July 1862.
down, and steps were immediately taken to repair the damage, several plates had to be taken out of the boilers and new ones made to replace them, we got several workmen from the shore to assist our engineers with the repairs. The workmen had come from Yazoo City, and they brought word that a large rebel iron clad ram named the Arkansas was lying there, and was likely to make a break some fine morning through the Union Fleet and get under the guns of Vicksburg.
Both the Commodores heard the story, but thought it altogether unlikly that any vessel would make so apparently hopeless an attempt, but to prevent the possibility of a surprise, Commodore Davis sent the iron clad gunboats Carondelet, the wooden boat Taylor and the ram Queen of the West, up the Yazoo River to reconnoter. Early on the morning of the 15th those boats started up the river. Between five and six o'clock in the morning all hands on board the Essex had their attention drawn to a thick black smoke that could be seen above the trees in the direction of the Yazoo river, with an occasonial report of heavy guns, the smoke seemed to be rapidly advancing towards the Mississippi from the Yazoo, but on board the flag ship Benton which lay about one hundered yards ahead of us they did not seem to think this circumstance was worthy of notice and showed no sign of preparation. Shortly after the ram Queen of the West made her appearance round the point of the river, followed by the gunboat Taylor firing her stern gun at something that we could not