hed their charges, and when
she came abreast Fort St. Philip she blew up, killing a Confederate
soldier and nearly killing Captain McIntosh, her former commander, who
was lying there mortally wounded. This act caused great indignation at
the time among the United States officers present. Commander Mitchell
afterward gave explanations which were accepted as satisfactory by Mr.
Welles, the Secretary of the Navy. He said that the Louisiana was
secured to the opposite shore from the fleet, three-quarters of a mile
above, and that an attempt had been made to drown the magazine. As
proof of good faith he had sent a lieutenant to notify Porter of the
probable failure of that attempt. It remains, however, a curious want
of foresight in a naval man not to anticipate that the hempen fasts,
which alone secured her, would be destroyed, and that the vessel thus
cast loose would drift down with the stream. Conceding fully the
mutual independence of army and navy, it is yet objectionable that
while one is treating under flag of truce, the other should be sending
down burning vessels, whether carelessly or maliciously, upon an
unsuspecting enemy.

When taken possession of, Fort Jackson was found to have suffered
greatly. The ground inside and out was plowed by the falling shell;
the levee had been cut in many places, letting water into the fort;
the casemates were shattered, guns dismounted and gun-carriages
destroyed; all the buildings within the walls had been burned. Yet it
was far from being reduced to an indefensible condition by six days'
bombardment, could it have continued to receive supplies and
reinforcements. The loss of the garrison had been 14 killed and 39
wounded.

The question of the efficacy of mortar-firing was raised in this as in
other instances. Granting its inability to compel the surrender, it
remains certain that Fort Jackson, though the stronger work, inflicted
much less damage upon the passing fleet than did St. Philip. The
direct testimony of Commander De Camp of the Iroquois, and an
examination of the injuries received by the ships, when clearly
specified, shows this. As both posts had been under one commander, it
may be inferred that the difference in execution was due partly to the
exhaustion of the garrison, and partly to the constant fire of the
mortar flotilla during the time of the passage; both effects of the
bombardment.

The exterior line of the defences of New Orleans being thus pierced in
its