Mr. Theodore R. Davis writes:

 

The Siege of Vicksburg

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The SAPS and Parallels of General McPherson's Corps

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          Each hour's labor of our gallant men makes such a change in the scene that it must be a busy pencil that keeps before the readers of Harper's Weekly the workings of this regular siege.

          "The skill that General McPherson has shown as an engineer officer gives a general confidence in the result.

          "Men digging, day after day, under a sun whose ardent rays seem to give color to the story told of the maternal African, 'who, having left one of her progeny on the sunny side of a convenient sandhill, found it necessary to gather the melting "Pick" into a wash-tub.'

          "Certainly it is very hot, but our men work steadily, and with a comprehension of plan that is surprising. But to the description of the scene sketched. In the centre of the sketch, and directly over our advanced battery (Hickenlooper), is the distance, rises the smoke of our transports and gun-boats, marking the course of the great river for whose uninterrupted navigation this mighty labor is progressing.

          "The trench or sap is at the moment just under the corner of the rebel work.

          "Tomorrow will see another sap. Maybe its results, borne by telegraph, will be published with this sketch."

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