PoUTKU, DAVID DIXON. 



747 



re enforcements to Grand Gulf. The <l< 

 effect was accomplished. Karly in May I'orler 

 a-ccnded IJed river us far as Alexandria, which 

 he |...k possession of and held until (Jen. Hanks 

 arrived. < m tlm 15th he crossed over to Ya/.oo 

 river, to lie ready to co-operate with (Jen. (irant. 

 On tne Isih tlie firing in the rear of Viek>burg 

 indicated t he approach of (irant. The cannon- 

 ading was kept up furiously for some time, 

 when I'orter discovered a company of artillery 

 advancing, taking position, and driving the ene- 

 my before them. (Jen. Sherman's division had 

 come in to the left of Snyder's Bluff, and the 

 enemy had been cut off from joining the forces 

 in the ci: v. The I>e Kalb," " Clioctaw." " Lin- 

 den." liomco," "IVtro." aud "Forest li<>-e." 

 under Lieut.-t'om. Bree/.e. were sent up the 

 Ya/oii to open communication with (Jens, 

 (irant and Sherman. This they succeeded in, 

 and in three hours I'orter received letters from 

 Grant, Sherman, and Steele, informing him of 

 their successes, and asking that provisions be 

 sent up, which was done at once. In the mean 

 time Walke, in the ''He Kalb," pushed on to 

 Haines's Bluff, which was found evacuated, and 

 took possession of the guns, tents, etc. The 

 works were destroyed. Upon this being re- 

 ported to Porter, he sent up a force of gunboats 

 from below Vicksburg to fire at the hill batteries, 

 which was kept up for two or three hours. At 

 midnight they moved up to the town and fired 

 upon it for an hour, and continued at intervals 

 during the night to annoy the garrison. On the 

 19th six mortars were placed in position, with 

 orders to fire rapidly day and night. On the 

 evening of the 21st I'orter received a communi- 

 cation from Grant saying he intended to attack 

 the whole of the enemy's works at 10 A. M. the 

 next day, and asking the admiral to shell the 

 batteries from 9.30 p. M. until 10.30 A. M. The 

 mortars were playing rapidly on the town and 

 works all night, and the "Benton," "Mound 

 City." and "Carondolet" went up and shelled 

 the water batteries and other places where troops 

 might find rest. At 7 A. M. tne " Mound ( 'it y " 

 en sfd the river and attacked the hill batteries 

 opposite the canal. At eight o'clock Porter 

 joined her with the " Benton." " Tuscumbia," 

 and " Carondolet," and all the vessels opened on 

 the hill batteries and finally silenced them. The 

 "Benton," "Mound City," and "Carondolet" 

 then closed with the water batteries, leaving the 

 " Tuscumbia " out of repair to keep the hill 

 batteries from firing on the vessels after they 

 had passed by. The water batteries opened furi- 

 ously, supported by a hill battery on the star- 

 board beam of the vessels. The ironclads ad- 

 vanced to within 280 yards and returned the tire 

 without cessation, the enemy's fire being accu- 

 rate and incessant. The vessels having been 

 engaged an hour longer than Grant requested. 

 and all having received shots under water which 

 could not be stopped while under way, with- 

 drew in a cool and handsome style. After drop- 

 ping back, it was found the enemy had taken 

 --ion again of one of the lower hill batter- 

 ies and was endeavoring to remove his guns, 

 and had mounted a 12-pounder field-piece to fire 

 at Gen. McArthur's troops that had landed a 

 short time before. The "Mound City" and 

 "Carondolet" drove them off in a few minute-. 



On May 27, Porter, at the urgent reqoMt 

 of (Jen. (irant and den. Sherman. IN -n. 

 to Iwlicvc the eliemv had reinoxed hi- j:uii to 

 the land ide, titled the ( 'incjnnat i " ' 

 oeca-ion l.\ packing tier with lop* and ha . 

 sent ber down to f.ln-11 v>mr work- r-i. 

 the progress of the army. At *.:;<> the "Cm. 

 cinnati" left her anchorage and Mood for the 

 portion as-i^ned her. '1 he enemy fired rapidly 

 from all their guns, including tho-M- that *et'e 

 supposed to have I.ei n removed to the land fide. 

 The fire was very accurate, striking the "Cin- 

 cinnati " almost every time.and iiasfini; entirely 

 through her protection of iron. hay. and 

 Finding his vessel would sink, Lieut. Baehe ran 

 up si ream as far as circumstances would allow, 

 ran his vessel a-horc. and siicce-dcd in Hiving 

 his wounded. She sank within range of the 

 enemy's batteries; but her fire, until the maga- 

 zine was drowned, was effective. Lieut. Bin-he 

 received the thanks of the Department for hi 

 conduct on this occasion. On the night of June 

 19 Porter was notified by Grant that he in- 

 tended to open a general bombardment on the 

 city at 4 A. M. and continue it until ten o'clock. 

 Commander Woodward, of the "General Price." 

 received orders from Porter to move up with 

 the " Mound Citv " and " Benton " and attack at 

 the specified time. Lieut.-Ccm. Hainsey was 

 given charge of a 100-poiinder rifle, a 10-inch 

 gun, and a 9-inch gun. fitted on scows, and 

 placed them after midnight dost- to the point 

 opposite Vicksburg protected by the bank. At 

 the appointed time all the shore batteries opened 

 fire, and also the guns on the scows and the 

 mortars. A little later the gunboats opened a 

 heavy fire, advancing all the time and throwing 

 shells into all batteries along the hills and near 

 the city. There was no response: the batter- 

 ies were all deserted. At ten o'clock tl.- 

 sels and mortars ceased firing. The mortar 

 boats had bombarded the enemy's works for 

 forty days continuously. 



On July 4 Vicksbiirer surrendered to Gen. 

 (irant. On June 7, Porter, learning that the 

 enemy, about 4.000 strong, were alxmt to attack 

 Milliken's Bend, where military stores were kept, 

 guarded by two colored regiments and part of 

 the Twenty-ninth Iowa, the "Choctaw" and 

 - Lexington," under Lieut.-Com. Ramsay, had 

 In, ii dispatched to protect them. The enemy 

 attacked before daylight. The colored i 

 met the onset courageously, ami a company of 

 the Iowa regiment Mood their ground until they 

 were slaughtered to a man. killing an qmd 

 number of the enemy. The fight was desj^rate, 

 ami the troops overpowered were driven Miind 

 a bank near the water's edge. pur>ued by the 

 enemy : but when the gunlxiats opened fire 

 rt-ith shell, gnipe, and canister, the enemy tied in 

 wild confusii-u. On the fall of Vicksburg Porter 

 received letters of congratulation from Sherman 

 and the Navy Department, acknowledging the 

 powerful eo-o|>eration of the navy under his 

 command and its great services durinir this 

 memorable campaign. The fall of Vieksburg is 

 referred to by Sherman in his ter-e -n 

 "victory won by the united navv and army < f 

 our country." Porter was made a full rear- 

 admiral, to' dat- from July 4, 188, th day 

 Vicksburg surrendered. 



