Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 39.djvu/145

 Defence of Spanish Fort. 133

WHAT SPANISH FORT WAS.

Spanish Fort was an old earth work on the east bank of Ap- palachia river, which had been erected and occupied by the Spaniards more than a hundred years ago. Fearing- the enemy might occupy it and from it annoy or perhaps silence Batteries flug-er and Tracey, twentv-five hundred yards from it, on the west side of that river, I constructed there a heavy six-gun bat- tery of Brooke rifles. I then threw around it as a centre a line of three redoubts connected by rifle pits, which crowned the higlier ground in the rear. The whole crest was about one mile and a quarter. Its right rested on Appalachia river, its left on the great marsh which was at that time impassible. The whole line was defended by about thirty pieces of cannon of various calibre and 2,100 men, and of four of these guns the history was peculiar.

Some year or so before this battle Ross' Brigade of Texan cavalry was operating along the Yazoo river in Mississippi. With the brigade was' Owens' Arkansas Light Battery. On the Yazoo lay a Federal gunboat, of which Ross had good knowledge and which he resolved to capture with his Texans. Accord- ingly he came upon her when her fires were down, put his field guns abo\e and below her, knocked all her boats to pieces and drove her people from her decks, so that her colors were hauled dovvu. There v\'as no boat available to receive the surrender of the ship, and therefore a sergeant of the battery, with ten or twelve men, stripped and swam out, and, naked as they were, received on her deck the formal surrender. She was anned with six twenty-four pounder bronze howitzers, all of which were sent to Mobile, where their carriages were changed to suit land defence.

Four of them were mounted in the works of Spanish Fort and did good service. At every discharge they threw half a gallon of bullets.

USE OF TORPEDOES.

The garrison of Spanish Fort was 2,100 men. The besiegers