The task which General Pope had proposed to himself--to cross a wide, deep, rapid river, in the face of an enemy holding the farther shore in force, was sufficiently arduous at first. Now that Captain Gray's industry had lined the river-shore with batteries armed with twenty-four, thirty-two, and sixty-four pound guns, and eight-inch howitzers and columbiads, sufficient to blow out of the water any unarmed steamer that should venture to cross, the task was impracticable with his present resources. He applied to Commodore Foote, and urgently repeated the application, for two gunboats, or even one, to be sent down the river some dark night to engage these batteries below New Madrid. But the Commodore was not willing to risk his boats in a voyage along the front of miles of batteries, and declined. On March 28th Halleck telegraphed: "I have telegraphed to Commodore Foote to give you all the aid in his power. You have a difficult problem to solve. I will not embarrass you with instructions. I leave you to act as your judgment may deem best." Pope set to work to make floating-batteries, to be manned by his troops. Each battery consisted of three heavy barges, lashed together and bolted with iron. The middle barge was bulkheaded all around, so as to have four feet of thickness of solid timber at both the ends and the sides. Three heavy guns were mounted on it and protected by traverses of sand-bags. It also carried eighty sharpshooters. The barges outside of it had a first layer, in the bottom, of empty water-tight barrels, securely lashed, then layers of dry cotton-wood rails and cotton-bales packed close. These were floored over at the top to keep everything in place, so that a shot penetrating the outer barges would have to pass through twenty feet of rails and cotton before reaching the middle one, which carried the men and guns. The outer barges, thus bulkheaded with water-tight barrels and buoyant cotton-bales, could not sink. These barges, when all was ready, were to be towed by steamers to a point directly opposite New Madrid. This could be done safely, as the shore at the point and for a mile and a half below was swamp, and the nearest battery was necessarily below the swamp. When near the opposite shore the floating-batteries were to be cut loose from the steamers and allowed to float down-stream to the point selected for the landing of the troops. As soon as they arrived within short range they were to drop anchor and open fire.