Rear-Admiral D. D. PORTER, NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, May 31, 1864. Commanding Mississippi Squadron, Cairo, Ill. : SIR The Department acknowledges the receipt of your interesting report of the 16th instant, giving a detailed and graphic account of the rescue of the Mississippi Squadron from its perilous position above the falls at Alexandria, Red River, and of the aid which you received through the indomitable perseverence and engineering skill of Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, acting military engineer of the Nineteenth Army Corps. It is with no ordinary feelings of pleasure that the Department learns of the safe passage of this valuable squadron, threatened as it was with inevitable capture or destruction, and congratulates you and your command that the fleet, which has borne such a conspicuous part in many of the great events of the war, has been spared to the country for future usefulness and renown. You will tender the thanks of the Department to the officers and men of the army for the cheerful aid given you in this great emergency, without which the squadron would unavoidably have fallen into the hands of the rebels or been destroyed, While regretting the loss of the steamers Signal and Covington and lamenting for the brave men who fell in the engagement with the enemy, the Department takes great pleasure in expressing its admiration of the gallant manner in which those vessels were defended, and has reason to believe that the officers and men did their whole duty nobly and faithfully. Very respectfully, GIDEON WELLES, MISSISSIPPI SQUADRON, FLAG-SHIP BLACK HAWK, Maj. Gen. E. R. S. CANBY, Mound City, June 13, 1864. Commanding Mil. Div., of West Mississippi: GENERAL: I am directed by the honorable Secretary of the Navy to convey the thanks of the Department to the enterprising and gallant officers and men who so nobly aided the gun-boats to get down from above the falls at Alexandria when there was every prospect of their remaining there, owing to low water, and a probability of their being destroyed to prevent their falling into the hands of the rebels. I have already expressed to the Department in my report (a copy of which I herewith inclose*) the high estimate I placed upon the services of Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey and his associates, and I can add nothing that will convey a stronger expression of feeling for the aid we received through the indomitable perseverance and skill of Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, to whom belongs the entire credit of the enterprise, he having conceived the idea of building the dam. It is *See p. 219. the intention of the officers connected with the late Red River fleet to present to Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey a memento in commemoration of the safe passage of the vessels; this will be sent to him at a proper time, and I hope he will receive it as a very small testimonial of the high appreciati n they have of the service he rendered them and the crews on that occasion. Congratulating him on his promotion, so well deserved, and hoping that the brave officers and men associated with him will appreciate the kind feelings we shall ever entertain for them. I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Rear-Admiral. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 9. HDQRS. MIL. DIV. OF WEST MISS., In communicating the desire of Rear-Admiral Porter to convey to the troops under the command of Major-General Banks the thanks of the Navy Department, for the assistance rendered the gunboats of the Mississippi Squadron during the recent operations on Red River, the commanding general publishes, with great pleasure, the subjoined extract from a dispatch from the Secretary of the Navy to the commander of that squadron. To this he is authorized to add, on the part of the admiral and officers and men of his squadron, the expression of the kind feeling they will always entertain for the officers and men engaged in this work. Although applying specially to a part only of the troops in the division, the commanding general considers it proper to make the announcement general, believing that all the troops of this command will learn with pleasure that their comrades have rendered important aid to another branch of the service, will appreciate the kind feelings which have been expressed for them, and, like them, will always be ready to cooperate with zeal and energy in whatever tends to advance the interests of a cause in which we can have but one interest and one object. It is with no ordinary feelings of pleasure that the Department learns of the safe passage of this valuable squadron, threatened, as it was, with inevitable capture or destruction, and congratulates you and your command that the fleet which has borne such a conspicuous part in many of the great events of the war has been spared to the country for future usefulness and renown. You will tender the thanks of the Department to the officers and men of the army, for the cheerful aid given you in this great emergency, without which the squadron would unavoidably have fallen into the hands of the rebels or been destroyed. |