The offer of the leadership of this expedition was eagerly accepted, and David Glasgow Farragut, whose form and features are more familiar to the eyes of the American people than those of any other naval hero, had the first opportunity of his life. Making the _Hartford_ his flagship, he sailed from Hampton Roads on February 2, 1862, and on the 20th arrived at Ship Island, near the mouth of the Mississippi. Here he gathered the following squadron: Screw sloops: _Hartford_, twenty-four guns, Flag Officer David G. Farragut, Fleet Captain Henry H. Bell, Commander Richard Wainwright; _Pensacola_, twenty-three guns, Capt. Henry W. Morris; _Brooklyn_, twenty-two guns, Capt. Thomas T. Craven; _Richmond_, twenty-four guns, Commander James Alden. Side-wheel steamer: _Mississippi_, seventeen guns, Commander Melancthon Smith. Screw corvettes: _Oneida_, nine guns, Commander S. Phillips Lee; _Varuna_, ten guns, Commander Charles S. Boggs; _Iroquois_, seven guns, Commander John De Camp. Screw gunboats: _Cayuga_, two guns, Lieut. Napoleon B. Harrison; _Itasca_, two guns, Lieut. C. H. B. Caldwell; _Katahdin_, two guns, Lieut. George H. Preble; _Kennebec_, two guns, Lieut. John H. Russell; _Kineo_, two guns, Lieut. George M. Ransom; _Pinola_, two guns, Lieut. Pierce Crosby; _Sciota_, two guns, Lieut. Edward Donaldson; _Winona_, two guns, Lieut. Edward T. Nichols; _Wissahickon_, two guns, Lieutenant Albert N. Smith. Of the guns on this squadron ninety-three could be fired in broadside, but none could be fired directly ahead; the pivots, however, could be fired within a point or two of the line of the keel, and were practically bow guns. More than half these guns were nine-inch smooth-bores or better. In addition to these ships, there were twenty schooners carrying one thirteen-inch mortar each, and six gunboats (among them three ferryboats), carrying heavy guns, were assigned to handle and protect them. The mortar flotilla was placed under Porter. It was an easy matter to get the gunboats up the river, but the big ships stuck on the bar. The _Pensacola_ had to unload all of her guns as well as other weights before she could pass, and even then her bottom cut the channel a foot deeper when she was dragged through on April 7th, and the _Mississippi_ had a like experience. An attempt made to drag the _Colorado_ over failed altogether; but the attempt had to be made in order to please the officials at Washington, even though two weeks of precious time were wasted. However, Capt. Theodorus Bailey and nearly all of the crew of the _Colorado_ were taken along if the ship was left behind, and on reaching the head of the Passes the work of preparing the ships for the task before them began. [Illustration: Thirteen-inch Mortar from Farragut’s Fleet. _From a photograph made at the Brooklyn Navy Yard._]