no 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



Apeil 



day to the grog. We were onboard all the gan 

 boats, and so far as we had an opportunity to 

 judge, the strictest temperance prevailed among 

 the officers. Thanks to the example and influ- 

 ence of Com. Foote and the good common sense 

 of his officers. Such men have and will succeed. 

 The greater the obstac'es, the more they will rise 

 above them, and the strongholds a'ong this great 

 river, will one by one yield to their untiring per- 

 severance and steady skill. They will be careful 

 of the lives and health of their men, so as to 

 return them to their friends and families, to en- 

 joy the rewards of a great victory. 



On Monday al; 1 p. m., the lOth Inst., the gun 

 boat Mound City, steamed down the river to 

 Columbus. The river was high, and the bottoms 

 generally submerged. The farm houses along 

 the shore are sorry looking things, many of 

 them standing in the water, and none of them 

 out of the reach of the flood that is gradually ris- 

 ing. The first high land is the high bank at Col- 

 umbus, twenty miles from Cairo. Upon this 

 bluff is located the "Gibralter of the West," 

 but Gibralter no longer; the earth batteries are 

 now harmless, and the sound of national music 

 comes over the waters from loyal men, instead of 

 the reb 1 hoards that so lately held high carnival. 



Our gool boat lay here two days, giving us 

 enough time to look over the fortifications. In 

 all deferc'Dce to military men, we say the point was 

 a weak one against attacks from the river. The 

 forts being iu line, the h ige mortars would have 

 done sad havoc, for scarcely a shot would have 

 missed, doing more or less damage. The high 

 perpendicular blufi"8 of ocean silt would have 

 crumbled and made immense land slides, with 

 the undermiring process of shot and shell, carry- 

 ing the upper batteries down a hundred feet to 

 fill the lower or water batteries with the ava- 

 lanche of loose earth. The magazine would have 

 been closed at once; even without this aid it 

 must soon be buried beneath the debris of the 

 crumbling bank. Nearly all of the heavy guns 

 were taken away for the defence of Island No. 

 10. Six only of the largest size are positively 

 known to be left, though it is supposed that sev- 

 eral are now lying in the river. An immense 

 quan'ity of round shot are in the works. 

 Had the same amount of labor been expended 

 along the river in throwing up mounds to secure 

 the farms and the stock from being washed off at 

 high water, as is here expended in ditches and 



embankments, thousands of happy homes might 

 have smiled out upon the this great highway of 

 nations, instead of the desolation that now reigns 

 along its solitudes. 



On Friday morning, March l4th, the Missis- 

 sippi fleet came down to join us, and left for 

 Hickman at 3 p. m. Commodore Foot had his 

 Pennant on board t^e Benton, which put off 

 folio ?^ed on the right by the Mound City, 

 and on the left by the Cincinnati, in the rear, 

 the St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Carondalet, iron 

 clad boats, and the wood boat of four guns, the 

 Conestoga. This last is a side-wheel steamer of 

 great power and speed. The Judge Turner came 

 next with an immense load of mortar ammuni- 

 tion, and the Great Western with similar stores 

 for the gun boats. To these add a large number 

 of transports with mortars in tow, stores, men, 

 infantry, artillery and cavalry, and you have a 

 grand and imposing sight. The dark low hulls 

 of the gun boats, with their huge guns frowning 

 from their sides, from stem to ftern, leading the 

 way, and followed by miles of these floating 

 palaces, so lately engaged in exchanging the 

 products of the north for those of the south, but 

 now filled with the dread implements of death 

 and destruction, is a picture for the artist, a 

 study for the philosopher, and to the lover of the 

 flag 0' our country, which floats over those 

 waters for the first time in several months, a har- 

 binger of joy. 



Arriving at Hickman, white flags, white 

 sheets, and white cloths of every description 

 were waved from the windows and balconies of 

 the Union loving, and doubtless others who would 

 like now to be counted as such. 



March 15th. At six ©'clock this morning, the 

 signal was made to follow the lead of the flag 

 ship. The wind was from the north-west, cold 

 and brisk. The boats were cleared for action, 

 the guns loaded with shell, sabres and pistols 

 strapped on, pikes laid ready, and every man at 

 his post — the sound of the escaping steam broke 

 the stillness of the river solitude. Women and 

 children came out of the rude houses, that ap- 

 peared here and there amid the waste of water, 

 and gazed with open mouthed wondtr upon the 

 imposing novel display, doubtless wishing that 

 their fathers an J brothers were at home and free 

 from any hand in the war. No waving of white 

 handkerchiefs, but a suUei gazing at the moving 

 panorama. Coming around a bend in the river, 

 a small armed steamer lay at a woodyard a mile 

 distant, but with steam up ready for a start. She 

 wheeled into the swift current, and before the 

 guns of the Benton could be turned on to her, she 

 was out of reach, and with her shrill whistle 

 gave the note of warning to the foe at Island No. 

 10, now three or four miles distant. The fleet 



