After my arrival the work was diligently pushed with about 4,000 men--as many as could be used to advantage--until interrupted by a sudden rise in the river that broke a dam at the upper end, which had been put there to keep the water out until the excavation was completed.

This was on the 8th of March.
Even if the canal had proven a success, so far as to be navigable for steamers, it could not have been of much advantage to us.

It runs in a direction almost perpendicular to the line of bluffs on the opposite side, or east bank, of the river.

As soon as the enemy discovered what we were doing he established a battery commanding the canal throughout its length.

This battery soon drove out our dredges, two in number, which were doing the work of thousands of men.