CHAPTER XXX
THE ATTACK UPON THE FORT
The Confederate officer was evidently of French descent; at any rate, he
was very polite. He expressed his obligations to the supposed physician
for the service he had rendered in very earnest terms. Mr. Pennant had
been able to see that there were no guns in the casemates of the fort,
and this was really all he wanted to know.
"All your guns seem to be mounted outside," said the naval officer as he
halted on the parade.
"Yes, sir; most of the guns have been removed to points where they can
be used to greater advantage than here. The few we have are twenty-four
pounders, mounted _en barbette_," replied Lieutenant Fourchon. "The fort
is practically abandoned; and in a short time will be entirely so, for
the enemy's ships of war can do no harm here, and there is not water
enough above to permit their passage into the Mississippi."
"But the fort can protect your vessels in the bay," suggested the
lieutenant of the Bronx.
"The shoal water is the best protection for the small steamers that ply
on these inside waters; and the Yankee gunboats can take all others as
they come out. The entrance to the bay has not been regularly blockaded,
for there has been little occasion to do so thus far.
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