r^ 



1862. 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMER 



113 



who seldom fails of making his mark. Mr. 

 Dominy, the Second Master, made some capital 

 shots also. The Benton, Cincinnati, St. Louis, 

 Mound City, and Carondelet, took part to-day, 

 firing nine hundred and sixteen shots, and the 

 mortars some three hundred shots, in all, over 

 twelve hundred shots. 



In the afternoon, the enemy opened rather 

 briskly from five different batteries, but without 

 any serious effect. One shot went through the 

 deck of the Benton, and four others struck the 

 Benton and Cincinnati, wounding one man 

 slighty. The bursting of a gun on the St. Louis, 

 killing two and wounding nine, part of themmor- 

 tally, was a sad incident of the day. This burst- 

 ing of guns is a matter of almost pure careless- 

 ness in not ramming home a badly fitted shot or 

 withdrawing it in case it can not be driven to its 

 place. The danger is mostly with rifled cannon, 

 and conical shot, with heavy projectors to fit the 

 grooves. 



The constant thundering of the guns, the clouds 

 of smoke, tlie bursting of the shells, put one in 

 mind of pandemonium ; a scene, in itself, grand, 

 sublimt, and devilish ; a repetition that we care 

 not to witness. 



When we look upon such a scene, and reflect 

 that the last efforts of the genius of man is here 

 displayed in all its destructive force, that these 

 river solitudes should be broken with sounds 

 like these, it gives us but a poor opinion of the 

 civilization of the age. A few ambitious persons 

 have brought this all to pass, and entailed an 

 almost endless amount of suffering upon the 

 masses of the people. The more we see of the 

 common white people of the South, the more we 

 pity thom : without schools, without books, and 

 without moral leaders, they are fast falling back 

 into the ranks of barbarism, and this war, if 

 long continued, will sweep them from the land. 

 If the African is ignorant, he is affectionate and 

 kindly in his disposition; not so of these poor 

 whites who pour out their blood like water at the 

 bid of their leaders. 



"Careless for what or whoiM they fight, 

 For despots, slaves, for wrongs or rights." 



Tuesday, March 18. — The day is beautiful ; 

 the birds are sending forth their cheerful notes 

 of spring, amid the silver spray that is just be- 

 ginning to glimmer among the branches of the 

 river forest, and the river, itself, lays like a band 

 of silver between the einuous belts of cotton 

 wood, as the morning sun kisses its golden sur- 

 faee, looking as innocent as though the spirit' of 

 man had never done ought but deeds of kind- 



ness along its shores. Upon its surface, here 

 and there, repose the dark forms of the demons 

 of war, ready to vomit forth the flame — 



" That wings a death 

 To robe a tomb." 



Along the river's margin, close under the out- 

 stretched arms of the giant denizens of the ever 

 changing shore, lay numerous steamers, filled 

 with armed men, ready for the coming fray. To- 

 day the fight is to be moderate, the unexpected 

 strength of the enemy and his almost impregna- 

 ble position call for other modes of attack, and 

 some days must elapse before these can be per- 

 fected. At nine o'clock a. m., comes the heavy 

 booming of cannon at Point Pleasant, where the 

 enemy are endeavoring to force a passage to re- 

 inforce another point. 



In company wifh Captain Sandford, who, with 

 his tug, supplies tho fleet with ammunition, we 

 visited the whole fleet. Now and then a mortar 

 sent its compliments to the enemy, who main- 

 tained a sullen silence until a little after noon, 

 when one of the transport steamers coming with- 

 in range, a conical shot came screaming over the 

 water, and landed nearly in the center of a group 

 of some fifty soldiers who were taking their 

 noonday meal, but, strange to say, doing no 

 damage. It would seem that nothing short of 

 some unseen hand guiding this dangerous shot 

 and withholding its explosive power could have 

 made it thus harmless. 



Anxious to take a new survey of the Island, 

 with its batteries and the Pelican dry dock, now 

 thoroughly armed and lying on the Missouri 

 side of the Island, we, in company with the re- 

 porter of the Cincinnati Gazette, Mr. McCulough, 

 strolled down the banks of the river along the 

 farms that front the Island. The day was one of 

 the loveliest of spring days, and naught to mar 

 it but the deep toned thunders of the mortars 

 which had become more active as the day ad- 

 vanced and which had continued their fire upon 

 the Island, and to the shipping beyond, the huge 

 shells went soaring over head, some bursting 

 high in air, some near the shipping, and others 

 on the Island, and again plunging into the deep, 

 muddy waters of the river, sending up a column 

 of spray far above the tops of the trees. 



The farm houses were deserted by their ten- 

 ants, the cattle were taking a holiday at the com 

 cribs, which some of the soldiers had pulled 

 down for that purpose, the chinks were non est, 

 and the swine had nearly all disappeared ; sol- 

 diers were straggling about, watching the ex- 

 ploding shells, and dodging the shots of a thirty- 



