nd were vessels of
the same type as the Hartford, and built at the same time.
[Illustration: PASSAGE OF FORTS JACKSON AND ST. PHILIP,
APRIL 24, 1862.
ORDER OF ATTACK.
FIRST DIVISION--_Leading under command of
Captain Theodorus Bailey_.
1. Cayuga, Flag-Gunboat. Lieut.-Com. Harrison.
2. Pensacola, Captain H. W. Morris.
3. Mississippi, Captain M. Smith.
4. Oneida, Commander S. P. Lee.
5. Varuna, Commander C. S. Boggs.
6. Katahdin, Lieut.-Com. G. H. Preble.
7. Kineo, Lieut.-Com. Ransom.
8. Wissahickon, Lieut.-Com. A. N. Smith.
CENTER DIVISION--_Admiral Farragut_.
9. Hartford, Commander Wainwright.
10. Brooklyn, Captain T. T. Craven.
11. Richmond, Commander J. Alden.
THIRD DIVISION--_Captain H. H. Bell_.
12. Sciota, Lieut.-Com. Edward Donaldson.
13. Iroquois, Com. John De Camp.
14. Kennebec, Lieut.-Com. John H. Russell.
15. Pinola, Lieut.-Com. P. Crosby.
16. Itasca, Lieut.-Com. C. H. B. Caldwell.
17. Winona, Lieut.-Com. E. T. Nichols.
18. COMMANDER PORTER'S GUNBOATS.
19. Sloop Portsmouth, Commander S. Swartwout.]
On the 2d of February, 1862, the Hartford sailed from Hampton Roads, and
on the 20th reached Ship Island. The following day Farragut took over
the command of his district and squadron from Flag Officer McKean, who
up to that time had had charge of both the East and West Gulf. None of
the other vessels of the expedition were yet there; but they came in one
by one and were rapidly assembled at the Southwest Pass, then the
principal entrance to the river. Much difficulty was encountered in
getting the heavier ships over the bar, two weeks' work being needed to
drag the Pensacola inside; but on the 7th of April she floated in the
river, and Farragut found his force complete. It then consisted,
independently of the steamers attached to the mortar flotilla, of four
steam sloops-of-war of about two thousand tons each, three of half that
size, one large side-wheel ship-of-war, the Mississippi, of seventeen
hundred tons, and nine gun-boats of five hundred. The latter had been
hurriedly built to meet the special exigencies of this war, and were
then commonly known as the "ninety-day" gunboats. Each carried one
eleven-inch shell-gun and one thirty-pounder rifle. The aggregate
batteries of the seventeen vessels composing the squadron, excluding
some light brass pieces, amounted to
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