The daily clarion. [volume] (Meridian, Miss.) 1863-1866, 1865-01-18

. der this lndefatigable conn nndtr ther.
!. was now commenced ser an of opera
!. tions almost unparalleled in he history of
, military science.
!. The Mississippi River, fed by innum,r.
|. able tributaries, emptying Il eir,floods il-
J. 10 this majestic strd am from all drec-
: tions, IL subject TO sudder and great
4 changes in its volume of vater. The
country around, low and m .rshy, is oft
en flooded for leagues in the swellings ,f
! the river the stream expanding often il
to All almost illimitable oc can, spread
ing through sombre fores,s and over
, gloomy morasses. Through a region %.
hundreds Of square miles I lis country,
sublimely, dreary, where { cd, by tho
slow deposit OF ages, is prep ring soil for
future tillers, now present boys, aud
lakes. and sluggish bayou, the congen.
7 iAl home Of aIligators, and all uncean
reptiles. Mosquitors, the vi est of eartl,s
tormeDtors. darken the ai'. Mai site
trees draped In funeral mo. S, ovei hang
these gloomy waters, while the ankeft
underground Of every tout h, creeping,
climbing, INTERVENING shrub renders tho
the boundless thicktt almost impenelra,
Ible
Where the land is suifici ,ntly raised
above the water to DO cult vattd, it is
protected nom the spring ind auium-
nal ireshets by dykes or lew es, artificial
mounds OF earth, about ten feet high
and fifteen feet wide. const ucted at IN
Immense expense, along the river banks.
Vicksburg is yituated on the sstern bank
Of the river, on high blu I, near the
point of one OF the most ma. este bends
of the stream. On the oppo. ito or west.
ern shore of the peninsula 70 urd by the
bend the land is low and projected 10y u
dykH. In the attempt upon Vicksburg
lby Commodore Faragut's fl, ct General
Williams had es.ayed to cit u canal
across the neck of this peninsula, hop
ing thus to change the th..n' el of tie
river. This would leave Vic1sburg an
inland town OF no military importance.
Our ships could ascend and lescend the
stream tar beyond the re, ch OF the
Nicksbarg batteries. The pli n was aban-
doned then, in consequence IT the low
state of the water.
General Grants first attempt upon
Vicksburg was by the renewed OF this
experiment. He hoped at least thus to
secure a channel for the passage Of the
transports. Accomplishing this he Gould
land his troops below Vicksburg, a4d
thus gain position to assault the city
from its. rear. For six weeks thousands
OF haads were necessarily at work in
this vast trench, and the eyes OF the ma
tion an xiously watched the progress of
the enterprise. When The work was
nearly two thirds done an unfortunate
break in the dam, at the upper end OF
the canal, flooded the immense ditch
with water, effectually stopping all fur
ther work. Before this injury could be
repaird the period of higltwater passed
away and the enterprise was abandoned.
General Grant, aware OF the grandeur
of the task before him, and OF the un-
certainty of the success OF The canal, had
instituted other measures TO be carliel
on simultaneously. While portion OF
his army were busy with pickaxe and
spade at Young's Point, another body OF
men were detailed for a somewhat similar
operation up the river nearly seventy
miles north from Vieksburg. lie there
found, about five miles wert Of the
river, large expanse OF water called
Lake Providence. A bayou full Of snags,
and winding through the entangling
forest, connected with the southern ex-
tremity of this lake with the northern ex-
tremity of Swan Lake. This sheet of
water, thirty miles in extent, found an
outlet in the,Tensas river which emptied
into the Black river, which last stream
flowed sluggishly into the Red river.
Could the boats descend by this route,
they would enter the Mississippi several
miles below Natche8. 1t WIS apparently
only nr rcessary to cut car al, five miles
long, through the morass, dig out the
shadows, drag out the sna:s, cut away
the ,wind-falls and saw off the gigantic
stumps, through this route + more than
onehundred and fifty mile to give us,
as It we're, new Mississippi parallel with
the old one.
S,upendOus as this plan as, il was by
no means Quixotic. The ri er is contin.
uAlly abandoning its old c annels and
finding new ones. A glance at the map
will show that it would not be strange
If in this way the channel VI the stream
should be changed even o the Gulf.
The region thus to be aveIsed WAS
gloomy, wild, desolate, and mostly unin-
babted. Here and there c. uld be found
/ spot of sunny koil in the midst of tho
nl0rass. In that drSary will
1rrness the adVenturers eng ged in one of
the most stupendous enterpi se Of the war
and had no human foe to f ar. Newspa-
per corres spondents kept tn community
we'll informed respecting tire progress of
hese plans. Many were v.ry sanguine
the result. 1t was even by
,oule apprehended that Il channel of
Ihe river would be change all the way
10 the. Gulf, leaving both Eatchez and
New Orleans inland towns far away To
he east Of that great river upon which
heir existence depended. One letter
writer, ip the flush OF anticil ated success,
Nsites:
"The control of MississiJ p Is almost
within our grasp. Even il we have to
iesolate West Louisiana, we may save
he nation. Even If we shall be obliged
10 leave New Orleans, the refaoval or n
lew spadesfull Of dirt may give us the
outlet Of the sea undisputeo."
The canal was succeRfi lily opened.
One steamer and few barEes entered
Ihe lake asd hegsR TO de'c,nd the slug.
Eish bayous. But the river qersisted in
Its old course As the waters OF the
,pring food fell. the new channel be-
zone but shallow creek, through which
he majestic stream scorne TO flow.-
West LouissanA was not CODED, New
Orleans was not Left 10 dutt an ashes.
rhe Lake Providence oanal proved
ailurp--one of those failures through
erirs Of which keen sagaciiy and indonl-
table energy, fruitful in resources and
lever discouraged, often aecomplisbes its
most signal successes.
~ - oOSTNEEP.