session of by a portion of the Thirteenth Army Corps, who drove out the rebel cavalry after two hours' sharp fighting. The corps then pushed on toward New Carthage. The roads, although level, were in a very bad condition, and the march was necessarily slow and tedious. It was important that supplies and ammunition should travel with this corps, and consequently the movements were considerably delayed, as it became at times necessary to drag the wagons by hand.

When the corps was within two miles of New Carthage, it was found that, in consequence of the recent floods and the breaking of the levee of Bayou Vidal, that place was isolated, and located on an island. Boats were collected from the neighboring bayous, and barges were built; but by this method the progress of the army was too slow for the purpose intended. The corps was therefore marched to Perkins's plantation, twelve miles below New Carthage, and thirty-five miles from the point of starting. Over these thirty-five miles, supplies and ordnance stores had to be transported; and as the roads were soft and spongy, owing to the floods, the labor of this movement is almost inconceivable. Provisions and ammunition had to be hauled in wagons, and until a sufficient quantity had reached the camp near the Mississippi River, below Vicksburg, it would have been impossible to have commenced a campaign, if a successful issue was to be desired.

The terrible gauntlet now to be run was the passage by Admiral Porter of the batteries at Vicksburg. The serious question was, "How can the gunboats, and the transports to convey the soldiers over the river, under the command of Admiral Porter, .get by the terraces of dark-mouthed cannon overlooking the water at Vicksburg?"

April 16th shone serene and cloudless upon the flashing tide of the majestic river of the West. At eleven o'clock that night, eight gunboats and six transports were to try the mettle of the Confederate Gibraltar.

Men were called for, willing to go into the jaws of destruction. The brave fellows rushed, with a hurrah, to the decks. All was ready. The signal-bell struck eleven.

Oh, that kindly clouds would eclipse even the stars, and fling their shadows on the devoted ships! But not a speck obscured the vernal sky. The steamers in sight were thronged to watch the scene; and the suspense was painful among the crowds. "A boat is coming!" are words which sent a shudder of apprehension through every heart. Slowly, darkly, steadily, it stole along the Louisiana shore, lost in foliage shadow. Then it steered across to the Mississippi side; and another spectral form floated into view; another, and yet another, emerged from the gloom of night and distance.

Midnight came, and the procession of fourteen vessels moved, in darkness and silence, straight toward Vicksburg, whose battlements loomed red through the gloom, relieved only by an occasional light. The boats were fireless and lampless. Hopes and fears agitated the hearts and came to the lips of the spectators. Would those strong ships and brave men go down under the fiery storm of a hundred echoing guns, or ride safely through?

Up shot a flame, and the thunder of ordnance succeeded it. The enemy had discovered the bold navigators. The rows of fire, followed with the roar, down from the crest of the fortress to the water's edge, flashed on the path of the undismayed warriors of the waters. Just at this moment, a rising, steady flame above the city lit up the theater of conflict. High and broad it waved like a luminous banner against the sky. "Vicksburg is on fire!" was the shout. No; on the heights the foe had kindled a beacon, to show them where to strike the advancing line of boats. The intense glare made a rope's shadow on the bright deck visible. But too late was the blaze thrown on the track of the leviathans.

The rebels were in a fever of excitement. Porter's fleet must not join Farragut, if shot and shell could prevent it. Hiss! whirr! crash! was the music of the death carnival.

The beacon went out, and another flame brightened on the gloom, through volumes of uprolling smoke. The transport Henry Clay had caught from a burning shell.

Soon the long line of blazing battlements from Vicks

burg to Warrenton grew dark and still, and the beholders retired to wait for the morning news. The tidings that the fleet was safe-the damage small, and only one hero killed, with two others wounded-filled many eyes with tears of joy. The ships, excepting the Henry Clay, were floating securely on the quiet waters between the scarred fortress and New Carthage. General Grant's heart beat lighter, with hope in the success of this last and boldest design upon Vicksburg.

CHAPTER XIII.

CAVALRY MOVEMENTS.-THE ADVANCE.

The Cavalry Enter the Lists in Daring Adventures.-Colonel Grierson's Great Raid. Strange and Amusing Scenes.-The Cavalry Generals.—The Army advance.-Porter's Fleet Co-operates.-The March.-A Battle.-Occupation of Port Gibson.-Telegrams of General Grant and Governor Yates.-Feints to deceive the Enemy.-General Sherman's Movements.-General Grant's care of his Army.

BEFORE leaving the north side of Vicksburg, to take command of his army in person, General Grant determined to cut all the enemy's communications with that city, to secure his columns from an attack in the rear, should it become necessary to invest the place. He therefore detailed the First Cavalry Brigade, under Colonel B. H. Grierson, for this enterprise.

April 17, 1863, the enthusiastic horsemen galloped away in the starlight from La Grange, Tennessee. Two o'clock in the morning found them on the road to Ripley, Mississippi, thirty miles distant, which they reached at nightfall. Dismounting, the heroes bivouacked for brief repose. At eight o'clock the next morning, they were beyond Ripley, hastening toward New Albany. A single battalion occupied this place, while the main body passed eastwardly, but all encamped within four miles of the town.

The next day they rode off to their work on the railways, crossing forests, open fields, and frightful swamps; now flying yonder, to deceive the rebels in regard to the real design, and then in the opposite direction, tearing up a track, capturing a train, or burning a mill. Amusing scenes enlivened the raiders' wild career. Some of them, stopping at a wealthy planter's house, who was also a guerrilla, passed themselves off as Van Dorn's men; for many of our soldiers, in these adventures, wore "secesh"

uniforms.

Finding splendid horses in his barn, they began to change the saddles from their tired steeds to the backs of his.

"Can't spare 'em, gentlemen! can't let these horses go!" protested the planter.

"We must have them. You want us to catch the Yankees, and we shall have to hurry to do it," replied the raiders.

"All right, gentlemen; I'll keep your animals till you return. I suppose you'll be back in two or three days, at the furthest. When you return, you'll find they have been well cared for."

The guerrilla is probably still waiting for his friends and horses.

A young lady thus complains: "The first thing they did was to carry off Lizzie's buggy. They broke into the storeroom, and took sister Emily's wine, which they carried away, and drank the next morning. As we sat quietly awaiting our fate, still hoping that God-in whose care 'Ma had at the beginning placed us, kneeling with us in earnest prayer-would yet save us, we heard them dancing, whooping, breaking, and plundering away over the house. They stole all my jewelry; they broke all sister Emily's pictures. Nan [a servant] was very much distressed at their taking the blankets."

Poor girl! we smile at and pity her. But War is no respecter of persons, nor very particular about the amount of damage done along his path.

It was impossible for a large force to move through the enemy's country without meeting some of the foe; and as a natural result, skirmishing took place all along the route, and several prisoners were taken. At one time the advance was engaged with the pickets of Chalmers's rebel brigade, but the latter was soon overpowered, and the main body of his troops retreated.

The rebels attempted to fire the bridge at New Albany; but so rapid was Colonel Grierson's advance, that his forces were across the river before they could accomplish their purpose.

It now became necessary to mislead the enemy as to