Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 7.djvu/637

152 but the workers were dislodged with hand-grenades. On the evening of the 25th there was a short truce to permit the Federals to bury their dead, which had lain between the lines two days.

The siege now began and the monotonous course of bombardment by the Federals from their 200 cannon on the hills, the guns of the fleet, the mortars on the boats and the batteries on the Louisiana point opposite, and the incessant sharpshooting, which was to continue until early in July. There were occasionally sudden bursts of activity which gave a change from the regular program. On the 27th the monitor Cincinnati engaged the upper batteries at short range, but was a wreck in forty-five minutes under the skillful fire of the Confederates, A detachment of the lower fleet was at the same time repulsed by Beltzhoover. The 28th and 29th were signalized by the arrival through the Federal lines, in some mysterious way, of Lamar Fontaine and another courier, with nearly 40,000 caps, which Johnston had been asked to send. Johnston also sent a message that he was expecting reinforcements, upon the arrival of which he would move to the relief of the beleaguered army. Caps continued to arrive with Courier Walker and Captain Sanders, and frequently messages were sent back and forth between Pemberton and Johnston.

May 26th to June 4th an expedition under Gen. Frank Blair of Missouri marched from Grant’s lines to Mechanicsburg, for the destruction of Confederate supplies which might be available for Johnston. He reported: "I used all we could and destroyed the rest. We must have burned 500,000 bushels of corn and immense quantities of bacon. I destroyed every grist-mill in the valley and drove away about 1,000 head of cattle. I brought with me an army of negroes equal to the number of men in my command, and 200 or 300 head of mules and horses. Brought in 30 or 40 bales of cotton and burned all the balance found." Col. Wirt Adams and Gen.