sufficiently on the upper falls to allow three of the iron-clads to cross and proceed down to within a short distance of the dam. In another day, it would undoubtedly have been sufficiently high to enable all the other vessels of the fleet to pass the upper falls. Unfortunately, at five o'clock on the morning of the 9th, the pressure of the water became so great that it swept away two of the large coal barges that were sunk at the end of the dam, near the centre of the river. When the accident was observed, the admiral rode to the point where the upper vessels were anchored, and ordered the "Lexington" to pass the upper falls, if possible, and immediately attempt to go through the opening in the dam, along which the water was rushing as fiercely as over the rapids at Niagara. She succeeded in getting over the falls, and then steered directly for the opening in the dam, through which the water was dashing so furiously that it seemed as if certain destruction would be her fate. Ten thousand spectators breathlessly awaited the result. Entering the gap with a full head of steam, the "Lexington" passed down the roaring, rushing torrent; made several spasmodic rolls; hung for a moment, with a harsh, grating sound, on the rocks below; was then swept into deep water, and rounded to by the bank of the river. Such a cheer arose from that vast multitude of sailors and soldiers, when the noble vessel was seen in safety below the falls, as we had never heard before, and certainly have not heard since. Then all eyes were turned above the dam again, when the "Neosho," another iron-clad, was to be seen approaching. She did not fare as well as the "Lexington," being considerably injured in the passage; but the other two, the "Hindman" and "Osage," which followed her, passed through without any accident. It was perhaps a fortunate circumstance that a portion of the dam was carried away in the manner that it was, as the two barges that were forced out by the terrific pressure of the water swung round against some dangerous rocks, making a cushion for the vessels, and doubtless preventing, as afterward appeared, the certain destruction of a portion of the fleet.

The army, not in the least disheartened, immediately commenced the reconstruction of the dam, but not to close the breach, that being left substantially as it was. The question originally was, whether we should make one dam at the foot of the falls, with an opening for the ships to pass through, with wing dams above, thus dividing the pressure, or trust all to one principal structure. The dam had been carried away because the whole body of water had been stopped at one point, leaving no passage for the escape of any portion of it; Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey therefore determined to leave the gap of about seventy feet, caused by the carrying away of the two barges, and construct a series of wing dams on the upper Section of Bracket Dam.

falls in accordance with his original plan, thus turning all the water into one narrow channel. Several of these were built on each side of the river, thereby increasing the depth one foot two inches, and enabling all the fleet to pass the upper falls. This was accomplished in three days and nights, the wing dams being constructed in the same manner as the tree dam on the north side of the lower falls, and on the fourth day the work was completed on the main dam, by which the depth of water was increased five feet four and a half inches -a depth sufficient to enable the largest iron-clads to cross. On the afternoon of the 12th, three of the gunboats, "Carondelet," "Mound City," and " Pittsburg," their hatches battened down and every precaution taken to guard against accident,

safely passed the dam. Early the following morning the remaining five passed in succession, amid the cheers of the assembled thousands. The only casualty was the loss of a single sailor, washed overboard from one of the smaller vessels, and unfortunately drowned before assistance could reach him. By three o'clock that day the vessels were all coaled; the guns and ammunition, which had been removed to lighten the vessels, replaced; the pontoon bridge at Alexandria, laid down to facilitate operations on the dam, taken up; and the whole fleet, with its large convoy of army transports, was steaming down the river, while the troops moved forward on the river road to cover and protect them from the attacks of the enemy. A few hours later, after the rear-guard had left Alexandria, the enemy took possession of the town, and, with rueful and elongated countenances, gazed sadly upon the work of a Northern Army, whereby a fleet worth several millions of dollars, with a magnificent armament of powerful guns, which they had looked upon as their certain prize, had been successfully rescued.

General Banks, in a communication on the subject of the Red River dam addressed to the Chairman of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, says: "The water had been raised upon the dam for a mile and a quarter about seven feet, with a fall below the dam of about six feet, making in all a fall of some thirteen feet above and below the falls. The pressure of the water at its completion was terrific. I went on the work at eleven o'clock on the evening of the 8th with Colonel J. G. Wilson, of my staff, and felt that the pressure of the water was so great that it could not stand. I rode immediately to the point above, where the fleet was anchored, to ascertain, if possible, if they were ready to follow the three boats that had already passed the rapids. I reached the fleet about twelve o'clock, midnight. Scarcely a man or light was to be seen. It was perfectly apparent that the vessels were not in a condition to take advantage of the completion of the dam, and, feeling that it could not stand another day, I wrote a note to Admiral Porter, at one o'clock on the morning of

the 9th, which was delivered in person, at two o'clock A.M., by Colonel Wilson, stating my belief as to the condition of the dam and the fleet, and asking that measures should be taken immediately to put the boats in condition to move over the rapids at the earliest possible moment in the morning. My apprehensions were fully verified. A little after five o'clock on the morning of the 9th, I myself saw a material part of the dam swept away. The three iron-clads that had passed the rapids the afternoon before were able to pass below through the opening which the waters had made. Only one of the vessels above the falls-the 'Lexington '-was ready to move when the dam gave way, and that came down after the break and passed the dam in safety, with all the vessels that were below the rapids. Had the others been ready to move, all would have passed the rapids and the dam safely on Monday."

As Admiral Porter says in his report to the Secretary of the Navy: "This is, without doubt, the best engineering feat ever performed. Under the best circumstances a private company would not have completed the work under one year, and to an ordinary mind the whole thing would have appeared an utter impossibility. I do not believe that there ever was a case where such difficulties were overcome in so short a space of time, and without any previous preparation." The colonel of the Fifteenth Regiment Maine Volunteers testified before the Committee on the Conduct of the War, January, 1865, "that it was a very common thing among the lumbermen of Maine to build such dams, and that he had one hundred and fifty men in his regiment who could build just such a dam," a statement which we presume must be taken cum grano salis.

The construction of the Red River dam was almost ex

clusively the work of the army. But little aid or encouragement was rendered by the navy, except by Volunteer Lieutenant Langthorne, commanding the "Mound City," who assisted in setting the heavy cribs and coal barges. The soldiers labored zealously night and day, in and out of the water,

Tree
Dam

from the 30th of April to the 12th of May inclusive, when the passage of the boats below the upper falls was completed. Eight days later, during which period constant skirmishing

BAYOU RAPIDES

MossENG.CONY

THE RED RIVER DAM AT ALEXANDRIA, LA.*

was going on with the enemy, the army reached the Atchafalaya Bayou, where Colonel Bailey improvised an excellent

*Copies from an old map now in the possession of Captain Joseph H. Willard, United States Engineer Corps, on which there are several notes in manuscript signed J. Bailey, Bvt. B.-Gen. The dam is sketched in on the map in red ink, and it is believed that this was done by General Bailey himself.