May 31st. At three A. M., mortar vessels below still firing upon the rebel batteries at Port Hudson; at 10 o’clock called all hands to muster on the quarter-deck, and performed Divine service; nothing of importance occurred during the remainder of this day. The weather continues pleasant, and occasional guns were heard at Port Hudson and in rear of same.
May 30th. Commences with pleasant weather. This morning, early, sent the body of Michael Walsh, marine, on shore for burial; he died at ten o’clock in the evening of yesterday, after a brief illness. During the afternoon of this day the steamer General Price, of upper fleet, came down from Vicksburg, bringing a mail for us, and the information that Major-General Grant is fighting hard at Vicksburg, and gaining ground; at four forty-five P. M., the General Price started back up the river, taking our mail; at eleven fifteen the mortar fleet below opened fire upon Port Hudson.
May 29th. The cessation of hostilities on both sides seems to have, in part, taken place, and our forecastle is not crowded with officers and blue jackets, like on the two previous days, straining their eyes almost out of their sockets in their anxiety to see where our shells and those of our armies fell in the rebels’ works, and what execution they do. Oh, the excitement caused by seeing two parties striving for the mastery! I presume that the almost abandonment of the siege to-day is for good reasons,—probably to rest and recover strength for an early renewal of the assault, and this time with a larger force, or else for the purpose of burying their dead, and giving the enemy an opportunity to care for theirs, the performance of which is a sacred duty, and so held by all civilized nations.
May 28th. At three o’clock this morning hostilities commenced again between the two contending armies, with all its former ferocity, and the loud booming of cannon was in great contrast and bold relief to the low but quick mutterings of numerous volleys of musketry. The rumor of yesterday in regard to several thousand of our men being in their entrenchments we have since learned was untrue. Although the fortifications in and around Port Hudson are very formidable, and of such a nature as hard to be overcome, making this rebel stronghold almost another Gibraltar, still great confidence is put in General Banks that he will be able to surmount all these in time, and reduce the place. Admiral Farragut, on board the staunch and new sloop-of-war Monongahela, below Port Hudson, is aiding the army by all the means in his power towards the consummation of the reduction of this place. He has the sloops-of-war Richmond, Genesee, and iron-clad Essex at his command, with six mortar schooners, and I assure you he does not allow them long to remain idle, but whenever he thinks some execution can be done by the sending of a few shot or shell, grape or canister, among the rebels, they all go to work with a will to perform this duty. They are more or less engaged every day with the enemy; the rebels admit that it is not Banks they fear, but the ships, and if they were not around close to hand, Banks would have to look out for himself; without us their supplies would not be entirely cut off, and the blockade would therefore not be effective; they could not be reinforced by Kirby Smith’s band of guerrillas, or some other party, by crossing the river, or cutting their way through Banks’ handful of men. I give all praise, though, to Banks doing as well as he has with the forces (and quality) at his command; and although he has been repulsed, and has to fall back to his old position, in the late engagement with the Confederates, still we will not say he did not fight well and attempt to carry everything before him; but, although defeated, we look forward to the time when our arms will be successful, and that soon. Although we lost many men in these two days’ fighting, yet the enemy must admit of being much cut up, and his men demoralized, which weakens him for an early renewal of hostilities.
May 27th. At daylight this morning it was apparent to all who heard the heavy firing of artillery, and rapid discharges of musketry, that an attack had been made by our forces upon the enemy’s works. The firing continued without intermission during the whole forenoon of this day. During the afternoon, occasionally heavy firing of artillery and musketry, the rebels replying at intervals with two great guns; lower fleet bombarding the rebel earthworks at Port Hudson, mortars, or bombers, as our boys call them, engaged also. A report has been circulated about the decks that during Banks’s attack this morning, a battery of six guns had been captured by us, the enemy drove into their main works, and some two or three of our regiments were inside of their entrenchments.
May 26th. Commences with pleasant weather, and only to find us engaged in shelling the woods around Port Hudson, which proved a big scare to the rebels, so much so that they deserted two fine river steamers they had concealed among the bushes upon what is called (it is a small stream) Thompson’s Creek, and our pickets took possession of them; our shelling continued, at intervals, from twelve to one forty A. M., of this watch, the Albatross participating in it; so there was no sleep last night on board the Hartford; at four o’clock beat to general quarters again, and shelled the woods in rear of Port Hudson; mortar vessels of the lower fleet also engaged shelling the rebel works; at five thirty hove up anchor, got under way, and dropped down to our old anchorage near the port, opposite Port Hudson, and anchored; at ten o’clock sent third cutter to land Mr. Watson, who is going across the point to take our mail for the North, and despatches for the Admiral; between the hours of five and six o’clock, P. M., saw a large fire burning at Port Hudson; sent third cutter, armed, ashore for our messenger.
May 25th. Commences with pleasant but warm weather. From four to eight A. M. heard musketry-firing in rear of Port Hudson. This morning Lieut. Watson went across the point to communicate with lower fleet; at eleven A. M. steamer Bee came down the river and communicated with us. Received on board three more rebel prisoners from the Albatross; at one P. M. sent fourteen rebel prisoners, in charge of Lieut. Higby, U. S. M. Corps, and fourteen marines, to Bayou Sara; the lower fleet shelling Port Hudson; at six thirty P. M. called all hands, got up anchor and steamed up river; at seven P. M. came to anchor a little further up the river. Lieut. Rigby and the marines returned to the ship; at eleven forty P. M. beat to general quarters.
May 24th. Commences with pleasant weather. Light winds from S. E. Transports in sight coming down the river, and cavalry and infantry landing at the levee at Bayou Sara from four to eight A. M.; at eight thirty A. M. hove up anchor, got under way and steamed down the river; at nine thirty A. M. rounded to above Port Hudson, and fired a shell from the Sawyer rifle on poop, into the rebel batteries, to let them know we had come down to see them once more; at nine forty A. M. came to anchor five miles above Port Hudson. Received from the Albatross five rebel prisoners, hard looking fellows, on board, and kindly cared for them. These unfortunates were captured on a point of land opposite the rebel Gibraltar No. 2 of the Mississippi; at ten thirty A. M. called all hands to muster and performed Divine service. Heavy firing going on at Port Hudson. Received some more rebel prisoners this morning from the Albatross; they proved to be an officer and two privates belonging to a signal corps, they having been captured the day before by some of our pickets. Heavy firing heard in rear of Port Hudson. The mortar schooners below, engaged the rebel batteries also, from two thirty until four P. M. From four to six P. M., heavy cannonading between lower fleet and rebel batteries at Port Hudson, during this watch; also our army in rear of Port Hudson, engaged with the enemy; at six P. M. inspected crew at quarters. Received a mail on board from below.
May 23d. Commences with pleasant weather. Two steamers came down the river about two o’clock this A. M., at three o’clock this morning, the mortar schooners below, opened a heavy fire on the batteries at Port Hudson. Between the hours of four and eight A. M. a steamer loaded with cavalry went alongside of the landing; at twelve noon, the Arizona went down the river, iron-clads went up the river. From eight to midnight, heavy firing heard at Port Hudson.
May 21st. Firing was heard before daylight, down the river; at nine A. M. the steamer Gen. Sterling Price got under way and went up the Mississippi river; at nine A. M. as usual, inspected the crew at quarters. Commodore James S. Palmer went up Red river in steam gunboat Sachem; at two P. M., and from that hour until four P. M., infantry, cavalry, and artillery, were seen passing down the left bank of the river, some of Gen. Banks’s forces from the Teche country having come from Simsport or Alexandria; also two river steamers loaded with U. S. troops, came out of Red river, and made fast inshore ahead of us. Officers and men on board of them were in high spirits, knowing that it was owing to the old Hartford’s passage of the rebel batteries at Port Hudson, on the ever-memorable night of the 14th of March last, and her effective blockade of Red river since, that they could now meet with us to-day, and be transported from here to the village of Bayou Sara, a few miles above Port Hudson, and invest the latter place, and they gratefully acknowledged the service we had done them, by giving us three rousing cheers, which our boys upon manning the rigging, returned; at four ten P. M. the steam gunboat Estrella came out of Red river; at five thirty P. M. the gunboat Sachem, with Commodore Palmer and General Banks on board, came down and out of Red river, and in twenty minutes afterwards, the steamers Empire Parish, St. Maurice, Estrella, Bee, and Sachem, went down the river; at seven P. M. the steamer St. Charles, from Red river, with a coal barge for us in tow, arrived, bringing coal vessel alongside of us, and afterwards going down the Mississippi. Heavy firing heard in the direction of Port Hudson. This is a true account of all the occurrences of this day, and as the reader will readily perceive, there have been many, and such as will be remembered by us as well as by the enemy, for a long time to come. Secesh now looks crest-fallen, and thinks the mudsills of the North have got rather the best of him; he does not see what Jeff. is about.
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