Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 9.djvu/449

Rh country—went to the Federals or joined some Confederate command being organized.

Having pacified the country in a rough but effective way, and got the business of recruiting fairly started, Shelby looked around for something to do — some enemy to fight — some daring exploit to accomplish — that would attract Steele's attention to the north side of the river and induce him to let the south side alone. White river was the base of Federal operations in North Arkansas. It was alive with gunboats, and a railroad, which sup- plied Steele's army, connected Little Rock with Devall's Bluff. Without disturbing the recruiting officers in their work or taking a recruit with him, Shelby moved the brigade quietly but swiftly down to Clarendon, on White river, fourteen miles below Devall's Bluff. At Claren- don, his scouts informed him, was an ironclad gunboat, anchored in midstream— the Queen City. After night he approached the town, surrounded it with his scouts, with orders to arrest every person coming and going; and at midnight, with artillery muffled, crept stealthily into the town, masked his battery where he could sweep the deck of the boat, deployed the brigade as skirmish- ers all around it, and waited for morning. Just at day-light the order to fire was given, and four Parrott guns and a thousand rifles opened fire simultaneously on the boat, and shot down every man who appeared on dec* or tried to fire a cannon. The boat was hard hit, the crew panic stricken, officers demoralized, and as volley after volley was poured into her, she struck her nag. The boat was armed with thirteen 3*-P° und ^ nS ' ^ ed had as good a crew as any Federal boat. Shelby pa the officers and crew and burned the boat, taking tw ° on her guns with which he extemporized a A**** 6 ^^ shore, and waited to see what the other gunboats do about it.

He did not have long to wait, for in an hour three gun-boats appeared, and as soon as they discovere