her three feet out of the water. Then
the chain snapped in two and away went the _Itasca_ down stream. The
barrier was broken and the way to New Orleans lay open before the
fleet.

On the 23d of April Farragut gave his orders to the captains of the
fleet. That night they were to try to pass the forts and fight their way
to New Orleans. At two o'clock in the morning came the welcome order,
"All hands up anchor!" and at three o'clock all was ready for the start.

The night was dark, but on the banks near Fort Jackson there was a
blazing wood fire, that threw its light across the stream. And Porter's
bombs were being fired as fast as the men could drop the balls into
them, so that there was a great arch of fiery shells between the mortar
boats and the forts.

The gunboat _Cayuga_ led the way through the broken barrier. After her
came the _Pensacola_, one of the large vessels. All this time the forts
had kept still, but now they blazed out with all their guns, and the air
was full of the booming of cannon and the screeching of shells from
forts and ships.

Great piles of wood were kindled on the banks, and the fire-ships up
stream were sent blazing down the river as the steam vessels came
rushing up into the fire of the forts. Never had the Mississippi seen so
terrible a night. The blazing wood and flashing guns made it as light
as day, and the roar was like ten thunderstorms.

Soon the _Hartford_ came on, with Farragut on her deck. So thick was the
smoke that she ran aground, and before she could get off a fire-ship
came blazing down against her side, pushed by a tug-boat straight on to
her. In a minute the paint on the ship's side was in a blaze and the
flames shot up half as high as the masts. The men at the guns drew back
from the scorching heat.

"Don't flinch from that blaze, boys," cried Farragut. "Those who don't
do their duty here will find a hotter fire than that."

For a brief time the good ship was in great danger. But a shower of
shells sent the daring tug-boat to the bottom, and the fire-ship floated
away. Then a hose-pipe spurted water on the flames. The fire was put out
and the _Hartford_ was saved.

That was only the beginning of the great battle. From that time on, fire
and flame, boom and roar, death and destruction, were everywhere. The
great shells from the mortars dropped bursting into the forts. The huge
wood piles blazed high on the banks. Ships and forts hurled a frightful
shower of shell