most formidable batteries of the enemy, and was so situated that for a boat to run by it it must pass within three hundred yards of the fort. The commodore speaks of this expedition in a letter to his wife:

"FLAG-STEAMER BENTON,' OFF ISLAND NO. TEN, April 2, 1862.

"MY DEAR WIFE,―The mail arrived at 9 P.M. last night, but brought me no tidings from you, which leaves me in a feverish state of excitement, as your letter three days ago spoke of your own and the children's illness. The Conestoga will soon be down with the mail, and I pray God that the news from you may be good, or more favorable.

"The expedition last night was entirely successful, as you will have heard from my telegram before receiving this. We have spiked all the guns in No. One, or the first fort on the Tennessee shore above No. Ten. The sentinels fired on our boats and ran, while our men jumped from the boats into the fort and spiked their guns, and got safely off. Just as they reached this vessel, a squall of thunder and lightning of the most terrific character struck us, as if it would destroy our fleet; but, thank God, no serious damage has been done except to two steamers, which fouled the Cincinnati. The rebels are firing briskly upon us this morning, which we are returning. I suppose they are indignant and demoralized somewhat at the spiking of their guns. No other news. I will write more when the mail comes. In the mean time, rest assured that, next to God, you and the dear children are in my thoughts. I send from a rebel paper a good piece, which you must apply to yourself and children. I know you will. Sanford is in my cabin, and dines with us to-day. He is in tolerable spirits. We all feel a little more encouraged from putting

to rest Fort No. One. The men are singing psalm tunes near the cabin, but, I am sorry to say, I hear more oaths than praises among them. Secretary Scott has been to see me this morning. He, as well as Colonel Buford, rather urge me on to a fight, but I resist and am cautious, and they have great confidence in my judgment. Read the rebel slip, and tell me if you do not fully indorse it, come what will. William often expressed Christian sentiments. I will add a word if the mail come before this goes, which is doubtful. Affectionately,

A. H. F."

One of the obstacles in the way of sending a gun-boat down the river past the forts was removed, and another formidable obstacle was the next day also done away by the destruction of the enemy's floating battery, moored at the head of the island. The flag-officer thus speaks of it in his dispatch:

"CAIRO, April 4, 1862.

"This morning the Benton, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg, with three mortar-boats, opened, and continued more than an hour, a fire on the rebels' heavy floating battery at Island No. Ten, when the latter, having received several shells from the rifles and mortars, cut loose from her moorings and drifted down the river two or three miles. The shells were thrown from the rifles into the different forts of the island, and into the rebel batteries lining the Tennessee shore. The return fire produced no effect on the squadron. No more men than were actually necessary to man the batteries were visible. A. H. FOOTE, Flag-Officer.

"The Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy."

Thus the flag-officer was gradually feeling his way, in his own method and time, toward making the move which should secure the capture of Island No. Ten. It is true that General Pope, waiting unemployed after his struggle and success at New Madrid, began to be extremely impatient; it is true that the country itself began to think that it was time for the downfall of the defiant stronghold-the key of the Mississip pi, as it was considered; it is true that our naval Marcellus seemed to have suddenly become a very Fabius in his caution; it is true that Farragut had turned his prow up stream