Page:Decisive Battles Since Waterloo.djvu/302

268 wounded; the Confederate loss in killed and wounded was much less, owing to the shelter which the fort afforded. Expeditions were sent to capture Des Arc and Duval's Bluff, where there were small military posts; the main body of M'Clernand's command returned down the river to Napoleon, Arkansas, and a few days later received orders from General Grant to proceed to Young's Point, just below Milliken's Bend. Soon after the raid of Van Dorn upon Holly Springs, General Grant determined to abandon the line of advance by way of Grenada and Jackson, and to assault Vicksburg with the river as his base. Leaving sufficient forces to hold important points in Tennessee and Mississippi, he transferred his army to Memphis by rail, and sent it thence in steamboats to Milliken's Bend and Young's Point. The transfer occupied the greater part of January, and on the 2d February the General arrived in person at Milliken's Bend and assumed command. The attack upon the works at Haines' Bluff had demonstrated the impossibility of taking Vicksburg from that direction, and the General proceeded to make plans for transferring the army below the city. Operations were resumed in the canal which General Williams attempted to dig in the previous year, but they were hindered by the rapid rise of the river and the incessant rains. The earth taken from the canal was piled on its western side to prevent the flooding of that part of the country when the water was let in, as it is below the level of the Mississippi at a high stage. An embankment at the upper end of the canal was intended to keep out the water until the work was completed. On the night of the 8th March, this embankment gave way and the river poured a torrent into the canal, carrying away the digging implements, and flooding the camps of the troops that were located near by. Several regiments were obliged to gather their camp equipage and make a