Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/394

 334 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI the place in form and accordingly sent for heavy siege guns from Cairo. Pending the arrival of these he directed Col. Plummer with the 11th Missouri to Point Pleasant, ten miles soutli of New Madrid. Plumnier found Point Pleasant defended and entrenched him- self. Pope received his heavy guns from Cairo and put them into position and opened fire on the town March 13th. An artillery duel followed with the Confederate gunboats taking an active and vigorous part. That night the Confederate forces evacuated New iladrid and Point Pleasant. The possession of these places was of great importance to Pope in providing him a base for his attack of Island No. 10. The purpose of taking this island was to open the JMississippi river to the passage of Federal transports and gunboats. So long as the Confederate forces held Island No. 10 it was not considered safe for Federal boats to pass that place. The task which General Pope had was one of considerable difficulty. It was thought that the only successful way of at- tacking the island was from below it, but such an attack was to be made only by the use of the gunboats and the transports and these were above the island. The difficulties of passing the island with the boats were very great. It was determined not to risk this pas- sage but to cut a canal in such a way that the island could be passed without danger. The river makes a sharp bend near the island and as it was a high stage of water so that the bayous were overflowed, the engineers under- took to cut a channel across the narrow neck of the bend sufficient for the passage of the boats. There was not much digging because the water was so high, the trees were cut off and obstructions taten from the way, al- though in some places it was necessary to dig through the solid earth. Colonel J. W. Bis- sell, of the 1st ^Missouri Engineers, was in charge of the work and it was successfully completed on the 4th of April, having been begun March 17th. The canal was twelve miles long and for six miles it was cut through heavy timber. The small gunboats and the transports went through this canal while the two large gunboats, the Carondolet and the Pittsburg, ran the batteries of the island at night. As soon as the gunboats passed be- low the island the Confederates found their position untenable as it was fortified only on the upper side. They evacuated the position on the 7th of April and retreated to Tipton- ville, Tennessee, where they were forced to surrender on April 9th. The forces consisted of 273 officers and 6.700 privates. This was the only military operation of im- portance in Southeast Missouri during the year 1862, but there was a constant warfare going on between the Home Guards and the Confederate troops. Colonel W. L. Jeffers, who had been an officer in the Mexican war, organized a company of soldiers and gave the Federal troops a great deal of trouble. On April 6th he defeated a company of militia under Captain Wm. Flentge near Jackson. On August 24th with a hiindred men he de- feated four companies of the 12th Cavalry under Major B. F. Lazear on Crooked Creek in Bollinger county. On May l6th he defeated a Wisconsin regiment under Colonel Daniels at Chalk Bluff, Arkansas. This Colonel Dan- iels led his troops into Dunklin county and captured a small steamer on Little river at Hornersville. This steamer was called the Daniel E. Miller. Daniels had also previously defeated a detachment of Confederates under Colonel Phelan about twelve miles from Bloomfield. On October 29, 1862, near Clark- ton in Dunklin county, there was a fight be-