Sunday, 12th.—Flag of truce sent down river by Federals; don’t know what for. Last night about 11 o’clock gun-boats passed the batteries; very heavy cannonading; a house was set on fire opposite Vicksburg, so that every gunboat could be plainly seen. It was a grand and awful sight to see those great black monsters rushing by, with the constant flashes from the great siege guns, and also from the gunboats. And it seemed as if almost all the demons from the lower world had come up to take part, and yet only one boat was burned and some others damaged. Cannonading all day.
