Just at this moment the hot guns began to go off and throw shot and shell at random amongst friends and foes. Commander Porter, with severe coolness of manner, only said: “Then we will go on with our business, gentlemen. If you don’t mind the effect of the explosion which is soon to come, we can stand it.” Fortunately, the _Louisiana_ drifted across towards St. Philip, and exploded her magazine when just abreast of it. The sound of the explosion was heard for miles up and down the river. When the smoke cleared away the battery had gone into fragments and sunk in the Mississippi. If it had drifted upon the _Harriet Lane_, as had been intended, and blown into smithereens the consulting officers of both North and South, that would have been a consequence of treachery almost worse than the insults of the New Orleans ladies or the indiscreet edict of General Butler. Fort Jackson had crumbled into powder under the impact of the huge shells from the mortars. On the first night of the bombardment the magazine was in such danger that only wet blankets saved it from blowing up. One bomb came leaping into the officers’ mess-room when they were dining. With a thud and a rumble it rolled under the very table. All rose and clustered in a corner in some consternation, expecting to go skywards with the crockery. They waited one minute, two minutes. Not yet had death come! Then a young officer crawled under the table and burst into a hearty laugh. “What is it, Jimmy?” “Oh, you can go on with that Irish stew now. The fuse is out.” They returned to their dinners with such appetite as they could. Fortunately, men who are living at high pressure and strain, meeting death at every turn, are easily moved to see the funny side of things. CHAPTER XVI THE SIEGE OF RICHMOND (1862 AND 1865) Fair Oaks a drawn battle--Robert Lee succeeds Johnston--Reforms in the army--Humours of the sentinels--Chaffing the niggers--Their idea of liberty--The pickets chum together--Stuart’s raid--A duel between a Texan and a German--Effect of music on soldiers--A terrible retreat to James River--Malvern Hill battle-scenes--Three years after--General Grant before Richmond--Coloured troops enter the Southern capital in triumph--Lee surrenders--Friends once more. The battle of Fair Oaks had been fought, and General McClellan began to entrench himself in view of the siege of Richmond. It had been a drawn battle: the South had taken some guns, but the Federal forces were too strong for them, and swamps, rough ground, and woods all helped to throw the South into confusion. Upon a field hardly a mile square were lying some 7,000 or 8,000 dead and wounded, many of them having been there for twenty-four hours. Some had gone deep into the muddy swamps and stuck fast there, dying or laying the foundation of some terrible disease. Acres of forest had been slashed, or cut about 5 feet from the ground, to prevent the passage of troops and artillery.