r battery; and nowhere in naval history is found the record of
faster firing than was done by these ships. Their huge shells tore
away at the walls of earth, throwing up tons of dirt with each
explosion, but not seeming to affect the strength of the fort at all.
Not a shot entered an embrasure, though many came near it. One of the
Confederate artillerists said after the fight,--

"There was not one single minute in all that five hours in which I did
not expect death. We all worked away as if in a nightmare, and we all
felt that any moment might be our last. The 'Benton' fired repeatedly
at my gun; and as many as twenty of her shells struck the opening,
tearing holes in the parapet ten feet back. Twenty times we were
almost buried out of sight under the clouds of dirt, and the loose
earth was knee deep around our gun when the fight closed. Not one of
us was hit hard enough to draw blood, and yet we all felt ten years
older for that five hours' work. I sighted the gun, and saw fourteen
of my shot hit the 'Benton,' and six plunge into another."

The gunboats fought in a way that showed desperate determination. The
first gun from the "Lafayette" was answered by a shell which crashed
through her side and exploded in a wardroom, knocking every thing into
chips. Three times the carpenter came up and reported to the captain
that the ship was sinking; and each time the reply was, "Very well,
sir: keep right on firing until the guns are under water." When the
ship came out of the fight, she counted up fifty scars.

The long-range firing that was carried on at first did not satisfy the
"Mound City." One particular gunner on the Confederate works seemed to
cherish a spite against her; and every time the flame leaped from the
muzzle of his gun, a solid shot banged against the gunboat's side.
This was not to be tamely borne; and the "Mound City" rushed up so
close to the bank that her bow stirred up the mud, and from that
position opened fast and furiously upon the forts with grape and
canister. A hail of rifle-bullets fell upon her decks; but she stuck
to her post, and succeeded in driving the enemy to the bomb-proofs.

But, with all their pluck and rapid firing, the gunners of the fleet
were making no impression on the works. Gen. Grant, who was watching
the engagement from a tug in mid-stream, saw this, and determined to
rush his soldiers past the fort in transports, while the navy engaged
the enemy's guns. This was done quickl