d
again went down the river on the 10th, accompanied by the De Soto, a
small ferryboat which the army had seized below and turned over to the
navy; she was partly protected with iron and cotton. At 10.15 P.M. of
the 12th the admiral sent down the ironclad steamer Indianola,
Lieutenant-Commander George Brown. Taking with her two coal barges,
she proceeded slowly and quietly, and was not discovered till she had
passed the upper batteries. When the first gun was fired, she started
ahead full speed, and, though under fire for twenty minutes longer,
was not struck. With justifiable elation the admiral could now write:
"This gives us complete control of the Mississippi, except at
Vicksburg and Port Hudson. We have now below two XI-inch guns, two
IX-inch, two 30-pounder rifles, six 12-pounders, and three vessels."
Yet, with the same mockery of human foresight that followed Farragut's
satisfaction when he felt he controlled the whole Gulf coast, on the
same day that these lines were penned two of the three passed out of
Union hands, and the third had but a few days' career before her.

The Queen of the West went down the Mississippi, destroying skiffs and
flatboats whenever found, as far as the Red River, which was reached
on the morning of the 12th. Going up the Red River to the point where
the Atchafalaya Bayou branches off on its way to the Gulf, the De
Soto and barge were secured there, while the Queen went down the bayou
destroying Confederate Government property. In performing this service
one of her officers was wounded by a party of guerillas. Returning to
the De Soto, the two started up Red River. On the morning of the 14th
a transport, called the Era No. 5, was captured with two Confederate
officers. Hearing that there were three large boats lying, with steam
down, at Gordon's Landing, thirty miles higher up (about seventy-five
miles from the mouth of the river), Colonel Ellet decided to attempt
their capture. On rounding the bluff above which they were lying, the
Queen was fired upon by a battery of four 32-pounders. Orders were
immediately given to back down behind the bluff, but by some mishap
she ran aground on the right side, in plain view of the battery,
within easy range and powerless for offence. Here she received several
shots, one of which, cutting the steam-pipe, stopped the engines, that
had been backing vigorously. Nothing further in the way of escape was
tried, and the commanding officer was deterred fro