ARMY OPERATIONS. 



61 



in front of the enemy's works commenced the 

 assault. I had taken a commanding position near 

 McPherson's front, and from which I could see 

 all the advancing columns from his corps, and 

 a part of each of Sherman's and McClernand's. 

 A portion of the commands of each succeeded 

 in planting their flags on the outer slopes of 

 the enemy's bastions, and maintained them 

 there until night. Each corps had many more 

 men than could possibly be used in the assault, 

 over such ground as intervened between them 

 and the enemy. More men could only avail in 

 case of breaking through the enemy's line or 

 in repelling a sortie. The assault was gallant 

 in the extreme on the part of all the troops, 

 but the .enemy's position was too strong, both 

 naturally and artificially, to be taken in that 

 way. At every point assaulted, and at all of 

 them at the same time, the enemy was able to 

 show all the force his works could cover. The 

 assault failed, I regret to say, with much loss 

 on our side in killed and wounded ; but with- 

 out weakening the confidence of the troops in 

 their ability to ultimately succeed. 



" No troops succeeded in entering any of the 

 enemy's works, with the exception of Sergeant 

 Griffith, of the Twenty -first regiment Iowa vol- 

 unteers, and some eleven privates of the same 

 regiment*. Of these none returned except the 

 sergeant and possibly one man. The work en- 

 tered by him, from its position, could give us 

 no practical advantage, unless others to the 

 right and left of it were carried and held at the 

 same time. The assault proved the quality of 

 the soldiers of this army. "Without entire suc- 

 cess, and with a heavy loss, there was no mur- 

 muring or complaining, no falling back, or 

 other evidence of demoralization." 



A Confederate report thus describes the 

 manner in which the assault was met by them : 

 " The days intervening from the 19th to the 

 22d were spent in one continued bombarding 

 and sharpshooting during the day ; in the night 

 they generally ceased firing. On the morning 

 of the 22d, the enemy opened a terrific fire with 

 their Parrott guns, and continued it till about 

 eleven o clock, when the bombardment ceased, 

 and heavy columns of the enemy could be seen 

 forming in line of battle. Our forces were all 

 ready for them, and eager for their advance. 

 At about a quarter to twelve, the column of the 

 Federal army advanced all along the lines in 

 splendid order, and with a loud cheer dashed 

 up to the works. They were gallantly respond- 

 ed to by our brave boys, and the first charge 

 repulsed. On the extreme right of our lines, 

 the nature of the ground prevented the enemy 

 from making any heavy attack, but on the right 

 of the centr^ the centre, and the left of the 

 centre, the assault was desperately made and 

 gallantly met. But once did our lines break, 

 and that was in Lee's brigade. The enemy 

 gained a temporary footing on the rifle pits, 

 but Lee quickly rallied his men, and, after a 

 desperate hand-to-hand fight, drove them out 

 and reoccupied the lines. The engagement 



at this point and at the right of the line, held 

 by Brig.-Gen. L. Herbert, was of a terrible na- 

 ture, the Federals having thrown their best 

 troops on these works. Five times did they 

 charge, and each time were repulsed. The last 

 charge on the right of Brig.-Gen. Herbert's, 

 lines was made by an Irish regiment (the Sev- 

 enteenth Wisconsin), carrying the green flag 

 of Erin. They came at a double quick up the 

 hill, each man in the front rank furnished with 

 ladders to reach the works. Three times they 

 essayed to plant their ladders, but were pre- 

 vented by the obstinate resistance offered by 

 the consolidated Twenty-first and Twenty- 

 third Louisiana regiments. At the third charge 

 they came within ten yards of the line, but two 

 volleys of buckshot from the shotguns of our 

 forces compelled them to make a precipitate 

 retreat from the front of our works. At about 

 2 o'clock they made their last charge, and were 

 again repulsed, when they retired, and did not 

 attempt any further demonstration that day. 

 The loss of the enemy on that day is estimated 

 by competent parties at not less than from 

 8,000 to 10,000, while our loss was between 

 800 and 1,000 in killed and wounded." 



The following despatch of Rear- Admiral Por- 

 ter to the Secretary of the Navy, describes the 

 part taken in this conflict by the naval force : 



MISSISSIPPI SQTTADKON, FLAG SHIP BLACK HAWK, ) 

 Mqrch 23cf, 1863. f 



SIR : On the evening of the 21st I received a com- 

 munication from Gen. Grant, informing me that he 

 intended to attack the whole of the rebel- works at 

 10 A. M. the next day, and asking me to shell the 

 batteries from 9.30 until 10.30, to annoy the garri- 

 sons. I kept six mortars playing rapidly on the works 

 and town all night, and sent the Eenton, Mound City, 

 and Carondelet up to shell the water batteries and 

 other places where troopa might be resting during the 

 night. 



At seven o'clock in the morning, the Mound City 

 proceeded across the river, and made an attack on the 

 hill batteries opposite the canal. At eight o'clock I 

 joined her in company with the Benton, Tuscumbia, 

 and Carondelet. All these vessels opened on the hill 

 batteries and finally silenced them, though the main 

 work on the battery containing the heavy rifled gun 

 was done by the Mound City, Lieut.-Commandmg 

 Byron Wilson. I then pushed the Benton, Mouna 

 City, and Carondelet up to the water batteries, leaving 

 the Tuscumbia, which is still out of repair, to keep the 

 hill batteries from firing on our vessels after they had 

 passed by. The three gunboats passed up slowly, 

 owing to the strong current, the Mound City leading, 

 the Benton following, and the Carondelet astern. The 

 water batteries opened furiously, supported by a hill 

 battery on the starboard beam of the vessels. The 

 vessels advanced to within 440 yards (by our marks), 

 and returned the fire for two hours without cessa- 

 tion, the enemy's fire being very accurate and in- 

 cessant. 



Finding that the hill batteries behind us were si- 

 lenced, I ordered up the Tuscumbia to within 200 

 yards of the batteries, but her turret was soon made 

 untenable. Not standing the enemy's shot, I made 

 her drop down. I had been engaged with the forts an 

 hour longer than Gen. Grant asked. The vessels had 

 all received severe shots under water, which we could 

 no_t stop up while in motion, and not knowing what 

 might have delayed the movement of the army, I or- 

 dered the vessels to drop out of fire, which they did 

 in a cool, handsome manner. This was the hottest 

 fire the gunboats have ever been under, but owing to 



