To Bailey, constructing a dam to float the gunboats over the rapids was a challenging but not impossible task. After all, he had undertaken similar work in Wisconsin and at Port Hudson. In fact, he had foreseen the problem as early as April 9 and offered to construct a dam at that time. But while Franklin liked the idea, the matter was not yet critical, and other more important problems needed tending. Most of the staff officers thought Bailey’s idea was outrageous. Porter had joked about an earlier proposition by Bailey to build a dam to refloat the stranded gunboat _Eastport_ saying: “Well, major, if you can dam better than I can, you must be a good hand at it, for I have been d——g all night” (Hoffman 1877:99). Now, though, a major part of the fleet was about to be lost and Porter instructed a messenger, “Tell General Franklin that if he [Bailey] will build a dam or any thing else, and get me out of this scrape, I’ll be eternally grateful to him” (Hoffman 1877:101). Later, Porter would record that “the proposition looked like madness, and the best engineers ridiculed it, but Colonel Bailey was so sanguine of success that I requested General Banks to have it done, and he entered heartily in the work” (Beecher 1866:342). Fortunately, once Franklin and Banks decided to accept Bailey’s idea, they ordered everyone’s cooperation. Some 3,000 troops were put to work chopping down trees, gathering stones and bricks, and dragging the raw materials down to where the dam would be constructed. On the Pineville side of the river, Maine, New York, and Wisconsin soldiers cut down trees, while on the Alexandria side, black troops were put to work gathering wood from buildings. One historical account describes the scene: [Illustration: Map showing location of Bailey’s Dam in relation to Alexandria during the Civil War.] RED RIVER UPPER DAM Rapids Rapids MAIN DAM Rapids PINEVILLE ALEXANDRIA