the fertility and variety of devices developed during this anomalous campaign. The Lake Providence route was finally rejected, in March, at about the same time that all hope of effecting any thing by the canal was abandoned.

This project excited attention and speculation, especially in the rebellious states, where many imagined that the whole torrent of the Mississippi might be diverted, even into the Atchafalaya, and the old bed of the former stream forever denuded, which would have left New Orleans an inland town, far away from the river that was the sole source and cause of its prosperity. But no expectation of any such stupendous results was entertained by Grant. He believed that Vicksburg was only to be won by hard fighting, and by destroying armies; and although he resorted to these various schemes for placing his troops where a foothold for active operations could be maintained, and a route secured by which the new base might be supplied, he neverthe less looked on them as in reality offering little promise, and simply affording occupation for his men, till the subsidence of the waters should allow him to move in the ordinary way.

At the same time that he began these other undertakings, Grant sent Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, of his staff, to Helena, to organize an expedition for opening and examining the Yazoo pass. This was with a view to destroying the rebel steamboats and embryo gunboats on the Yazoo river, above Haine's bluff. The pass is a narrow and tortuous bayou, sixty or eighty feet wide, and from twenty to thirty feet deep, running nearly east from a point on the Mississippi, six miles below Helena, into Moon lake, the former

bed of the river. Issuing thence, it still flows eastward, and, fifteen miles beyond, connects with the Coldwater. The latter stream, after fifty miles of windings, enters the Tallahatchie, which joins the Yallabusha to form the Yazoo, a hundred and fifteen miles below. This route was used in former times, as a roundabout way of reaching the Yazoo river with small steamers and light trading craft; but, as the entire course lies in the alluvial region, the country between the two rivers was frequently overflowed; and, accordingly, the state of Mississippi constructed a large and strong levee at the entrance to the pass, so as to cut off all communication between its waters and those of the parent stream.

This levee was cut on the 2d of February, and the water let in by the explosion of a mine planted at the mouth of the cut; and, in two days, the torrent carried away the levee so completely as to allow the largest steamers to pass through the crevasse into Moon lake, about a mile beyond. But in the mean time, the rebels had begun to make obstructions lower down, by felling huge trees into the pass. The forest was extremely luxuriant, and the rafts and entanglements thus formed were obstacles of the most formidable character, extending, with intervals, a distance of nearly four miles. A single one of these barricades was a mile and a quarter in length, and composed of no fewer than eighty trees, reaching completely across the stream. Cottonwood, syca more, oak, elm, and pecan-wood was used, and none of this timber, except the cottonwood, will float. The removal, in consequence, was a tedious task. Many of the trees, weighing at the least twenty tons, had to be hauled out entire upon the shore by strong

cables, while a few of the most buoyant were cut in pieces and fastened along the banks. To add to the difficulties, the rapid rise of the water, from the crevasse at the entrance, submerged the entire country, except along a very narrow strip of land near the shore. The men, in parties of about five hundred, were thus obliged to work in the water, as well as during almost incessant rains. The barriers, however, being removed, and a heavy growth of overhanging timber cut away, the distance from Moon lake to the Coldwater was finally cleared. But, while Grant's forces were thus diligently engaged in opening one end of the pass, the enemy had gained time to securely fortify below.

On the 15th of February, however, a way was open to the Tallahatchie, and Brigadier-General Ross, with forty-five hundred men, was ordered into the pass. He embarked on twenty-two light transports, preceded by two iron-clad gunboats, and a mosquito fleet, as the light-armored craft suitable for this navigation was called. Lieutenant-Commander Watson Smith commanded the naval force. The difficulty of procuring light transports delayed Ross over a week. but the combined fleet entered the pass on the 24th of February, and reached the Coldwater, twenty-five miles from the Mississippi, on the 2d of March. The Coldwater is over a hundred feet wide, and runs through a dense wilderness, for nearly all its course. The Tallahatchie is a stream of similar nature, and, from its width and depth, no longer susceptible of obstruction by the enemy. Thirty miles below the mouth of the Coldwater, the Tallahatchie affords free navigation for boats two hundred and fifty feet long. When once the expedition reached these rivers, a great