battery deck,
but her engines were not powerful enough to manage her, and she had to
be towed down by two tugs to a berth just above Fort St. Philip, where
she remained without power of movement till after the fight.

When ready, the fleet began moving slowly up the river, under the
pilotage of members of the Coast Survey, who, already partly familiar
with the ground, were to push their triangulation up to the forts
themselves and establish the position of the mortars with mathematical
precision; a service they performed with courage and accuracy. The
work of the surveyors was carried on under the guns of the forts and
exposed to the fire of riflemen lurking in the bushes, who were not
wholly, though they were mostly, kept in check by the gunboats
patrolling the river. On the 16th the fleet anchored just below the
intended position of the mortar-boats on the west bank of the stream.
The day following was spent in perfecting the arrangements, and by the
morning of the 18th two divisions of mortar-boats were anchored in
line ahead, under cover of the wood on the right bank, each one
dressed up and down her masts with bushes, which blended
indistinguishably with the foliage of the trees. Light lines were run
as springs from the inshore bows and quarters; the exact bearing and
distance of Fort Jackson was furnished to each commander, and at 10
A.M. the bombardment began. The van of the fourteen schooners was at
this moment 2,950 yards, the rear 3,980 yards from Fort Jackson, to
which the mortar attack was confined; an occasional shell only being
sent into St. Philip.

The remaining six schooners, called the second division, from the
seniority of its commanding officer, were anchored on the opposite
side, 3,900 yards below Jackson. Here they were able to see how their
shell were falling, an advantage not possessed by those on the other
shore; but there were no trees to cover them. An attempt to disguise
them was made by covering their hulls with reeds and willows, but was
only partly successful; and as the enemy's fire, which began in reply
as soon as the mortars opened, had become very rapid and accurate, the
gunboats of the main squadron moved up to support those of the
flotilla and draw off part of it. Before noon two of the leading
schooners in this division were struck by heavy shot and were dropped
down 300 yards. The whole flotilla continued firing until 6 P.M., when
they ceased by signal. That night the second div