The Washington herald., 1914-03-31

from its source. Although the contest
seemingly was an overwhelmingly un-
equal one. for the forces under Banks,
Porter and Steele practically were op-
posed only by a small army under Gen.
Richard Taylor, the tremendous difficult
ties of operating in a country Of such
character as that which bordered the
Red River. partly neutralized the adj
vantage which the Federals possessed in
point Of numbers.
Already they had encountered many
difficulties in gaining a position from
which they might strike an effective
blow against the power of the COnfed-
eracy west Of the Mississippi. The land
through which the troops were forced
to march was densely wooded. with few
good roads and many streams. swamps
and bayous, which required frequent
bridging.
Not the least of the difficulties exper-
fenced in the advance was in getting
Porters ships up the Red River. The
admiral had boasted that he could take
his iron-clad gunboats wherever the
sand was damp However. when his
vessels reached Alexandria. he found that
the task before him was a more difficult
one than he had at first imagined.
Just above Alexandria and extending
for nearly a mile in the river was a
series of falls or rapids which ordinarily
blocked the upper reaches of the stream
to navigation, except by liEht-draft Ves-
sells As a rule. however, the spring
freshets raised the waters of the river
to a considerable height in the rapids SO
that from March to June. inclusive. they
could be passed by heavier vessels.
Pulling Ship. Up Stream.
Admiral Porter had supposed that there
would be sufficient water in the river to
carry his vessels above the falls. but
for the first time in twenty years the Red
River failed to make its usual rise. When
the army moved from Alexandria to
Natchitoches Porter found himself and
his fleet unable to accompany il: but by
March IS the waters had reached a
height which determined Porter to at
tempt a passage.
The first vessel to move was the IRON
clad Eastport, the heaviest ship which
was to succeed in getting above. Against
the advice Of those who knew the rapids.
this vessel was sent into the chute"
but had made little progress when it
grounded. For three days II remained
immovable. blocking the way of the
lighter vessels which might have run
through with success Finally. however.
the Eastport literally was dragged up
the stream and into deeper water. Ropes
by the erratic rising of the stream which
for a few moments at a time would give
an extra inch or two of water. she was
pulled from her place in the mud and the
channel opened.
The next vessel to attempt the passage
was the hospital boat Woodford, an un-
calmly craft belonging to Eliot's Marine
Brigade. This vessel, which, like the
Eastport, soon ran aground, was not So
fortunate as the former, for in some I'M
accountable way il caught fire and was
completely destroyed.
In the last days of March the waters
of the Red River reached their highest
mark, and thirteen OF the naval vessels
and about thirty army transports and
supply ships succeeded in getting above
the falls.
IroncIad in the Mud.
The difficulty of getting these heavy
vessels through the rapids and the
methods by which it finally was ac-
complished. is made plain by the writ
ings of Lawrence Van Alstyne, a pri-
vate in Banks army. He noted in his
diary for March 30:
The ironcIad Ozark had got fast in
the mud by going too close to the op-I