the Red River, and its worth to the
Confederacy; as also the subsidiary value of the Atchafalaya Bayou,
which, extending through the delta of the Mississippi from the Red
River to the Gulf, was then an open highway for the introduction of
foreign supplies, as well as the transport of native products. The
object and scope of the next year's campaign are plainly indicated in
a letter of his addressed to Farragut during his trip down the river.
It was unfortunate that an attempt was not made to hold at once the
bluffs below the point where those two highways meet, and blockade
them both, instead of wasting time at Vicksburg when there was not
then strength enough to hold on.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] For particulars of batteries, see Appendix.

[3] For detailed account of these batteries, see Appendix.

[4] These threw projectiles weighing from sixty to eighty pounds.

[5] Mitchell's conduct was approved by a Naval Court of Inquiry.
Higgins, who was most emphatic in his condemnation, could not appear as
a witness, the War Department not being willing to spare him from his
duties. The difference was one of judgment and, perhaps, of
temperament. From Higgins's character it is likely that, had he
commanded the naval forces, the Louisiana would either have done more
work or come to a different end. As the old proverb says, "He would
have made a spoon or spoiled the horn."

[6] As this feat has been usually ascribed to the Manassas, it may be
well to say that the statement in the text rests on the testimony of
the commander of the ram, as well as other evidence.

[7] There were two Jacksons, the naval steamer Jackson and the River
Defence boat Stonewall Jackson.

[8] Colonel Lovell of the Confederate army, who was ordnance and
disbursing officer of the River Defence Fleet, and had been twelve
years an officer in the United States Navy, testified there was no
organization, no discipline, and little or no drill of the crews. He
offered to employ a naval officer to drill them, but it does not appear
that the offer was accepted. He also testified that he had examined the
Ellet ram, Queen of the West, and considered most of the River Defence
boats better fitted for their work. The night before the fight, one of
them, with Grant, captain of the Quitman, went on board the Manassas,
and there told Warley that they were under nobody's orders but those of
the Secretary of War, and they were there to show naval officers how to
fight. The