42 



AEMY OPERATIONS. 



side, and the ground on which nearly all of the 

 army waa encamped. As the canal cut the 

 peninsula at right angles, the troops were en- 

 camped west of it and behind this embank- 

 ment. On the 8th of March, when the enter- 

 prise promised success within a short time, the 

 dam across the mouth of the canal gave way, 

 owing to a rapid rise of the river and the great 

 pressure of the water. When it broke there 

 was a difference of eight feet between the bot- 

 tom of the canal and the surface of the water 

 in the river. The violence of the torrent as it 

 rushed through swept away all the implements 

 of labor, and the canal was full in a few min- 

 utes. The embankment had not been com- 

 pleted, and the water soon began to pour over. 

 A spectator thug describes the scene : " Some 

 regiments that were in exposed positions had 

 to gather up tents and camp equipage in hot 

 haste and confusion and run for the levee. 

 Several companies on the lower side of the 

 peninsula were cut off and had to be ferried to 

 the main body of the army. The embankment 

 of the Vicksburg and Shreveport railroad, 

 which cut the peninsula longitudinally, pre- 

 vented the water from flooding the northwest 

 quarter. But that was considered insecure ; 

 the troops were all ordered to move their quar- 

 ters to the levee." 



Some delay was caused \>y the efforts to re- 

 pair the damages, but it soon became manifest 

 that, with the existing high stage of the water, 

 some other plan would have to be adopted to 

 get below Vicksburg with the transports. 



At the commencement of the work on the ca- 

 nal, Gen. Grant, having more troops than could 

 be employed at Young's Point to advantage, 

 caused a channel to be cut from the Mississippi 

 into Lake Providence on the west side of the Mis- 

 sissippi, and another into Coldwater river by 

 the way of the Yazoo Pass, on the east side of 

 the Mississippi. From the former of these 

 routes no great expectations were entertained 

 by Gen. Grant. He thought possible, however, 

 that a route might be opened there through 

 which transports might pass into the Mississip- 

 pi, and enable him to cooperate with Gen. 

 Banks below. By the Yazoo Pass he expected 

 to get into the Yazoo by way of the Coldwater 

 and Tallahatchie rivers, with some light gun- 

 boats and a few troops, and destroy some Con- 

 federate transports in that stream and some 

 gunboats on the stocks. "With such views the 

 work on these channels was commenced. 



"While these operations were pushed forward, 

 other measures for the annoyance of the enemy 

 were also taken. A steamer called the " City 

 of Vicksburg " was daily noticed lying under 

 the batteries of the city, and it was known that 

 farther down the river there was a number of 

 transports rendering great service to the Con- 

 federate authorities by bringing supplies to 

 their troops at Vicksburg and at Port Hudson, 

 another strong position below. A movement 

 was planned to destroy these means of trans- 

 portation. Orders were therefore given to 



Col. Charles E. Ellet to prepare the ram steam- 

 er Queen of the "West for running down below 

 the batteries. This steamer was a wooden 

 freight vessel, strengthened so as to carry a 

 prow of iron. To protect her machinery from 

 injury by the shot and shells of the batteries at 

 Vicksburg, three hundred bales of cotton were 

 placed about it, and her steering wheel was re- 

 moved and placed behind the bulwarks of her 

 bow. Her armament consisted of a large 30- 

 pounder rifled Parrott gun on her main deck 

 as a bow gun, one 20-pounder, and three 12- 

 pounder brass howitzers on her gun deck. Be- 

 sides these she had fifty or sixty rifles, car- 

 bines, ciitlasses, pistols, &c. Her crew consist- 

 ed of a first, second, and third master, two 

 pilots, three engineers, blacksmiths, carpen- 

 ters, and deck hands ; also a squad of twenty- 

 six soldiers. It was planned that she should 

 start before daybreak on the morning of the 2d 

 of February. At the appointed time the 

 steamer was under way, but her steering ap- 

 paratus in its new position controlled her 

 movements so poorly that it was necessary to 

 replace it in its original position. This was 

 important, as the destruction of the City of 

 Vicksburg would depend in part upon the ac- 

 curacy of the blow of the Queen of the "West. 

 The detention which ensued prevented her 

 from passing round the point of the peninsula 

 into view from the Confederate batteries until 

 sunrise, when she was instantly greeted by a 

 shell that passed between her smoke chimneys 

 and struck the water about three hundred 

 yards behind her. After the sound of the first 

 shot broke the stillness of the morning, the 

 Confederate artillerists sprang to their pieces, 

 and a hundred guns were fired with a won- 

 derful celerity. Only three or four shots had 

 struck her before she reached the front of the 

 city. The first object now to be accomplished 

 was the destruction of the steamer City of 

 Vicksburg, which was made fast to the bank 

 about the centre of the bend of the river, where 

 the current ran very rapidly. To strike an un- 

 erring blow it was necessary for the Queen of 

 the West to round to amid the storm of balls 

 and shells, and move directly across the river 

 against her victim. As she approached the 

 steamboat and the city, the enemy, thinking 

 that she had been disabled, and that her com- 

 mander had concluded to surrender, raised en- 

 thusiastic cheers, which ceased as the ram 

 struck the steamer. The wide guards of the 

 Vicksburg, overlapping the deck of the Queen, 

 even to the barricade of cotton bales, received 

 the force of the blow and prevented the prow 

 of the ram from reaching her hull. At the 

 same time the current caught the stern of the 

 Queen and swung her round side by side with 

 the Vicksburg. This action of the current had 

 been anticipated by Col. Ellet, and the star- 

 board bow gun had been loaded with incendi- 

 ary shells. It was now fired into the Vicks- 

 burg. At the same time the shells from the 

 batteries had set on fire the cotton on the 



