egan firing their huge charges, which,
though without aim, were likely to do injury to the Union vessels toward
which the battery was floating. Besides, the magazine was stored with
powder and the impending explosion could not fail to be disastrous.

"If you do not mind it," said Porter, addressing the visitor, "we will
continue our negotiations."

In referring to this incident, the Admiral said:

"A good Providence, which directs the most important events, sent the
battery off toward Fort St. Philip, and, as it came abreast of that
formidable fort, it blew up with a force which scattered the fragments
in all directions, killing one of their own men in the fort, and when
the smoke cleared off it was nowhere to be seen, having sunk immediately
in the deep water of the Mississippi. The explosion was terrific and was
seen and heard for many miles up and down the river. Had it occurred
near the vessels, it would have destroyed every one of them."

[Illustration: GUN AND MORTAR BOATS ON THE MISSISSIPPI.]

After the fall of New Orleans Porter was sent to Ship Island to await
the attack that was in contemplation upon New Orleans. He was recalled
by Admiral Farragut to aid him in the siege of Vicksburg. In passing the
batteries Porter had three of his vessels disabled and twenty-nine men
killed and wounded. The capture of that last Confederate stronghold on
the Mississippi was a severe and tedious task, but General Grant, with
that bulldog tenacity for which he was famous, held on until the 4th
of July, 1863, when General Pemberton, the Confederate commander,
surrendered his whole garrison of more than 20,000 men. In thus opening
the Mississippi all the way to the Gulf the navy rendered invaluable
assistance. Porter's aid was so important and his conduct so gallant
that he received the thanks of Congress and was created a full rear
admiral, his commission dating from July 4, 1863. In a public dispatch
the Secretary of the Navy said, addressing Admiral Porter: "To yourself,
your officers and the brave and gallant sailors who have been so fertile
in resources, so persistent and so daring under all circumstances, I
tender, in the name of the President, the thanks and congratulations of
the whole country on the fall of Vicksburg."

One of the most disastrous expeditions of the Civil War was that which
was undertaken by General N.P. Banks, in the spring of 1864. His
ostensible purpose was to complete the conquest of Texas and L