sippi River, from Vicksburg to Port
Hudson, was left in the undisputed control of the Confederates. The
latter were not idle during the ensuing months, but by strengthening
their works at the two ends of the line, endeavored to assure their
control of this section of the river, thus separating the Union forces
at either end, maintaining their communication with the Western
States, and enjoying the resources of the rich country drained by the
Red River, which empties into the Mississippi in this portion of its
course. On the 16th of August, ten days after the gallant repulse of
the Confederate attack, the garrison was withdrawn from Baton Rouge to
New Orleans, thus abandoning the last of the bluffs above the city;
the Confederates, however, did not attempt to occupy in force lower
than Port Hudson. Above Vicksburg, Helena on the west side was in
Union hands, and the lower division of the Mississippi flotilla
patrolled the river; but Memphis continued to be the lowest point held
on the east bank. The intercourse between the Confederates on the two
sides, from Memphis to Vicksburg, though much impaired, could not be
looked upon as broken up. Bands of guerillas infested the banks,
firing upon unarmed vessels, compelling them to stop and then
plundering them. There was cause for suspecting that in some cases the
attack was only a pretext for stopping, and that the vessels had been
despatched by parties in sympathy with the Confederates, intending
that the freight should fall into their hands. Severe retaliatory
measures upon guerilla warfare were instituted by the naval vessels.

Flag-Officer Davis and General Curtis also arranged that combined
naval and military expeditions should scour the banks of the
Mississippi from Helena to Vicksburg, until a healthier season
permitted the resumption of more active hostilities. One such left
Helena on the 14th of August, composed of the Benton, Mound City, and
General Bragg, with the Ellett rams Monarch, Samson, and Lioness, and
a land force under Colonel Woods. Lieutenant-Commander Phelps
commanded the naval force. The expedition landed at several points,
capturing a steamer with a quantity of ammunition and dispersing
parties of the enemy, and proceeded as far as the Yazoo River.
Entering this, they took a newly erected battery twenty miles from the
mouth, bursting the guns and destroying the work. Going on thirty
miles farther, the rams were sent twenty miles up the Big Sunflower,