A curious thing then happened. The _Indianola_ was sunk on the easterly bank, not far below Vicksburg. A Confederate force set to work to raise and repair her. They were getting on well, when, early on the morning of the 26th, a Federal gunboat was reported coming down the river. There was a most furious cannonading at the Vicksburg batteries, and the four steamers that had so gallantly captured the _Indianola_ at once fled militia-fashion. A lieutenant with a hundred men was left on the wreck (she was awash and near shore); but when he saw what a fearsome aspect the coming monster had, he set the _Indianola’s_ two big guns muzzle to muzzle, fired them to destroy them, and then fled. The story of these doings made the government forces laugh and the Confederates curse for many a day after that, for the so-called gunboat was a dummy in the form of a monitor, sent adrift for a lark by Porter’s men. [Illustration: Admiral Farragut Passing Port Hudson. _From a painting by Admiral Walke._] [Illustration: The U. S. Flotilla Passing the Vicksburg Batteries. _From a painting by Admiral Walke._] On the whole, however, the Confederates were plainly having the best of the contest, and Farragut came up from the Gulf to see about matters. He had himself had both good and bad fortune in the Gulf. A number of Texas ports, including Galveston and Corpus Christi, were captured, but Galveston was retaken by the Confederates, who attacked it with a combined land and marine force, the ships being cotton-clads. The Union navy had the _Westfield_ destroyed, and the _Harriet Lane_ captured, after both her captain and executive officer were killed. And a little later the famous _Alabama_ appeared at night off Galveston. An armed merchant steamer was sent to inspect her, and the _Alabama_ opened fire and sank her, escaping before the other blockading steamer could come out to assist. So Farragut was in a state of mind to take risks, and he ran his squadron past the works at Port Hudson on the 14th of March, 1863, where nineteen heavy guns were mounted. It was a dangerous place naturally on account of the currents in the stream and the shoals. Seven vessels, including the _Hartford_, tried the passage. The _Hartford_, with the gunboat _Albatross_ alongside, led the procession. The _Monongahela_, with the _Kineo_ alongside, were next, with the _Richmond_ and _Genesee_ following, and the _Mississippi_ alone in the rear.