spensable to
the efficiency of the vessel, and that it would be interrupted if she
were placed under fire;" and third, "that placing the Louisiana in a
position to receive the fire of the enemy, before her own battery could
be served with effect, would be improperly hazarding, not only her own
safety, but the security of the passage between the forts on which
rested the possession of New Orleans."[3]

But on the afternoon of the 23d the work had so far progressed as to
encourage the belief that the vessel might be moved to the point
proposed, and the Commodore, after making a reconnoissance, had decided
to do so, and notified General Duncan of this intention. Captain
Stevenson was to assist with two of his gunboats which were especially
well adapted to this purpose.

Commodore Mitchell, in his official report to the C. S. Secretary of the
Navy, intimates that "he fully appreciated and admitted the importance
of the proposed change of position for the Louisiana," but contends that
"the state of the battery, independent of other weighty reasons, was
sufficient to prevent its being made previous to the engagement of the
24th." One of these consists in the fact, that owing to the peculiar
construction of the Louisiana's port-holes, her guns could not be
elevated more than five degrees. The mortar fleet would have been beyond
their range.

FOOTNOTE:

[3] From Commodore Mitchell's official report to the Secretary of the C.
S. Navy, dated August 19th, 1862.

CHAPTER III.

The 24th April.--Passage of the United States Fleet.--After the
Storm.--The "River Defence" boats.--The Refuge in the
Bayou.--Surrender of the Forts.--Extracts from Commodore Mitchell's
official reports.--Council of War.--Destruction of the
"Louisiana."--Our Commander General B. F. Butler.--Transferred to
the United States frigate "Colorado."

On the night of April 23d, the bursting of the shells was as incessant
as usual. Toward daylight of the 24th, an ominous calm of brief duration
was broken by the first broadside of the advancing fleet, which had
approached so rapidly as to remove and pass the obstructions
undiscovered, and before the launch on picket duty could get back to our
fleet. For a few minutes the roar of the guns was deafening; but objects
were so obscured by the darkness and the dense smoke, that we could only
fire, with effect, at the flashes of the ship's guns. The Louisiana's
three bow guns (o