. Battles and leaders of the Civil War : being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers, based upon "The Century war series." . the ferry, just above the oldbridge, and broke into little groups, in military precision. Four or five withspades and other implements improvised a wooden abutment on the shore;another party rowed against the stream, moored a scow, and let it drift downuntil it was opposite the wooden abutment; then a party of ten advanced,each two men carrying a claw-balk, or timbers fitted with a claw, one of whichheld the gunwale of the boat, the other the
. Battles and leaders of the Civil War : being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers, based upon "The Century war series." . the ferry, just above the oldbridge, and broke into little groups, in military precision. Four or five withspades and other implements improvised a wooden abutment on the shore;another party rowed against the stream, moored a scow, and let it drift downuntil it was opposite the wooden abutment; then a party of ten advanced,each two men carrying a claw-balk, or timbers fitted with a claw, one of whichheld the gunwale of the boat, the other the shore abutment. Twenty mennow came down on the left with planks, one inch thick, six inches wide, andfifteen feet long, narrowed at each end; these they laid across the five joists orbalks, and returned on the right. Another party meanwhile moored anotherboat, which diopped down-stream opposite the one already bridged; fivejoists, each twenty feet long, were laid upon the gunwale by five men; thesewere fastened by those in the boat, by means of ropes, to cleats or hooks pro- 1^6 CAMPAIGNING TO NO PURPOSE. ^.r-^i:k#^^^ Kl^ ^f-W^^iU %^LTOH vji. CONFEDERATE PRISONERS. BASED UPON A WAR-TIME PHOTOGRAPH. vided for the purpose on the side of the scows, which were shoved off fromthe shore until the shore end of the balk rested upon the shore boat. Thesewere covered with planks in the same manner as before; side-rails of joistswere lashed down with ropes to secure the whole. So one after another ofthe boats was dropped into position until a bridge several hundred feet longreached from the Maryland to the Virginia shore, for the passage of artilleryand every description of munitions for an amiy. Owing to the force of thecurrent, a large rope-cable was stretched from shore to shore fifty feet abovethe bridge, and the upper end of each boat was stayed to the cable by asmaller rope. The rushing bent the bridge into a half-moon curve. Theclock-like precision with which these men worked
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidbattlesleade, bookyear1887
