expedition consisted of six sloops of war, sixteen gunboats, twenty
mortar schooners and five other vessels. The _Mississippi_, upon which
young Dewey was serving as a lieutenant, was under the command of
Melanethon Smith. The land troops numbered 15,000, and were in charge of
General Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts.

Farragut arrived in February, 1862, nearly two months after the
beginning of preparations to force the river. When everything was in
readiness the fleet moved cautiously up stream, on April 18, and a
bombardment of Forts St. Philip and Jackson was opened, which lasted for
three days, without accomplishing anything decisive. Farragut had
carefully studied the situation, and, confident that the passage could
be made, determined it should be done, no matter at what cost. On the
night of the 23d his vessels were stripped of every rope and spar that
could be spared, the masts and rigging of the gunboats and mortar
vessels being trimmed with the limbs of trees, to conceal their identity
from the Confederate watchers.

At two o'clock in the morning the signal was hoisted on the _Hartford_,
Captain Farragut's flagship, and the fleet started in single line to run
the fearful gauntlet. The _Cayuga_ led, the _Pensacola_ followed, and
the _Mississippi_ was third. The rebels had huge bonfires burning on
both shores, and as the _Pensacola_ came opposite the forts they opened
their furious fire upon her.

A good deal of uneasiness prevailed in the Union fleet regarding the
rebel rams. It was known they were formidable monsters, which the
Confederates believed could smash and sink the whole Union squadron.
While it was known that much was to be feared from the forts, it was the
ironclads that formed the uncertain factor and magnified the real danger