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The Vicksburg Problem

any as yet devised; and it seemed as if a way hadat length been discovered through a The Bignetwork of narrow streams known as SunflowerSteele’s and Black bayous, Deer creek, expenment -and Rolling Fork. The chief obstacles here werethe narrowness and sudden bends of the shallowstreams, the cypress and willow trees growing intheir very beds, and the dense mass of tangledbranches and vines overhanging and blocking theway. On the 16th of March Sherman took one ofhis divisions up Steele’s bayou in small steamers,preceded by Admiral Porter with five ironclads andfour mortar-boats. The powerful ironclads slowlypushed their way through the bushes, and thetransports followed still more slowly, while nowand then a smokestack or a pilot-house was brushedaway by the wild tangle overhead. Sharpshooterslurked in the thickets, and on the fifth day theadmiral, having advanced thirty miles farther thanSherman and approached within a few hundredyards of the clear navigation of the Rolling Fork,found himself attacked by a considerable force.His position soon became perilous. The rebelsbrought squads of negroes, and compelled themat the point of the bayonet to fell great treesacross the creek both in front and in rear of theships. Presently Sherman, hearing of the danger,and finding a narrow path through the cane-brake,