to sink rapidly, killing 4 and wounding 11 of the crew.

The siege lasted until the evening of the 8th of April, when Spanish
Fort surrendered. Up to the last the enemy sent down torpedoes, and
that night eighteen were taken from Blakely River. Commander Pierce
Crosby, of the Metacomet, at once began sweeping above, and so
successfully that on the 10th the Octorara and ironclads were able to
move abreast Spanish Fort and shell two earthworks, called Huger and
Tracy, some distance above. These were abandoned on the evening of the
11th, when the fleet took possession. Commander Crosby again went on
with the work of lifting torpedoes, removing in all over one hundred
and fifty. The way being thus cleared, on the 12th Commander Palmer
with the Octorara and ironclads moved up the Blakely to the point
where it branches off from the Tensaw, and down the latter stream,
coming out about a mile from Mobile, within easy shelling distance. At
the same time Admiral Thatcher, with the gunboats and 8,000 troops
under General Granger, crossed the head of the bay to attack the city,
which was immediately given up; the Confederate troops having already
withdrawn. The vessels of the enemy, which had taken little part in
the defence, had gone up the Tombigbee.

The navy at once began to remove the obstructions in the main ship
channel and lift the torpedoes, which were numerous. While doing the
latter duty, two tugs, the Ida and Althea, and a launch of the
ironclad Cincinnati were blown up. By these accidents 8 were killed
and 5 wounded. The gunboat Sciota was also sunk in the same manner on
the 14th of April, the explosion breaking the spar deck beams and
doing much other damage. Her loss was 6 killed and 5 wounded.

The rebellion was now breaking up. Lee had laid down his arms on the
9th, and Johnston on the 24th of April. On the 4th of May General
Richard Taylor surrendered the army in the Department of Alabama and
Mississippi to General Canby; and the same day Commodore Farrand
delivered the vessels under his command in the waters of Alabama to
Admiral Thatcher, the officers and crews being paroled. Sabine Pass
and Galveston, which had never been retaken after their loss early in
1863, were given up on the 25th of May and the 2d of June.

In July, 1865, the East and West Gulf Squadrons were merged into one
under Admiral Thatcher. Reasons of public policy caused this
arrangement to continue until May, 1867, when the attempt of the