DEFEAT AND FLIGHT OF THE REBELS.

tive. The Federal soldiers were often compelled to load their lying in the mud and water.

185

guns while

At length the order was given to charge the enemy at the point of the bayonet. During the execution of this order the Rebels increased their fire with deadly effect. As a portion of the Federal troops were compelled to march to the attack through a swamp nearly waist-deep, their efforts were made under immense disadvantages. Nevertheless, they poured a heavy fire upon the enemy while advancing; and as they approached the Rebel works the enemy fled, leaving their guns unspiked, and throwing away in their haste their arms, knapsacks, and whatever else could impede their retreat. The Federal troops at last struggled through the swamp, waded through the moat, climbed over the parapets, and entered the deserted fortification with loud and enthusiastic cheers. The flags of the twenty-first Massachusetts and the fifty-first New York were unfurled at the same moment over the late stronghold of the vanquished Rebels.

The pursuit of the fugitives was immediately commenced by the troops of the second brigade, commanded by General Reno. They had fled toward their encampment in the interior of the island. Their pathway was covered with evidences of their terror, and of the precipitation of their flight. Many of their wounded were left to the mercy of the victors, and some who fell exhausted and unable to continue their flight became prisoners. Thirty or forty persons put off from the shore in a small sloop, to escape across Roanoke Sound toward the mainland. Among them was O. Jennings Wise, who had been mortally wounded. General Reno ordered five companies to scour the beach, and to fire upon the Rebel boat if she refused to return. The latter obeyed the summons, came ashore, and surrendered to Major Clark. Meanwhile the Federal forces were advancing toward the Rebel camp named "Georgia," under the command of Generals Foster and Reno. As the advanced guard, consisting of a company of the twenty-first Massachusetts, were marching through the forest, a number of Rebels who were in ambush fired upon them. These were soon routed, three being killed and five wounded. A short time afterward a detachment of Rebels was observed approaching, bearing a flag of truce. Having come within hailing distance of the Federal lines Lieutenant Poor, who commanded the flag, desired to see the chief Federal officer. He was conducted to General Foster. He inquired what terms of capitulation would be granted. The answer was, that no other terms than an immediate and unconditional surrender were admissible. Lieutenant Poor at once acceded to them and led the way to the Rebel encampment. Having arrived the capitulation was completed, and all the guns, works, ammunition and stores of the Rebels on Roanoke Island became the trophies of the victors. Two thousand Rebel troops were also taken prisoners of war. They were composed chiefly of resi

dents of North Carolina. Among them was Colonel Shaw, the commandant of the Island. The Federal loss during the entire contest was twenty killed and ninety-six wounded. The loss of the Rebels was probably greater, though it was not accurately ascertained.

The several forts which had been erected on Roanoke Island by the Rebels for the purpose of commanding Roanoke and Croatan Sounds, were of considerable strength. Fort Bartow mounted one rifled thirtytwo pounder, six smooth bore thirty-two pounders, and one rifled brass six pounder. Fort Blanchard, situated two miles from Fort Bartow, contained four long thirty-two pounders. Farther up the island, and near its extremity, was Fort Huger, which contained nine long thirty-two pounders and one rifled gun. In an opposite portion of the island was Fort Forrest, which contained two thirty-two pounders. Though insignificant in size it commanded the route from Croatan Sound to Nags Head. A battery at Robb's Fishery, on the mainland opposite, which was composed of old barges, and held three guns, was destroyed as worthless by the Federal troops, after the capitulation. When deserting their several forts the Rebels attempted to spike their cannon with tenpenny nails. All of these were afterward extracted, and the purpose of the Rebels defeated.

The complete and glorious victory which graced the Federal arms in the capture of Roanoke Island, fell like a thunderbolt on the Rebel leaders. Its value to the cause of the Union was immense; and its relation to operations which were afterward to be undertaken was important. During its progress several personal incidents occurred which invested it with a deep and permanent interest. Among these was the heroic death of Lieutenant Colonel De Montreuil, of the D'Epineul Zouaves. When the New York ninth made the gallant charge, which was the chief cause of the desertion of Fort Bartow by the Rebels, he rushed forward in the advance. In one of the last volleys of musketry which they discharged from their works, in the dawning hour of exultant victory, he fell, pierced through the head by a bullet. His death was a serious loss; for he was an officer of unusual merit. But within the gloomy walls of Fort Bartow, amid all the wreck and confusion produced by the conflict, there was another death-scene of still more melancholy interest. O. Jennings Wise, the son of Henry A. Wise, after having been brought back wounded to the fort, was placed under the care of a surgeon; but it soon became evident that he was beyond the aid of the physician's art. Until he became speechless he retained the hope that he would recover; and inquired with great solicitude from the surgeon whether, after his recovery, he would be permitted to return to Richmond on his parole of honor? His early death was a sad but well-deserved penalty for the prostitution of his talents and his influence to the cause of treason. Previous to the commencement of the attack, a Rebel fleet, commanded by Commodore Lynch, had been stationed at Roanoke Island. It consisted of nine small vessels,

SKETCH OF GENERAL BURNSIDE.

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which mounted seventeen guns. All these vessels, with the exception of two, were subsequently taken or destroyed by the Federal forces. By this event the enemy were thenceforth deprived of all means of communi-cation along Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.

Thus far the purpose of this expedition had been successfully attained, and reflected honor on all concerned, but especially upon its master-spirit, General Burnside. This gallant officer was born in Indiana in 1824. He entered West Point Academy at the early age of eighteen, and graduated in 1847. He was breveted second lieutenant, and joining the army then in Mexico, marched under Patterson to the gates of the capital. After the conclusion of the war he was stationed at Fort Adams, in Newport Harbor. In 1849 he was attached to Captain Bragg's battery, and performed frontier service during several years in New Mexico. He afterward received the post of quartermaster to the commission which surveyed the boundary line between the United States and Mexico. He was then already distinguished for his energy and daring. In 1851 he crossed the plains from the Gila river, through the Indian territory, traveling twelve hundred miles in seventeen days, with an escort of only three men, and brought dispatches from Colonel Graham to the President. He was again stationed at Fort Adams; but subsequently, wearied with a life of inaction, he obtained the post of cashier of the Land Department of the Illinois Central Railroad, of which General McClellan was then superintendent. Two years later he became the treasurer of the company, and removed to the city of New York. Immediately after the outbreak of the Rebellion, he was invited by Governor Sprague of Rhode Island to take command of the first regiment of that State. He immediately accepted the offer, and in half an hour commenced his journey to Providence, He distinguished himself by his coolness and bravery in the engagement at Stone Bridge, and afterward at the more memorable and disastrous conflict of Bull Run. His superior merits as an officer and a man strongly commended him as a suitable person to command the Federal expedition against Roanoke Island. The event demonstrated the wisdom of the appointment.

From this scene of triumph on the sea-coast, we turn to another of equal interest, though of less imposing proportions, in the Misissippi valley.

On the 5th of February General Grant ordered Flag-officer Foote to take command of seven gunboats and proceed to the attack of Fort Henry, an important Rebel fortification, situated on the eastern bank of the Tennessee river near the Kentucky line, about fifty-five miles from Paducah. A reconnoissance of the works had previously been made by General C. F. Smith, on the 21st of January, by which he ascertained that the Federal gunboats could assume a position in the river from which they could assault the fort with advantage. The fortification contained

two sixty-four pounders, one thirty-two pounder, two twenty-four pound. ers, three six pounders, and two twelve pound howitzers. The garrison numbered about sixty men. The capture of the fort was important, inasmuch as it would enable the Federal boats to ascend the Tennessee river to the point where the Memphis and Ohio railroad crossed, and would give the Union troops possession of that valuable means of communication.

The gunboats appropriated to the service of reducing the fort were the Cincinnati, the St. Louis, the Carondelet, the Essex, the Conestoga, the Tyler, and the Lexington. These boats had been built expressly for such enterprises, and were constructed on so broad a model that they possessed, while in the water, almost the firmness of a land battery. The Cincinnati carried thirteen guns, and was commanded by Lieutenant R. N. Stembel. The St. Louis carried thirteen guns, and was commanded by Lieutenant Paulding. The force of the Carondelet was the same, commanded by Henry Walke. The Essex had nine guns, and was under the orders of Commander W. D. Porter. The Conestoga, the Tyler, and the Lexington were of similar strength, and were commanded by Lieutenants Phelps, Gwin, and Shirk, respectively. These vessels having approached on the 6th of February within seventeen hundred yards of Fort Henry, commenced the assault at half-past twelve o'clock. The action was spirited on both sides, and continued during nearly two hours. The firing of the Rebels was made with precision. A shot passed through the boiler of the Essex, which disabled her, and killed several men by the escaping steam, after which she was compelled to drop down the river. The Cincinnati received thirty-one shots, and had one man killed and eight wounded. During the engagement this boat proudly kept her position in the advance, until at last she reached a point within three hundred yards of the fort. A number of the Rebel guns had now been dismounted, and one of them burst. The enemy lost five killed and ten wounded. At forty minutes past one o'clock the Rebel flag was struck, and the fort surrendered. The commanding officer, General Lloyd Tilghman, together with fifty-four men, became prisoners of war. The trophies of the victory consisted of the ammunition and artillery of the enemy, together with a large amount of stores and tents, sufficient to accommodate fifteen thousand men. Previous to the engagement, a body of several thousand Rebel troops had been encamped in the vicinity of the fort. These retreated toward Paris as soon as they discovered that the surrender of the works was inevitable; and by this precipitate flight they succeeded in getting beyond the grasp of the victors. General Grant reached the scene of conflict nearly an hour after the surrender, and immediately took possession of the fort. The land forces under his command had therefore no opportunity of participating in the contest. It had been a part of the plan of the assault, that the forces under General Grant

SKETCH OF COMMODORE FOOTE.

189 should attack those of the Rebels near the fort, in the rear; but the condition of the roads and of the river prevented that officer, as we have stated, from reaching the scene of conflict until after the termination of the engagement. The loss on the Federal side was thirty-nine killed and wounded. Immediately after the capitulation, the bridge of the Memphis and Ohio railroad, fifteen miles above the fort, was taken possession of by a detachment of Federal troops. The gunboats which performed such efficient service on this occasion were partly iron clad, and generally resisted with success the shot of the enemy. The ball which penetrated the boiler of the Essex, by which the greatest injury was effected, entered the forward part, passing through the heavy bulkhead. Immediately after the conclusion of the battle General Grant ordered a large portion of his command to take their position on the road leading from Fort Henry toward Fort Donelson, which important fortification was designated as the next object of attack.

Captain Andrew H. Foote, the chief hero of the capture of Fort Henry, was born in Connecticut, and was a son of Senator Foote from that State, against whom Daniel Webster delivered one of his most famous and elaborate orations. He entered the United States service in 1822, and gradually rose in his profession until 1852, when he attained the rank of commander. He spent twenty years in service at sea, and the remainder of his professional life in duty on shore. When the rebellion broke forth, he was in command of the navy yard at Brooklyn. He was then promoted to a captaincy, and transferred to the Department of the West, where he was placed in command of the flotilla on the Mississippi. In the course of his diversified services he had visited Japan, and the coast of Africa; respecting the latter, he wrote and published a volume, which indicated superior literary ability. He deservedly ranked among the most eminent, brave, and worthy naval officers whom the annals of our country, either in war or peace, have yet produced.

The Burnside expedition, after having reduced the Rebel batteries on Roanoke Island, and taken possession of it, entered the waters of Albemarle Sound, and steering in a northern direction, sailed up the Pasquotank river. The next apparent object of attack at this period seemed to be Elizabeth City, the capital of Pasquotank county, and one of the most important towns in the northeastern portion of North Carolina. But with admirable prudence the commander confined the secret of his purposes to his own bosom, thereby leaving the enemy in a perplexing uncertainty in regard to his future movements.