, 1863-03-27
OPERATIONS ON THE
YAZOO. j.
we Move on the En-
elnyss Works.
THE BATTLE WITH
OUT RESULT,
Correspondence Of the New York Hcrald.1
CURTIS PLANTATION, TEN MILES ABOVE
GREENWOOD, March H. 1888 {

correspondence Of the New York Hcrald.1
Cun11.' PLANTATION, TEN MILES ABoyE}
GREENWOOD, March II, 1868. {
Ny Last letter closed about seycnty-tiye or |
eighty miles above this place. Almost i'm |
mcdiately after the closing Of that letter, ac-
counts began to come In from the front to |
the effect That the advance Of our fleet had |
fallen In with the enemy, OF rather Ind come
in sight of them, and some brisk work ap-
peared close ut hand. The rebel steamers
Ben. NcCullocb and J. ". Sharp, under con- |
10Y Of i little black gunboat, were industri- |
ously employed picking up cotton at the
plantations along the river, the gunboat keep
ing little above them, to give notice Of our |
approach. The gunboat discovered us and
commenced a rapid retreat down the river,
tcEeecAlNg at every turn Of her wheels, q !
warning to her companions to pet out
of the way. The McCulloch was the
uppcrmost Of the two transports, md was de-
layed in getting away, from the bank and get
ting her head down stream, SO that the Federal
ram Lioness was close at her heels before
she fairly got under Roadway. But, once
under weigh, she made good time, and ran off
at an exceedingly rapid rate. But the ram
crowded her hard, and as she was SO heavily
laden with cotton and corn she tailed to make
so good time rs seemed desirable. L gang Of
negroes was therefore set at work to tighten
her up, and large amount Of cotton was
quickly tumb1cd overheard. With this relief
the was able to widen the distance between
herself and the ram so rapidly that the pnr-
suit was finally abandoned.
TIE REBEL STEAMER PARALLEL BURNED. j.
Yesterday afternoon the side-wheel steam
CT Parallel was cruising along fifteen or
twenty miles above here, and had picked up
an immense load Of cotton, supposed to be
not less than three thousand bales. While
engaged in gathering her load Of cotton the
sl,ioke Of our approaching feet WIS discover
cd curling up III heavy black masses oScr the
about and made all possible speed down
stream; but in turning sharp bend in the
river she manifested more haste thnn wisdom,
ard ran foul Of a large tree, which SO disa-
bled her that ehc was unable to proceed any
further. Her officers md crew therefore
and when our fleet oscrliaulcd her she was
completely cnveloped in fumes, and subsc-
gucntly proved total loss. Large Quantl-
ties Of her cotton fell overheard, the water
c1tnguishing the flames, SO that for several
miles in that vicinity the river WAS covered
gathered up By our boat for additional pro-
lection to our gunhoats. In this capacity 1t
will be Of immense service tous.
orR ARRIVAL uERE-TT REBEL WORKS.
We arrived ut this point at about nine
o'clock this morning. Here We are ten miles
above Greenwood, and but two and half
miles from the rebel works. just below our
position the river turns TO tho eastward, and
after describing q wide horseshoe bend,
again resumes ife southcrly course at point
nearly sonth Of this. The neck formed by
this bend, or rather the base of the reniusuln,
Is something less than mile across. Directly
In this neck the rebels have thrown up their
Notifications. These are not 80 formidable
in themselves as might be supposed. They
GiEf NJ inc NJ fyva
posed Of cotton bales and EARTH facing vest
csly, and fankcd on the right by quite heavy
battery fronting the river and mounting three
siege guns. Besides this, they seem to have
several small aeld pieces in position. Di.
rectly on the right flank Of this line Of de-
fence they have constructed a. raft Of logs as
| blockade Of the river to prevent our boats
from running By their batteries.
The ground upon which these works ars
built is as high as any to be found in this re
gion. It is probably elevated aboyo any pos
| eib1e overflow; but with the river as high a
/ above ,ne wa:.. A. IL .at:.. =.
EFRoST AND BELOW THE WORKS.
Directly In front Of their line of breast
works there Is quite 4 deep slough, extcndin!
across the neck, and admirably serving lhi
purpose Of the ditch usually dug around for
tidcations. The slough is close to the base 0
their works at the upper end, but gradual.
recedes from them until at the lower end it i
several hundred feet removed. Still beyout
this slough there is an almost impenetrabl
and very extensive canebrake, with dee)
forest reaching far back into the country
About six miles below this fertilization, an
directly in the arc Of the bend, is the conflu
| cnce Of the Ta11abusha and Tallahatchie rir
| ers, and from that point down to tho Missis
sippi the joint stream takes tho name Of th
Yazoo river. The little village or scttlemen
| Of Lc Flore lies directly at the junction Of til
| two streams. Greenwood lies upon the II
roo, four miles below.
Il WIT THE WoRKs WE'RE so LOCATED.
The object Of the peculiar location Of thl
fortidcation will now be apparent. The pnl
pose was uuques1ionably not merely to d.
fcnd Greenwood, which Is . point Of no consii
| enable importance, nor Jet merely to preycr
or passing below, as the defenees at Yazo
City are susceptible Of being made inflnitel
stronger tlan thing they could build her
Grcnada is located on the Yallabusha rive
about one hundred and ten miles above II
| mouth. The rebels consider this one of th
most important points In Northern Missl
siPpi, and manifest determination to hol
it at all odds. Besides this, they hare q nun
Der Of steamers concealed in this and oths
, streams tributary 10 the Yazoo, which the
have no dcsiro to destroy or lose possessio
| Of 1t was probably with yicw Of defendir
= the entrance to this stream that the reb
e TIE REBEL sTRESGTu-ruE1R COMMANDER
= 1t is 7ery difficult to arrive at anything Ill
an intelligent estimate Of the strength Il
| rebels have in these works, the accounts a
!. 50 various and conflicting, ranging all the vi
= / from five to fifteen thousand men. 1 ye
much doubt If they have more than Gig
) thousand hcrc, and probably not SO many
@ that They are under the immediate COZ
mand OF Gen. Loring-the Ma}. Loriug Of t
q old United States army, who won 50 mu
g. distinction at the battle Of Chepultcpec,
g Mexico.
TILE OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
. Immediately on arriving at this point Il
morning two reconnofssanccs we're start
:. out. One was made down the river by t
= gunboat Chillicothe, Lieut.. Commander Fl
~ ter commanding. Acting Commodore Smi
c md Gen. Ross accompanied the Chillicott
a They ran down to within about quarter
~ mile Of the rebel battery, exchanging sew,
e al SLOTS with it. The Chillicothe was stru
m four times In this a1ur, once in her 6quu
hnn md TWICE In her mnsstyc turret, in ca
T. ease thu bali making 4 deep indention in /
unmisakabie sn aisnp % Of tie % stee,point aiR
~ si5tyfonr-poundcr shot, propelled fre
e. rItied pieces. No pieces Of larger calit
he than this were disclosed by the enemy T
~ Chillicotlc returned from the rcconuofssa,
Fe Without having sustained the slightest
to jury.
ha MOVEMENTS OF TIE MILITARY FORCES,
10 At the same time detachmcnts Of the Il
and 9th Indiana infantry were sent out
to feel the enemy's position on the land 81
n They came upon qui'c large body Of re
skirmishcrs on the westerly side of the slou
about mile from our point, of debarkati
n aud after short slF1nish drove them acr
i. the slough. Our party then advanced do
ID the slough short distance and commcn
re fording It, when the enemy again ssllied
,e to resist them, and quite q spirited enga
40 mcnt followed, resulting in second rcpu
NJ Of the enemy, when they finally retired wit
to their Notifications. Our forces were Il
;.o Titlidrawn across the bayou, and now b
lle their position. Our casualties in this If
,ly were but two men wounded.
as PREPARATIONS FOR FIGHT.
:,r The engagement was to have been e
~ merced at daylight this morning; but ut /
'rk hour the Commodore was not ready, and
Tn the fight wns to be wholly naval, our a,
=. commanaers had nothing to say ii the Il
te" ter. The Commodore, therefore, took
~ clarrd himself perfectly ready to give the
zee emy q trial Of strength. It had been do
he / mined to send both the ironclad gunbt
. down together, into close range Of tue
IS te1ies, and to bring the mortar and land
ess tery into play at tie same time: The mo
ba VA manned By select crew Of mortar c
ne ncrs, under command Of Acting LteuteI
to Fcutress, exccetiyc officer Of the fagship
tes Ter. The land battery wns placed in ch'
49,. Of Acting Lieutenant Domino, Of the Sig
ses md was manned By a force Of practical
ted ners, taken chiefly from that boat, under
ed- 1nand Of Masters Mate Sloan. The u
~, draught gunboats, with the rams, were
eei dered to kecp back out Of range, and rem
ner cd about three-quarters of a mile above
Nv rebei Notifications, protected by ben
ne rSar, which threw the range OF the