From a painting by Admiral Walke.
On October 1, 1862, the Mississippi squadron was transferred to the Navy Department, and David D. Porter was promoted and placed in charge. A lot of light-draft steamers clad with half-inch or better iron were added to the squadron and were armed with howitzers. They were called tin-clads, and were of service in carrying transports, and for light work generally.
Destruction of the Arkansas near Baton Rouge, August 4, 1862.
From a lithograph published by Currier & Ives.
Another addition to the squadron was a class of heavy boats with their wheels well aft and rectangular casemates forward. They carried some eleven-inch Dahlgrens, and were plated with two and three-inch iron, one carrying as much as six inches on the casemate. But they were built in actual war-time, so the builders took advantage of the haste to rob the nation by scamping the work, and the engines were constantly breaking down.
In November the first of a series of moves against Vicksburg was made by the way of the Yazoo River country. The swamps of the Yazoo had served to keep the Federal forces from turning the north end of the Confederate defences along the Vicksburg side of the river, and an expedition was sent across through the bayous, leaving the Mississippi near Helena, and entering the head-waters of the Yazoo. It failed utterly, and the gunboat Cairo was destroyed by torpedoes made of whiskey demijohns.
David D. Porter.
From a photograph.