Before sunrise the anchors were up, and the boats kept their position in the stream by the slow working of the engines.
Commodore Davis waved his hand, and the Jessie Benton was alongside the flag-ship in a moment.
“Drop down towards the city, and see if you can discover the Rebel fleet,” was the order.
I jumped on board the tug. Below us was the city. The first rays of the sun were gilding the church-spires. A crowd of people stood upon the broad levee between the city and the river. They were coming from all the streets, on foot, on horseback, in carriages,—men, women, and children—ten thousand, to see Lincoln’s gunboats sent to the bottom. Above the court-house, and from flagstaffs, waved the flag of the Confederacy. A half-dozen river steamers lay at the landing, but the Rebel fleet was not in sight. At our right hand was the wide marsh on the tongue of land where Wolfe River empties into the Mississippi. Upon our left were the cotton-trees and button-woods, and the village of Hopedale at the terminus of the Little Rock and Memphis Railroad. We dropped slowly down the stream, the tug floating in the swift current, running deep and strong as it sweeps past the city.
The crowd increased. The levee was black with the multitude. The windows were filled. The flat roofs of the warehouses were covered with the excited throng, which surged to and fro as we upon the tug came down into the bend, almost within talking distance.
Suddenly a boat came out from the Arkansas shore, where it had been lying concealed from view behind the forest,—another, another, eight of them. They formed in two lines, in front of the city.
Nearest the city, in the front line, was the General Beauregard; next, the Little Rebel; then the General Price and the Sumter. In the second line, behind the Beauregard, was the General Lovell; behind the Little Rebel was the Jeff Thompson; behind the General Price was the General Bragg; and behind the Sumter was the Van Dorn.
These boats were armed as follows:—
| General Beauregard, | 4 guns |
| Little Rebel (flag-ship), | 2 |
| General Price, | 4 |
| Sumter, | 3 |
| General Lovell, | 4 |
| General Thompson, | 4 |
| General Bragg, | 3 |
| General Van Dorn, | 4 |
| — | |
| Total, | 28 |
The guns were nearly all rifled, and were of long range. They were pivoted, and could be whirled in all directions. The boilers of the boats were casemated and protected by iron plates, but the guns were exposed.