Red River

“The war on the Red River. Admiral Porter’s fleet passing through Colonel Bailey’s Dam, above Alexandria, May, 1864. Admiral David D. Porter’s official report: ‘The water had fallen so low that I had no hope or expectation of getting the vessels out this season, and, as the army had made arrangements to evacuate the country. I saw nothing before me but the destruction of the best party of the Mississippi squadron. There seems to have been an especial Providence looking out for us in providing a man equal to the emergency. Lieutenant Colonel Bailey, Acting Engineer of the Nineteenth Army Corps, proposed a plan of building a series of dams across the rocks at the falls, and raising the water high enough to let the vessels pass over. This proposition looked like madness, and the best engineers ridiculed it, but Colonel Bailey was so sanguine of success that I requested General Banks to have it done, and he entered heartily in the work. Provisions were short and forage was almost out, and the dam was promised to be finished in ten days, or the army would have to leave us. The work was successfully accomplished and the fleet passed over safely. Words are inadequate to express the admiration I feel for the abilities of Lieutenant Colonel Bailey. This is without doubt the greatest engineering feat ever performed. Under the best circumstances, a private company would not have completed this work under one year, and, to an ordinary mind, the whole thing would have appeared an utter impossibility. Leaving out his abilities as an engineer, he ws rendered a great service to the country, having saved to the Union a valuable fleet worth fully two million dollars.’"— Frank Leslie, 1896

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