is troops in readiness to co-operate
with the navy. On the 16th of April the fleet took up its position.
The mortar-boats, or "bombers," as they began to be called, were
anchored between 3,000 and 4,000 yards below Fort Jackson, upon
which the attack was mainly to be directed. From the view of those
in the fort, the boats that lay under the right bank were covered
by trees. Those on the opposite side of the river were screened,
after a fashion, by covering their hulls with reeds and willows,
cut for the purpose.

On the 18th of April the bombardment began. It soon became evident
that success was not to be attained in this way, and Farragut
determined upon passing the forts with his fleet. Should he fail
in reducing them by this movement, Butler was to land in the rear
of Fort St. Philip, near Quarantine, and carry the works by storm.
Accordingly, he remained with his transports below the forts, and
waited for the hour. Shepley occupied Ship Island with the rest
of the force.

Early in March the raft, formed of great cypress trees, forty feet
long and fifty inches through, laid lengthwise in the river about
three feet apart, anchored by heavy chains and strengthened by
massive cross-timbers, had been partly carried away by the flood.
To make good the damage, a number of large schooners had then been
anchored in the gap. On the morning of the 21st of April this
formidable obstruction was cleverly and in a most gallant manner
broken through by the fleet.

On the night of the 23d of April, Farragut moved to the attack.
His fleet, organized in three divisions of eight, three, and six
vessels respectively, was formed in line ahead. The first division
was led by Captain Bailey, in the _Cayuga_, followed by the
_Pensacola, Mississippi, Oneida, Varuna, Katahdin, Kineo_, and
_Wissahickon;_ the second division followed, composed of Farragut's
flag-ship, the _Hartford_, Commander Richard Wainwright, the
_Brooklyn_, and the _Richmond;_ while the third division, forming
the rear of the column, was led by Captain Bell, in the _Sciota_,
followed by the _Iroquois, Kennebec, Pinola, Itasca,_ and _Winona_.

At half-past two o'clock on the morning of the 24th of April the
whole fleet was under way; a quarter of an hour later the batteries
of Forts Jackson and St. Philip opened simultaneously upon the
_Cayuga_. It was some time before the navy could reply, but soon
every gun was in action. Beset by perils on every hand, the