he War," vol.
ii., p. 307); and on the 11th of the month, accompanied by gunboats, he
advanced up the Teche and drove in Mouton's pickets. Left unprotected
by the retreat of the pickets, the Cotton was assailed on all sides.
Fuller fought manfully, responding to the fire of the enemy's boats with
his twenty-fours, and repulsing the riflemen on either bank with his
field piece. His pilots were killed and he had an arm broken, but he
worked the wheel with his feet, backing up the bayou, as from her great
length the boat could not be turned in the narrow channel. Night stopped
the enemy's advance, and Mouton, deeming his force too weak to cope with
Weitzel, turned the Cotton across the bayou, and scuttled and burned her
to arrest the further progress of the Federal boats. Weitzel returned to
Berwick's, having accomplished his object, the destruction of the
Cotton, supposed by the Federals to be a formidable iron-clad.

Much disturbed by the intelligence of these events, as they tended still
further to depress public sentiment and increase the dread of gunboats,
I went to Bisland and tried to convince officers and men that these
tin-clads could not resist the rapid fire of field guns, when within
range. At distances the thirty-pound Parrotts of the boats had every
advantage, but this would be lost by bringing them to close quarters.
During my stay several movements from Berwick's were reported, and
Mouton and I went down with a battery to meet them, hoping to illustrate
my theory of the proper method of fighting gunboats; but the enemy, who
intended nothing beyond annoyance, always retired before we could reach
him. Yet this gave confidence to our men.

The two twenty-fours removed from the wreck of the Cotton were mounted
in a work on the west bank of the Teche, to command the bayou and road,
and the line of breastworks was strengthened. Some recruits joined, and
Mouton felt able to hold the lines at Bisland against the force in his
front.

In the last days of January, 1863, General Grant, with a large army,
landed on the west bank of the Mississippi and began operations against
Vicksburg, a fleet of gunboats under Admiral Porter cooeperating with
him. The river was now in flood, and the Federals sought, by digging a
canal through the narrow peninsula opposite Vicksburg, to pass their
fleet below the place without exposing it to fire from the batteries.
Many weeks were devoted to this work, which in the end was abandoned