, 1863-03-24
THE SIEGE OF VICKsBURG,
The Breaking Of the Dams at the
Canal. \
EXPLOITS OF ANOTHER MOCK GuN-
BOAT.

l1cKsBuEa, Marcl. 10, 1868.
Day before yesterday, while the men in the
canal were yet at work, the dam at the unncr
end Of It suddenly began to yield to the i'm
with only few minutes notice, care way
and allowed the river to rush in, When Il
broke there was difference Gf eight feet hr
tween the bottom Of the canal and the suf-
face Of the water in the river Tho violence
of the torrent MS it rushed through, swecninr4
the implements Of labor, was terrible. 4 wave
Of fuanipg, angry water rushed like an avn.
lanche along tile whole length Of the canal
Z mile and quarter. The canal itself vas
full in few minutes, and the wafer began to
sIread; in few hours there was not d spot
row pathway OF the leyee which Surrounded
it, and BY noon there was lake of over q
thousand acres in area, where in the morning
there had been rs many acres Of land.
EFFECTS OF THE BREAK.
The Garth which had been taken ont Of the
canal in excayating, haG bten wheeled -up to
the west side Of shc canal, and there formed
posed would prevent the water from floodfnr
tho country on that side, aud the ground On
Which nearly all Of our army was encampcd.
ut will be remembered that the point Of the
peninsula is to the cast, toward Vicksbur.,
and that the canal, running north and souti,
fh1s ftso ne ,dRR at right angles nearly
Of our camps were behind this embankment.
and having the canal, the peninsula and the
river between them and Vicksburg.) Neither
the canal nor the embankment, however, had
been quite completed, aud the water soon be-
gan to pour over the unfinished bank. Some
regiments that were In exposed positions had
to gather up tents and camp equipage In l,ot
haste and dire confusion, and run for the
!eyee. Several companies which we're on tho
south side Of the peninsula were cut OF bv
the rushing water, and had to be fcrried to
TIC main body Of the army in boats.
e The embannkmcnt Of the .Vlcksburg and
Shreveport Railway, however, which cuts tie
peninsula nearly longitudinally, has thus far
prevented the water from flooding tho north
west quarter Of the peninsula. But Yesterday
even that was considered insecure, and the
troops were all ordered to shift their camps
to the leree. A few regiments did move ups
and find the "elbow- ruom'' scaut cnourh'
Think Of whole arn>y-meu, mules, horses.
wagons, tents and nrtil1ery, crouded.on m
eH'bankmcnt but little wider than railroad
track. Tonight there seems to beless danger
Of the floods reaching this quarter, and those
regiments which had not moved arc ordercd
to retain their old camps.
Gen. Grant has taken steps to rebuild the
dam and prevent the Influx amy more water
until the canal Is completed. There ig bnt
lttle to DO to 1t Jet, and 1t can be completed
IN spite Of the water, but the accident viii re-
tafa the movements which were in contem-
piatlon, a week or ten days. 7
ANOTHER MOCK GrSBoAT.
Last night the enemy we're yictimizcd acain
by another "Quaker" Cunboat, on which
they must have expended three or four thou.
sand dollars worth of ammunition, The
sham craft which ran the gauntlet Of their bat
terics at f1cksbuTE has been In course Of con-
struct'on for several days, BY the crews Of
our heef, which lies In the mouth of the IA.
goo. A small raft of logs represented the huh
Of a ram and gnnboat sunk low in the water.
with the supposed great weight Of her metal
upon this slight snperstrncturc WIS built to
Represent the cascmatcs; her smoke stacks
were represented By two logs set on end, and
the whole painted black. Tie counterfeit was
80 accurate that even in daylight it was din |
cult 10 detect 1t at a distance Of three hundred
yards.
About midnight she was towed down to the
point by one Of the tugs and cast adrift IN he |
gin her engagement with the rebel batteries.
4 very small fire had been kind1ed inside the |
sham casematcs to deceive the enemy into tie I
belief that they caught Eaimpses Of trcacher. |
ons CLEANS Of battle lanterns. She had scarce !
ly turned the point before the watchfnl enemy |
opened terrific cannonade upon her with |
their huge seigc guns, which lasted nearly an |
hour. The peninsula is so flooded that we |
have not been able to learn anything of her |
fhte, and cannot, therefore, judge Of the accu-
raey Of the enem5's fire at night.
What gave some color Of truth to the ruse |
was that the new gunboat Lafayettee came |
down yesterday afternoon to the enemy and |
tried the range Of her one hundred ponnder |
Parrotts on the city, and they doubtless were |
certain that It was she running the blockade |
10 take the place Of the 1udianDla