rull. On the centre and left were planted the guns of Everett's
battery, under Carruth, and of Manning's 4th Massachusetts battery.

The left flank was supported by the _Essex_, Commander William D.
Porter; the _Cayuga_, Lieutenant Harrison; and the _Sumter_,
Lieutenant Erben; the right flank by the _Kineo_, Lieutenant-Commander
Ransom, and _Katahdin_, Lieutenant Roe.

These dispositions were planned expressly to meet the expected
attack by the ram _Arkansas_, and in that view the arrangement was
probably the best that the formation of the ground permitted. But
the fighting line was very far advanced; the camps still farther;
the reserve on the right was posted quite a mile and a half behind
the capitol, and, as at Shiloh, no portion of the line was fortified
or protected in any way, though the field was an open plain and
the converging roads gave to the attacking party a wide choice of
position.

About daylight Breckinridge moved to the attack in a summer fog so
dense that those engaged could at first distinguish neither friend
nor enemy. The blow fell first, and heavily, upon the centre and
right, held by the 14th Maine, 21st Indiana, and 6th Michigan. As
our troops were pressed back by the vigor of the first onset, the
exposed camps of the 14th Maine, 7th Vermont, and 21st Indiana fell
into the hands of the Confederates. The 9th Connecticut, with
Manning's battery, moved to the support of the 14th Maine and 21st
Indiana, on the right of the former, and the 4th Wisconsin formed
on the left of the 14th. Further to the right, the 30th Massachusetts
advanced to the support of the 21st Indiana and 6th Michigan,
covering the interval between the two battalions to replace the
7th Vermont. In the first fighting in the darkness and the fog
this regiment had been roughly handled; its colonel fell, a momentary
confusion followed, and the regiment drifted back into a convenient
position, where it was soon reformed, under Captain Porter. Nims
brought his guns into battery on the right of the 6th Michigan.

The battle was short, but the fighting was severe; both sides
suffered heavily, and each fell into some disorder. At different
moments both wings of the Confederate force were broken, and fell
back in something not very unlike panic. The colors of the 4th
Louisiana were captured by the 6th Michigan. As the fog lifted,
under the influence of the increasing heat, it became clear to both
sides that the attack had f