some time lost sight of the Dolsen entirel}-, and
knowing her to be one of the fastest boats on the
river, we gave up the chase and came to anchor.
Next morning, the iron-boats having caught up
to us in the mean time, we took the barge in tow
and started down the river and came to anchor
at ten A.M., some ten miles up White River by
a "cut-off" leading into Arkansas River.

The tug Spiteful then went up the river on a
"reconnoissance" and returned in the afternoon,
followed by the Clara Dolsen, which she had
captured some twenty miles up the river. She
is a magnificent boat and worth about sixty thou
sand dollars. We lay there all that night and
| the next day and night, tortured dreadfully by
| musquitoes. On Sunday Captain Kilty put the
Dolsen in charge of the third Master of the Lex
ington, James Fitzpatrick, and sent her up to
Memphis. Next morning, (Monday, sixteenth,)
at five, the gunboat Conestoga, Captain Blodget,
and the transports New National and White
Cloud, came up the river and we then all got
under way and proceeded up White River. We
anchored that night some fifty miles up the river,
and sent the Spiteful on ahead to reconnoitre.
She returned in about two hours with the infor
mation that the enemy had erected a battery at
St. Charles, some four miles above. Next morn
ing at six we all got under way, the Mound City
leading the St. Louis, Lexington and Conestoga,
and the transports White Cloud and New Nation
al, with some six hundred men under Col. Fitch.
At eight o clock we called to quarters and com
menced firing our No. One Parrott gun, and the
transports disembarked their troops, who inarched
out to attack the enemy in the rear. At nine
came in sight of three boats sunk in the channel
! of the river, one of them a gunboat, and at five
: minutes past nine the flag-ship signalled " Close
! action," the enemy opening fire on us at the same



DOCUMENTS.



225



time. We could not see the rebel battery, it
being concealed from us by a bend in the river,
but their balls whistled freely over and around
us, striking the water some twenty yards in front
of us, and ricocheting some ten feet over our
heads, with that peculiar whistling sound by
which a rifled ball can always be distinguished.
We advanced steadily all the time, the Mound
City being only about five hundred yards from
the battery, and in full view of it, and we some
five hundred yards behind, when precisely at
three minutes past ten we suddenly saw steam
rushing from all the port-holes of the Mound
City, soon enveloping her completely. I turned
away sick at heart, for I knew what an awful
scene was being enacted on board of the ill-fated
boat. When I looked again, a minute after
wards, the violence of the steam had already sub
sided, and the water was full of men struggling
with the swift current which was sweeping them
away to a speedy death, but far preferable to the
torture which they afterwards endured. All the
boats were immediately lowered and sent to pick
them up, and soon the poor wretches were trjdng
to crawl into the boats, while the rebels kept up
a sharp fire of musketry and grape upon them,
sending a shot through the launch of the Cone-
stoga, which was filled with scalded men, killing
and wounding several.

Soon the ward-room of our boat was filled with
men shrieking with agony. In such a case every
body is a doctor, so I got out my knife, and com
menced cutting their clothes off, for wherever
they were pulled ofF, the skin and flesh, which
was literally boiled on their bones, came off with
them. After getting their clothes off we deluged
them with oil and flour, and covered them with
raw cotton, they crying to us to shoot them and j
put them out of their pain. It made me so sick :
I was obliged to go on deck.

When I got up the firing had ceased. An ar- j
my officer had come down to the bank and told |
us that the land forces had surprised the enemy !
and taken their battery, just as they were about
retreating from the fire of our boats. The Con-
cstoga and the Spiteful in the mean time had
towed the Mound City down-stream. I went on
board of her in the afternoon, but I cannot de
scribe the horrible scene which met my eye. The
decks were covered with dead and dying men,
here and there skin from men s hands and feet,
with the nails yet attached ; men crying for wa
ter ! water ! to quench the heat from the steam
which was burning them inside.

The Musselman, a small stern-wheel boat we
had with us, went alongside of her to take on the
wounded. I went into Capt. Kilty s room on j
the Mound City. A man lay on his bed gasping
for water ; I went to get him some ; when I re
turned he was dead. We put some sixty-five
scalded men on the Musselman, and a quarter of j
an hour afterwards we had to carry out seven of
tb*>m which had died.

The Musselman started for Memphis in the
evening with fifty-eight scalded, accompanied by s
the Conestoga, with Captain Kilty dangerously ; i

VOL. V. Doc. 15



scalded ; Paymaster Gunn, dying, (since dead ;)
Doctor Jones, dying; Mr. Young, pilot, the
same ; and Lieut, Fry, of the rebel navy, (dan
gerously shot through the back while running
from his battery,) in Capt. Blodgett s cabin, and
the ward-room full of wounded men and officers.
The Musselman stopped on her way up ana
buried twenty-seven, and by the time she got to
Memphis seven more were dead. We buried
fifty-eight that same night, and the men who
were not hurt came to take supper on our boat,
and out of a crew which in the morning numbered
one hundred and eighty-five men, only twenty-
two were left. All the masters were scalded to
death except the First Master, Mr. Daniel, and he
being upon the quarterdeck escaped. All the
engineers were killed except the First Assistant,
Mr. Clemens, and he had gone up on the Clara
Dolsen, also one of the pilots. One of the Mas
ter s Mates was killed, the other badly scalded.
The ball that did all this mischief was a thirty
two pound rifled, and entered upon the port side
just above gun No. One, and killing two captains
of guns, passed clear through the steam-drum
and lodged in the forward officers mess-room. In
looking at that poor mess I thought that perhaps
it was foreordained, but ma} God preserve m
from such a fate. Your affectionate son,

FRED. WISE.

MISSOURI "DEMOCRAT" ACCOUNT.

MEMPHIS, June 19, 18C2.

The gunboat Conestoga and transport Jacob
Musselman have just arrived from White River,
and bring the news of the capture of Fort St.
Charles, on that river, by the gunboats of the ex
pedition which left here on Friday last. The
fleet consisted of the gunboats Mound City, (flag
ship,) St. Louis, Conestoga and Lexington, and
the transports New National, White Cloud and
Jacob Musselman, having on board the Forty-
sixth Indiana regiment, in command of Col. G. N.
Fitch.

On Saturday last the fleet reached the mouth
of White River, and on Monda}^, the eighteenth,
began to ascend the stream. On Tuesday morn
ing, at about seven o clock, being within two
miles of the supposed locality of the Fort, and
the Mound City being in advance, Capt. Kilty be
gan shelling the woods on each side of the river
as they moved up, in order to cover the landing
of Col. Fitch s troops from the transports. The
landing was effected a little over a mile below
the Fort, on the south-west bank of the river.

The Fort, situated on a ridge of about seventy-
five feet in height, which runs nearly parallel
with and about two hundred feet back from th
south-west bank of the river, was not completed,
having only breastworks for the two batteries,
but no works of defence for the rear. The upper
battery of two forty-two-pounders was on the
point of the ridge where it puts in closp to tho
river. These two guns had been the armament
of the gunboat Ponchartrain which the rebels h;ul
sunk so as to obstruct the channel of the river
immediately abreast of the battery. Two trans-



226



REBELLION RECORD, 1862.



ports had also been sunk close to her, one of loaded just before the shot struck the steam-drum,
which had on her pilot-house u Eliza G." The ! and had not been fired since, but nearly half an
battery on the point of the ridge was manned by I hour afterwards one of the wounded gunners had



the former crew of the Ponchartrain.



battery, composed of five twelve - pound field-
pieces, was about three hundred yards further
down-stream, where the ridge was further from



gunners-
The lower I become entangled in the lanyard which is at



tached to the lock of the gun, and in his writh
ing with the pain fired the gun. The ball took
effect on the New National, which had landed her



the river; and the whole place was in command j troops and come up to the rescue of the Mound



of Capt. Fry, the former captain of the Ponchar
train, and who was once a lieutenant in the U. S.
navy. At about half-past eight, when the Mound



City. The ball struck her behind the wheel, and,
ranging forward, cut off the steam-pipe, immedi
ately disabling her and slightly scalding the sec-



City approached within less than a mile, the first I ond engineer.

or lower battery opened fire upon her ; this was | Col. Fitch, who had now gained the summit
the first indication of the exact location of the \ of the ridge a short distance below the lower bat-
batteries, as they had been concealed by the tery, fearing that one of the other gunboats might
heavy timber In the intervening bottom land, meet with an accident similar to the Mound
which was only cleared along the river s edge, j City s, signalled the gunboats to cease firing, and
and at one or two other places, so as to give the j that he would storm the batteries. The gunboats
guns of the batteries a clear range. The Mound j accordingly ceased firing, and after making con-
City immediately moved up and delivered several ! siderable of a detour, the Forty-sixth attacked the
broadsides, and leaving the St. Louis and Cone- j batteries in the rear, delivering their fire as they
stoga engaged, passed on up to engage the upper came up, charging over the guns and killing the
battery, which had now opened fire. The fight gunners at their posts. The rebels fought stub-
had lasted about thirty minutes after the firing bornly, asking no quarter, and receiving none from
had become general on both sides, and the lower J the men of the Forty-sixth, who were enraged at
battery of field-pieces was nearly silenced, when ! the dastardly firing upon the helpless men in the
a forty-two-pound shot from the upper battery j river ; only two of those who were in the batte-
struck the Mound City on the port side, near the ; ry were taken prisoners, the rest were killed,
second gun from the bow, passing through the ! The Indiana troops then came over the brow of
casemate, killing five or six men, and knocking a ! the ridge and down into the wooded bottom-land
large hole in the steam-drum. Instantly the \ next the river in pursuit of those who had been
hot steam burst out in dense volumes, filling the : firing on the Mound City s crew, the rebels re-
engine-room, gun-room, and pilot-house, and ! treating rapidly up the bank of the river, the
scalding over one hundred and twenty-five per- j Forty-sixth firing on them as they fled, killing
sons. The shrieks of the poor fellows confined ! the greater portion of. them. In the flight, Capt.
between decks in the scalding vapor were said to j FIT, their commander, was wounded by a ball in
be heart-rending beyond description. Many were j the back, was captured, and is now a prisoner
instantly suffocated, but all who were able groped i on board the Conestoga. The rebel loss in killed
their way to the ports and jumped into the river, ! is not known, but must have included the greater
and a minute after the explosion, fifty or sixty of portion of their force, as we have only thirty pri-
them were struggling in the water, the Conesto- soners, and only a few are known to have es-
ga immediately came up and sent out two boats i caped. Opinions differ also as to the number of
to pick them up. One of the Mound City s boats j the rebels, some setting it as high as five htm-
was also launched by Master s Mate Simmes ; dred, and saying that Col. Fitch s estimate of one
Browne, one of the few officers who was not seri- ; hundred and fifty referred only to the gunboat s
ously hurt. During this time both gunboats and | crew, who manned the upper battery.
the small boats were drifting down the river. As Col. Fitch, in his report, states that the casual
the Mound City drifted near the shore, near the , ties in his regiment are unimportant, being only
lower battery, a sortie was made from the bat- five or six slightly wounded. But for the one
tery, which some supposed to be an attempt ! shot which burst the Mound City s steam-drum,
on* the part of the enemy to board the Mound i there would not have been a man hurt on the
City, but which afterward proved to be for the j fleet, as not a single shot that struck the gun-
purpose of firing on the scalded men in the river, j boats did any damage whatever except that. No
which the prisoners say they did at the com- one was hurt on either of the gunboats, and none
mand of Capt. Fry. The field-pieces of the lower of the transports were struck except the New
battery were also turned upon the boats that I National, by the accidental shot from the Mound
were picking up the wounded, and a twelve-pound | City,

shot knocked away the bows of one of the Con- 1 Col Fitch was so exasperated at the murderous
estoga s boats. Many were hit by the firing, and j fire that had been poured upon the scalded men
sunk before the boats could reach them, and only! who were struggling in the water, that when he
twenty-seven out of the Mound City s crew of j came on board the Conestoga, where Col Fry
one hundred and eighty, answered to their names j was a prisoner, he reproached him bitterly for his



at the calling of the roll, and were all that escap
ed unhurt.



inhuman conduct in giving the order, and asked



him to compare his own conduct with our course
Another singular accident now occurred: The towards them only ten days before, at Memphis,
Mound City s starboard broadside-^uns had been I when all of the small boats belonging to the



DOCUMENTS.



227



nearest of our gunboats were sent out to help
save the drowning crew of their gunbo.it General
Lovell. He told him that being a prisoner was
now his protection, but if justice were done him,
he would be hanging to the nearest tree before
night. Fry at first denied that he had given the
order, but on being confronted with some of his



men, who persisted in savins
the order, he became silent.



that he had given



I am indebted for many particulars of the bat
tle to Simraes E. Browne, Master s Mate of the
Mound City, who came up on the Concstoga with
the body of his brother. Mr. Browne was one
of the few who were not too badly scalded to
launch one of the Mound City s boats, to save
those who were drowning. He soon had the
boat full of disabled men, who paddled and drift
ed her as well as they could towards the Cone-
s toga, the balls pattering in the water all about
them as they went, and occasionally striking
some poor fellow, who would instantly sink to
rise no more. A large shell burst within twenty
feet of them, but fortunately did not hurt the
boat nor any one in it. One of the sailors of the



Pilot, Joseph Nixon, of Memphis, scalded to



death.

Carpenter, Manning, slightly scalded.

Gunner, Thomas McElroy, slightly hurt.

Armorer, Lewis Stevenson, unhurt.

James Kennedy, one of the regular pilots of
the Mound City, was not on board, having left to
bring the captured steamer Clara Dolsen up to
Memphis. The damage to the Mound City is but
slight, and can be repaired in half a day. A new
crew will be sent down immediately to man her,
and she will continue with the expedition, which
will proceed further up White River.

It was thought that the sunken boats could
soon be sufficiently removed to admit the passage
of the fleet, and it is not probable that they will
meet with any further opposition, as it was con
ceded that there were no other works further up
the stream, and that the river was virtually in
our possession.

But before many days I hope to send you even
more important news ; rumors portentous of dis
aster to the rebels reach us from Yicksburgh ;
and perhaps even in my next letter I may be

Mound City, whose name is Jones, is mentioned j able to say that the flag hallowed by the blood
as having shown extraordinary endurance. He j of those who first raised it in the Revolution of
was partially scalded by the steam on the Mound j "TO, and of those who sustained it in 61-2, floats
City, and leaped out of one of the ports into the | over the last rebel battery that frowned over the



river. While he was swimming around, en
deavoring to get to some one of the boats, he re
ceived three gunshot wounds one in the leg,
one in the shoulder, and one in the back ; but he
still kept afloat, and being unable to get near any
of the small boats, and having drifted below the
gunboats St. Louis and Conestoga, he swam to
the Lexington, nearly half a mile, was taken on
board, and is getting well.

Almost all who were badly scalded have since
died. Thirty-five of them died on the way up
on the Conestoga and the Musselman, and were



Mississippi yellow flood.



W. L. F.



Doc.



COLONEL ELLIOTT S EXPEDITION.

NEW-YORK "TRIBUNE" ACCOUNT.

GENERAL PORK S HEADQUARTERS, )
Six MILES SOUTH OK COKISTII, Jane 21, 18(i2. f

ON the evening of the twenty-seventh ultimo
Col. Elliott received orders to get his brigade,



buried near Island Sixty-seven. Eight men were ! consisting of the Second Iowa and Second Michi-
dead when the boats arrived at Memphis, and gan cavahy, immediately in readiness and pro-
the entire number of the Mound City s dead is ! ceed, provided with three days cooked rations
not far from one hundred and twer^-five. ! for the men and one day s for the animals, with

I give you below a list of the officers of the j as much secrecy as possible, from his camp in
Mound City, -and note against each name whether the vicinity of Farming-ton, across the Memphis
unhurt, wounded, or dead.
a list of the crew :



I was unable to get and Charleston Railroad east of luka, to the
j head- waters of the Tombigbee, thence to bear
north of west so as to strike the Mobile and Ohio
i Railroad at some point near Booneville, and de
stroy the track in the most effective possible
manner, so as to prevent the passage of trains at

Third Master, John Kinsey, scalded to death. ! least for days. He was directed after accom-
Fourth Master, James Scoville, " " | plishing the object of the expedition, to return

over another road, but in the same direction he
came, and in case he should find his return to
Gen. Pope s army rendered impracticable by the
enemy, to make his way through Alabama toward



Capt. A. II. Kilty, badly scalded, but will re
cover.

First Master, Cyrus Dominy, unhurt.
Second Master, William Hart, drowned.



Master s Mate, Henry R. Browne, " "

Master s Mate, Simmes E. Browne, slightl) 1
scalded.

Paymaster, John M. Gunn, scalded to death.



Surgeon, George Jones, badly scalded, but will | Huntsville, and then report to Gen. Mitchel. To
recover. I better understand the expedition, it should be

Chief Engineer, John Cox, scalded to death. | borne in mind that it was undertaken three days
Second Engineer, (was not on board.) before the intention of Beauregard to abandon

Third Engineer, McAfFee, scalded to death. Corinth became manifest, and that it was part of

Fourth Engineer, Gco. Hollingsworth, scalded ! the programme of Gen. Halleck to destroy the



to death.

Pilot, Charles Young, scalded to death.



rebel means of retreat into the interior of Missis
sippi before or simultaneously with the final as-



228



REBELLIOX RECORD, 1862.



sault upon their position, which was to take place
the very morning Col. Elliott carried out his in
structions at Booneville, and the last rebels left
Corinth.

In accordance with the above order, the brigade
started out precisely at midnight of the twenty-
seventh. Col. Elliott, being perfectly ignorant
of the roads and country he had to traverse, had
procured two guides from among the native resi
dents about Farmington to where he was to
strike the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, and after
ward secured the necessary guidance by picking
up every citizen he met and forcing them to
show him the way, their persons being sufficient
guarantee that they would act in good faith.

The brigade crossed the Mobile and Ohio Rail
road with daylight on the morning of the twenty-
eighth, some two miles east of luka, and twenty
miles from Farmington, and pushed ten miles
further to the south, when they rested. Late in
the afternoon the march was resumed, and con
tinued until daybreak the next day, for a distance
of nearly forty miles, to the head-waters of the
Tombigbee, over little travelled roads and through
an extremely rough, broken, thickly-wooded coun-
tiy, watered by numerous streams. Here an
other halt was made until the cool hours of the
evening. The inhabitants, not for a moment sus
pecting that the "Yankees" could have found
their way so far south of Corinth, flocked togeth
er, bringing water, milk, and eatables for the
supposed Southern cavalry. The one day s ra
tions for the animals being consumed, forcible
foraging was resorted to during the day, which
speedily opened the eyes of the astonished and
affrighted natives.

At four o clock P.M. the column was again in
motion, and marching all night to the north-west
arrived in the vicinity of Booneville at three P.M.
Reconnoitring parties were sent out to ascertain
the condition of things about the town, and upon
Hearing it discovered that an apparently intermin
able train, loaded, as was afterward learned, with
nearly three thousand confederates, was just
about departing south. Retreating upon the
main body, they allowed the train to pass out of
sight before they commenced operations. Col.
Sheridan of the Second Michigan was then or
dered to leave one half of his regiment in reserve,
and with the balance to proceed south of the
town and destroy the track. While marching in
that direction the battalion came up with numer
ous detachments of the enemy, evidently strag
glers. They were immediately charged upon and
scattered to the four winds. They threw away
their arms and rode off at a wonderful rate, out
running the jaded horses of the pursuers. Reach
ing the track at a point three fourths of a mile
south of the town, Col. Sheridan put his men to
work without delay, knocking off and destroying
the rails with their axes, the only implements of
destruction they had brought along. In less
than twenty minutes a quarter of a mile of the
track was thus destroyed, when an order was re
ceived from Col. Elliott directing Col. Sheridan to i
join him at Booneville.



In the mean time the Second Iowa, Lieut. -Col.
Hatch, commanding, under the immediate super
vision of Colonel Elliott, had entered the town,
where they found one locomotive a-nd a train of
twenty-six cars, containing large quantities of
ordnance, ordnance stores, quartermasters pro
perty, commissary stores, and private baggage of
officers, estimated in value at from one half tc
three quarters of a million of dollars all oi
which, with the exception of the locomotives that
were merely disabled, was effectively destroyed.

The presence of the Union cavalry had now
become known to the rebels, who were in strong
force both north and south of the town. With
out knowing any thing of the evacuation of
Corinth, Col. Elliott had, indeed, wedged his
command in between the main body and rear
of Beauregard s army. The pickets he had
thrown out reported strong bodies of the enemy
advancing from both directions upon the town.
Fearing that his retreat might be cut off, and
having done all and more than he had been or
dered to do, Colonel Elliott determined to make a
retrograde movement at once.

Both the Second Iowa and Second Michigan,
while moving to and fro about town, had taken
several hundred prisoners, belonging to a regiment
that had been stationed at Booneville to guard
the town and road, completely surprised and run
ning about wildly upon the sudden entrance of
our cavalry. Nearly every house was also full
of rebel sick, numbering, in the aggregate, nearly
two thousand. A speedy retreat having now be
come necessary, these prisoners had to be aban