New Ulm review., 1919-05-28


| ployed in the Wisconsin pineries to
lift" stranded rafts Of logs to safety.
The project was at first received with
ridicule by Colonel Bailey's superiors.
It was declared impossible of achieve
ment by the best engineers in the
army. Only General Franklin, Bal
! ley's immediate superior, offered any
encourag cement.
But there was nothing else to be
done, and at length the Wisconsin
lumberman was obviously granted
permission to put his project to the
proof. His first step was to requisi-
ton detachments Of "pinery boys"
from the 23d and Goth Wisconsin reg
ments, who understood what was to
be done and how to go about it.
In all, 5000 men were employed in
the enterprise. Brawny lumberjacks
from Maine We'd with those from WIS
consin in prosecuting the work; catch
ing the spirit Of these instructors, SOL
diers who had never seen a log-raft
also worked with WILL Hundreds
of men were set to telling trees; other
hundreds toiled in the quarries that
were opened for the occasion; and
200 or 300 wagons were engaged in
the essential work of transporting the
materials for the dam. Up to their
necks in the swift current, which
swept over the rapids at the rate Of
nine miles an hour, under the blister
ing southern sun, the men tOiled with
utmost good humor and never a word
of complaint.
At the end of eight days the river
was sufficiently high to permit three
of the lighter gunboats to pass the
upper falls, where they had been held,
and come down to position imme-
diately above the dam, ready to pass
the lower rapids. One more day, and
the dam would be high enough to
permit all to come down in readiness
for the final attempt.
With success thus about to be
achieved, however, a discouraging dis
aster occurred. On the morning of
the ninth day the steadily increasing
pressure Of the water caused two of
the stone barges in the middle of the
dam to swing aside, and through the
opening thus created the accumulated
torrent swirled. The three lighter
vessels that were in position to make
the passage, together with a four h
that had meanwhile come up, promptly
took advantage Of the break, and pass
ing the remaining rapids on the flood
tide, safely reached the deeper water
below.
Somewhat encouraged by the escape
Of at least four of the vessels, the
men brayely set about repairing the
damage that had been done. Within
three days the break had been closed
and in addition two wing-dams con-
structed on the upper falls. The re-
naming gunboats, somewhat lifted
by the backwater of the, wing dams,
were now hauled over the upper falls.
and on May II, amid the tumultuous
cheers Of 10000 soldiers lined up along
the shore, made the perilous passage
over the lower falls to the deep water
below.
words are inadequate to express the
admiration I feel for the ability of
Lieutenant Colonel Bailey" wrote Ad-
miral Porter in his official report to
the Navy department. "This is with
out doubt the best engineering feat
ever performed. Under the best cir
cumstances, a private company would
not have completed the work under
one year., and to an ordinary mind
the whole thing would have appeared
an impossibility. Leaving out his abil-
ity as an engineer-the credit he has
conferred upon the !country-he has
SAWED the Union valuable fleet worth
nearly $2,00O,O00; more, he has de-
prived the enemy Of triumph which
would have emboldened them to carry
on the war a year or two longer, for
the intended departure Of the army
was a fixed fact, and there was moth
ing left for me to do in case that
event occurred but to destroy every
part of the vessels SO that the Con-
federates could make nothing of
them.'
On June II, 1864, congress adopted
a resolution of thanks to Lieutenant
Colonel Bailey "for distinguished serv-
ices in the recent campaign on the
Red river, by which the gunboat ho-
1lla under Rear Admiral David D.
Porter was rescued from imminent
peril" A few months later the off
GERS Of Admiral Porter's fleet pre-
sented him with a beautiful sword
and loving cup, and before the year
was over he had been promoted, by
order Of the War department, to the
rank Of brevet brigadier general. Thus
did one Wisconsin lumberjack win
his spurs and at the same time va
liantly serve his country, in the great
civil conflict of half a century ago.
The visitor to the museum of the Wis
consin State Historical society, at the
foot of University hill at Madison,
may still see the sword and loving