ARMY OPERATIONS. 



05 



the unavoidable collision the ram was cut 

 half into and sunk immediately. Her crew 

 perished with her, but half a dozen or so es- 

 caping by clinging to the St. Louis. This was 

 a brilliant manoeuvre on the part of the St. 

 Louis, relieving and probably saving the Cin- 

 cinnati, which was already half sunk and al- 

 most unmanageable from the weight of water 

 in her hold. Seeing her condition, the acting 

 flag officer signalled her to withdraw, and she 

 was run upon the shoal at the foot of the island, 

 and sunk to the bottom. 



' The action had now lasted about forty-five 

 minutes. One of the enemy's boats had been 

 sunk and two blown up. The rest of their fleet 

 was crippled. To prolong the fight was to in- 

 sure its destruction. They therefore gradually 

 fell back, under cover of the smoke, around the 

 point to the protection of their land batter- 

 ies. The Cincinnati was the only boat injured 

 in the Union fleet. Four were wounded on 

 board of her." 



On the night of the 4th of June Fort Pillow 

 was evacuated. Everything of value was either 

 destroyed or removed by the Confederate offi- 

 cers. On the same night Fort Randolph, some 

 miles below, was evacuated. The few guns 

 were dismantled. Com. Ellet, in his report to 

 the Secretary of War, said: "Randolph, like 

 Pillow, is weak, and could not have held out 

 long against a vigorous attack." The remark 

 is worthy of notice, as it raises an inquiry why 

 such an attack was not made. The forts were 

 not attacked because this expedition, was not 

 sustained at the critical time for its success. 

 There were no land forces to cooperate with 

 the fleet. 



On the 13th of April the gunboats and trans- 

 ports arrived before Fort Pillow, and on the 

 4th of June this fort and the one below were 

 evacuated, and the way clear for the fleet to 

 attack Memphis. On the Tth of April the bat- 

 tle of Pittsburg Landing took place between 

 the Federal forces, under Gen. Grant, and the 

 Confederate forces, under Gen. Beauregard, 

 which resulted in the withdrawal, by Gen. 

 Beauregard, of all his forces from the battle 

 field to the strong position at Corinth. Reen- 

 forcements were required by the Federal army, 

 and Gen. Pope was ordered to join it. On the 

 21st of April he arrived in transports up the 

 Tennessee river at Pittsburg Landing. His 

 force numbered between twenty and twenty- 

 five thousand men, and were taken on some 

 thirty transports. This withdrawal of the force 

 of Gen. Pope put a stop to the progress of 

 the Mississippi river expedition. The gun- 

 boats, however, were obliged to remain in such 

 force as to prevent any movement of the Con- 

 federate gunboats up the river. Soon after the 

 withdrawal of Gen. Pope, Com. Foote obtain- 

 . ed leave of absence, and the command of the 

 fleet was taken by-Charles Ellet, jr., until the 

 arrival of Charles H. Davis, the successor of 

 Com. Foote. 



As has been stated, Forts Pillow and Ran- 



VOL. II.-5 



dolph were evacuated on the night of the 4th 

 of June. This evacuation was in consequence 

 of the withdrawal of a large portion of the Con- 

 federate army from Tennessee, and their aban- 

 donment of Corinth. The positions of Fort 

 Pillow, Randolph, and Memphis could not be 

 held under these circumstances, and were there- 

 fore wisely evacuated. 



Nothing now remained to oppose the Federal 

 fleet but the Confederate gunboats. On the 

 5th of June the fleet arrived within two miles 

 of Memphis, and came to anchor for the night. 

 On the 6th, at 4$ o'clock in the morning, the 

 gunboats Benton, Cairo, Carondelet, Louisville, 

 and St. Louis, and the four rams Monarch, Lan- 

 caster, No. 3, and Queen of the West, weighed 

 anchor, and dropped slowly down toward the 

 city. The Confederate gunboats were seen 

 approaching in order of battle. This was in 

 two lines, the first consisting of the Beauregard, 

 Little Rebel, Gen. Price, and Gen. Bragg, the 

 second of the Gen. Lovell, Gen. Van Dorn, Jeff. 

 Thompson, and the Sumter. "When within 

 three fourths of a mile, a shot from the Little 

 Rebel, the flag ship, fell within a short distance 

 of the Cairo, which replied with a broadside, 

 and soon the engagement became general. The 

 Confederates had fewer guns than their op- 

 ponents, but exceeded them in the number 

 of gunboats. The scene of the battle was in 

 front of the city of Memphis, and the shores 

 were crowded with spectators. After half an 

 hour two of the rams, Monarch and Queen of 

 the West, which had been lying on the Arkan- 

 sas side, in rear of the line of battle, steamed 

 out toward the scene of action. The Queen of 

 the West started directly for the Beauregard, 

 and that gunboat fired at, but missed her. A 

 second shot struck the ram but did her no inV 

 jury, and she steamed steadily and swiftly to- 

 ward her adversary. When she was within 

 ten feet the latter swung round, and the ram 

 missed her prey. Not discouraged, however, 

 the Queen ran toward the Gen. Price, which 

 fired several shots but did no damage, and 

 thrust her iron prow into the wheelhouse of the 

 Price, crushing it to pieces, and causing the ves- 

 sel to leak so badly that she was run to the Ar- 

 kansas shore, to prevent her from sinking. The 

 Beauregard now determined to avenge the 

 Price, and hurried toward the Queen, while 

 the ram in full motion was dashing toward her 

 foe. They bore down upon each other bravely, 

 but the skilful pilot of the enemy contrived to 

 evade the shock of the Queen, and struck her 

 aft so heavily that the ram was disabled and 

 began to leak. The Monarch, seeing the state 

 of affairs, dashed boldly at the Beauregard. 

 The latter fired four times at the ram, and 

 struck her bulwarks once, the ball glancing 

 harmlessly. She could not, however, avoid the 

 unerring aim of the Monarch, which crashed 

 through her bow, and caused her to fill in a few 

 minutes and go down as far as her cabin, the 

 shallowness of the water preventing her sink- 

 ing lower, and the white flag she had run up 



