NAVY, U. S., OPERATIONS OF. 



639 



ly an additional naval and military force was 

 brought up, including Porter's mortar fleet, and 

 the latter opened the bombardment on the 

 night of June 26-27, directing their fire partly 

 against the town and partly against some for- 

 midable batteries on the heights. On the 

 morning of the 27th the Owasco, Lieut. Guest, 

 ran up abreast of the town and threw in some 

 incendiary shells, which failed to explode. At 

 3 o'clock on the morning of the 28th the squad- 

 ron made a move to pass the batteries, the mor- 

 tar fleet supporting them as at the battle of 

 Forts Jackson and St. Philip. The Hartford 

 and several other vessels succeeded in passing 

 the range of batteries, which extended full 3 

 miles, and did this too in the face of a strong 

 current, but as there was not a sufficient land 

 force to cooperate in the attack, no substantial 

 benefit resulted from the movement. The 

 enemy were several times driven from their 

 batteries, but returned to their guns as soon as 

 the ships had passed. Forming a junction with 

 the western gunboat flotilla of Flag-Officer C. 

 H. Davis, Farragut concerted with that officer 

 and General Williams an expedition up the Ya- 

 zoo river, consisting of the gunboats Caron- 

 delet and Tyler and the ram Queen of the "West, 

 strengthened by sharpshooters from the army. 

 They started on the morning of July 15, and 

 near the mouth of the river encountered the 

 Confederate ram Arkansas. A severe fight en- 

 sued, in which both the Carondelet and the 

 Tyler were partially disabled, and the Arkan- 

 sas then entered the Mississippi and passing 

 boldly through the surprised fleets of Farragut 

 and Davis, took refuge under the guns of V icks- 

 burg. Farragut now determined to repass the 

 batteries, for the double purpose of supporting 

 the rest of his squadron and destroying the 

 Arkansas in passing ; to assist in which Flag- 

 Officer Davis added to his force the ram Sumtcr, 

 Lieutenant Commanding Erben. Toward even- 

 ing Davis opened a bombardment, for the pur- 

 pose of covering the movement, and Captain 

 Farragut succeeded in getting below Yicksburg 

 again with little loss of life, but his designs 

 against the Arkansas were defeated by the dark- 

 ness of the night. On the 22d Commander TT. 

 D. Porter with the iron-clad gunboat Essex, 

 and Lieut.-Col. Ellet,with the ram Queen of the 

 "West, made another attempt to destroy the 

 Confederate vessel, but the attack though ex- 

 ecuted with great gallantry under the fire of 

 the batteries did not succeed. The Essex ran 

 down to Farragut's fleet, and Farragut having 

 been instructed by the navy department to 

 drop down the river before the water got too 

 low, it was arranged that Commander "W. D. 

 Porter should remain below Vicksburg with 

 the Essex and Sumter. 



On the 28th of July Farragut arrived at Xow 

 Orleans, leaving the Katahdin and Kineo at 

 Baton Rouge. On the 5th of August the Con- 

 federates made a vigorous land attack upon the 

 latter place, which was repulsed after a severe 

 contest. The gunboats were not able to assist 



until toward the close of the action, when they 

 threw their shells directly into the midst of the 

 enemy with great effect. The Arkansas had 

 dropped down the river to take part in the at- 

 tack, but was not brought into action, one of 

 her engines having broken down. The next 

 morning Porter who was then at Baton Rouge 

 with the Essex, moved up to attack her, but 

 before the fight had fairly begun lur other en- 

 gine gave way, and she was run ashore, aban- 

 doned, and set on fire by the crew. About an 

 hour afterward she blew up. On the llth 

 Farragut sailed for Ship Island and Pensacola, 

 which latter place, having been evacuated by 

 the Confederates, was now made the depot of 

 the "Western Gulf squadron. 



Commander W. D. Porter remained at Ba- 

 ton Rouge until August 23, when, the town 

 having been evacuated by the Federal troops, 

 he proceeded up the river to reconnoitre bat- 

 teries reported to be erecting at Port Hudson, 

 and thence ascended to Bayou Sara to obtain 

 coal, where his boat's crew was fired upon by 

 guerillas. Some of the buildings were there- 

 upon burned, and a few days afterward, as 

 the firing was repeated, the rest of the place 

 was destroyed. Afterward, a boat's crew 

 from the Essex, sent ashore at Natchez to pro- 

 cure ice for the sick, was attacked by some 200 

 armed citizens, one of the sailors being killed, 

 and an officer and 5 men wounded. Com- 

 mander Porter immediately opened fire on the 

 town, set a number of houses in flames, and 

 continued the bombardment for an hour, after 

 which the mayor surrendered. On her way 

 down to New Orleans, the Essex had a brisk 

 engagement, on September 7, with the Port 

 Hudson batteries. 



In the mean time, several vessels of Captain 

 Farragut's squadron had been employed on 

 the coast of Texas, where acting volunteer 

 Lieutenant J. "W. Kittredge, with the bark 

 Arthur, the little steamer Sachem, and a 

 launch, captured Corpus Christi, after several 

 spirited engagements with the enemy's bat- 

 teries, but was unable to hold the town, and 

 was himself made prisoner, Sept. 14, while on 

 shore exploring. 



On September. 26, Acting Master Crocker, 

 with the steamer Kensington and schooner Ra- 

 chel Seaman, and Acting Master Pennington, 

 with the mortar schooner Henry Janes, cap- 

 tured Sabine P,ass, taking a battery of 4 guns 

 without loss. 



On the 4th of October, Commander "W. B. 

 Renshaw, with the steamers Westfield, Harriet 

 Lane, Owasco, and Clifton, and the mortar 

 schooner Henry Janes, captured the defences 

 of the harbor' and city of Galveston without 

 the loss of a man. The resistance was feeble : 

 the first shell from the Owasco burst immedi- 

 ately over a heavy 10-inch Columbiad mounted 

 on Fort Point, causing a panic in the fort, and 

 depriving the defenders of their main reliance. 



Toward the end of October, Lieutenant 

 Commander T. McKean Buchanan, with the 



