have effectively prevented any farther advance. More than once
the Confederates posted their artillery within effective range, and
opened a rapid and well-directed fire upon the gunboats, but erred in
using explosive shells instead of solid shot. "They were evidently
greenhorns," wrote Porter, exulting over his narrow escape, "and
failed to understand that we were iron-clad, and did not mind
_bursting_-shell. If they had used solid shot, they might have hurt
us." The infantry forces of the enemy were ample to have given the
marauding gunboats a vast deal of trouble, if the Confederate officers
had been enterprising, and had seized upon the opportunities afforded
them. Night after night the flotilla lay tied up in the centre of a
narrow bayou, with the levees towering so high above the gunboats'
ports, that the cannon were useless. At such a time, a determined
assault by a body of hostile infantry could hardly have been resisted.
Such an attack was the danger which Porter most feared throughout the
expedition, and he nightly made preparations for a desperate
resistance. The widest part of the bayou was chosen for the anchorage,
in order that a strip of water at least four feet wide might separate
the gunboats from the shore. The sides of the iron-clads were then
greased, and the guns loaded with grape, and elevated as much as
possible. Landing parties with howitzers were sent ashore, and posted
so as to enfilade any attacking force; scouts were sent out in all
directions; and the crews of the gunboats slept at their quarters all
night, ready for action at the first alarm. But it is doubtful whether
even these elaborate precautions could have saved the flotilla, had
the Confederates brought one regiment to the assault. However, the
enemy let the golden moment pass; and, after suffering the agonies of
suspense for several days, Porter at last saw his gunboats safely
anchored by the side of Sherman's protecting regiments.

Sherman and Porter held a consultation that night, and concluded that
it was useless to try to get around Vicksburg by hauling the gunboats
through the woods; and the following morning the flotilla started back
to the Union headquarters on the Mississippi.

Gen. Grant was beginning to get impatient. Weeks had passed away, and
there were still no gunboats or transports below the Vicksburg
batteries to aid him in carrying out his military plans. He held a
long consultation with Porter, the outcome of whic