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 , single-handed rifle gun, 32-pound calibre, and a 24-pound carronade. The Teaser and Raleigh were, I think, similarly armed.

Please annex this to my narrative, and you will oblige,

Your obedient servant, CATESBY. R. JONES. 



Secretary of the Southern Historical Society:

Sir—The last September number of the Southern Magazine contained an article in relation to the capture of the Federal ironclad Indianola. The article, in the absence of other information, draws its narrative principally from letters published in the Northern press during the war. It would manifestly be unjust to the officers and men who effected the capture to allow the facts stated in the article to remain the only record in the archives of the Historical Society. I deem it proper, therefore, to vindicate the truth of history by transmitting to you the order of General Taylor organizing the expedition, the official report of the engagement with and capture of the Indianola, which report, I believe, has never yet been published.

For the better understanding of the report, it is well to briefly describe the Confederate rams that effected the capture.

The Webb was an ordinary tow-boat, engaged before the war in towing and piloting vessels in and out the Mississippi, and in no way materially changed or strengthened, though braced by cross pieces of timber. A row of cotton bales extended in front of her machinery, leaving its sides and rear entirely bare. The armament consisted of a rifled and banded 32-pounder, mounted on the bow, without any semblance of protection, and of two brass six-pound guns, and she was manned by about 70 artillerists and sharp-shooters. There was no cover or protection for the men.

The "Queen of the West" was an ordinary steamboat of the Western rivers, built for peaceful purposes ten years before the war, and converted by the Federals into a ram.

A wooden frame was built around her machinery to enclose it, and outside of this frame two tiers of cotton bales extended from