Benjamnin F. Butler, Butler's Book: Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benjamin Butler

Immediately after, an immense fire-raft was sent down by the enemy. Perhaps a word to describe that contrivance of war would not be wasted. This fire-raft was an immense flat boat such as was used for bringing coal down the Mississippi. It was about two hundred feet long, forty feet wide, and six feet deep. It was filled, from stem to stern, full of light wood and cotton, well saturated with pitch and turpentine, the wood being packed cobhouse fashion, so as to burn easily and freely under the strong wind. The raft came through the opening in the chain, passed the Hartford within fifty feet, scorching the men on deck, just grazed the Scioto, and went on its way to the lower division of the fleet. Here the mortar men in their boats grappled it, towed it to the shore, and made it fast.

Four days bombardment had passed. Four thousand shells had been used, costing the government fifty dollars for each shell, irrespective of the expense of exploding them as fireworks. Still there was no sensible diminution of the fire of the forts.

Farragut had at first determined to make his attempt to run past the forts on the early morning of the 23d, the sixth day of the bombardment, but was delayed. The fire of the mortars on the sixth day was slow; the forts answered not a gun. The men at mast-head, with their glasses, descried twelve rebel steamers around the bend above the forts. The day was spent on both sides in getting ready. By an accident two of our gunboats had been partially disabled, requiring great efforts to put them in trim, which was finally done. The chain cables of the gunboats and ships were fastened in festoons up and down the sides of the vessels on both sides, so as to protect the engines and boilers.

On the evening of the 23d, arrangements were made for the fleet in five divisions to take part in running by the forts. The mortar boats were to remain in position, and aid the attack with the quickest fire possible. How quick that fire was, I had personal inspection. Following Farragut's division up to the forts in my headquarters boat as he went by, I came within six hundred yards, and saw eleven mortar shells, their fuses burning, in the air at the same time.

The six small steamers belonging to the mortar fleet, Porter commanding,--the Harriet Lane, Westfield, Owasca, Clifton, Miami,