ters of the
Mississippi having receded sufficiently to make it possible to
march an army across the peninsula opposite Vicksburg, I determined
to adopt this course, and moved my advance to a point below the
town."

Meanwhile, far below, Farragut and Banks were at work round Port
Hudson: Farragut to good effect; Banks as usual. On the fourteenth
of March Farragut started up the river with seven men-of-war and
wanted the troops to make a demonstration against Port Hudson from
the rear while the fleet worked its way past the front. But, just
as Farragut was weighing anchor, Banks, who had had ample time
for preparation, sent word to say he was still five miles from
Port Hudson. "He'd as well beat New Orleans," muttered Farragut,
"for all the good he's doing us."

Six of the vessels were lashed together in pairs, the heavier ones
next the enemy, the lighter ones secured well aft so as to mask the
fewest guns. This arrangement also gave each pair the advantage
of having twin screws. Farragut's flagship, the _Hartford_, leading
the line-ahead, suffered least from the dense smoke on that damp,
calm, moonless night. But the others were soon groping blindly up
the tortuous channel. The _Hartford_ herself took the ground for
a critical moment. But, with her own screw going ahead and that
of the _Albatross_ going astern, she drew clear and won through.
Not so, however, the other five ships. Only the _Hartford_ and
_Albatross_ reached the Red River. Yet even this was of great
importance, as it completely cut off Port Hudson from all chance of
relief. Farragut went on up the Mississippi to see Grant, destroying
all riverside stores on the way. Grant was delighted, and, in the
absence of Porter, who was up the Yazoo, sent Farragut an Ellet
ram and some sorely needed coal.

Grant's seventh (and first successful) effort to get a foothold (from
which to carry out one of the boldest and most brilliant operations
recorded in the history of war) began with a naval operation on the
sixteenth of April, when Porter ran past the Vicksburg batteries
by night. Though Porter had the four-knot current in his favor he
needed all his skill and moral courage to take a regular flotilla
round the elongated U made by the Mississippi at Vicksburg, with
such a bend as to keep vessels under more or less distant fire
for five miles, and under much closer fire for nearly nine. At
the bend the vessels could be caught end-on. For nearly five miles
after