ATTACK ON FORT HENRY.

203

By the morning of the 6th, every thing was in readiness for the attack, which was to be made simultaneously on land and water. McClernand's division' moved first, up the eastern side of the Tennessee, to get in a position between Forts Henry and Donelson, and be in readiness to storm the former from the rear, or intercept the retreat of the Confederates, while two brigades of Smith's division, that were to make the attack, marched up the west side of the river to assail and capture half-finished Fort Hieman, situated upon a great hill, and from that commanding point bring artillery to bear upon Fort Henry.

3

There had been a tremendous thunder-storm during the night, which made the roads very heavy, and caused the river to rise rapidly. The consequence was, that the gun-boats were in position and commenced the attack some time before the troops, who had been ordered to march at eleven o'clock in the morning, arrived. The little streams were so swollen that they had to build bridges for the passage of the artillery; and so slow was the march that they were compelled to hear the stirring sounds of battle without being allowed to participate in it."

It was at half-past twelve o'clock at noon when the gun-boats opened fire. The flotilla had passed Panther Island by the western channel, and the

armored vessels had taken position diagonally across the river, with the unarmored gun-boats Tyler, Lexington, and Conestoga, in reserve. The fort warmly responded to the assault at the beginning (which was made at a distance of six hundred yards from the batteries), but the storm from the

1 This was the First division, and consisted of two brigades, composed of the Eighth, Eleventh, Eighteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, Thirty-first. Forty-fifth, and Forty-eighth Illinois Regiments; with one Illinois cavalry regiment, and four independent cavalry companies, and four batteries of artillery.

2 This, the Second division, comprised the Seventh, Ninth, Twelfth, Twenty-eighth, and Forty-first Illinois Regiments, the Eleventh Indiana, the Seventh and Twelfth Iowa, the Eighth and Thirtieth Missouri, with a considerable body of cavalry and artillery.

So named in honor of Colonel A. Hieman, of Tilghman's command, who was at the head of a regiment of Irish volunteers. Hieman was a German, and a resident of Nashville. He was an architect, and a man of taste, culture, and fortune.

4 General Lewis Wallace, who commanded one of the brigades that marched upon Fort Hieman, in a letter to the author soon after the affair, said: "The whole march was an exciting one. When we started from our bivouac, no doubt was entertained of our being able to make the five miles, take up position, and be ready for

204

CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY.

flotilla was so severe, that very soon the garrison became panic-stricken. Seven of the guns were dismounted, and made useless; the flag-staff was shot away; and a heavy rifled cannon in the fort had bursted, killing three men. The troops in the camp outside the fort fled, most of them by the upper Dover road, leading to Fort Donelson, and others on a steamer lying just above Fort Henry. General Tilghman and less than one hundred artillerists in the fort were all that remained to surrender to the victorious Foote.'

66

• Feb. 6, 1862.

The Confederate commander had behaved most soldierly throughout, at times doing a private's duty at the guns. His gallantry, Foote said in his report, was worthy of a better cause." Before two o'clock he hauled down his flag and sent up a white one, and the BATTLE OF FORT HENRY ceased, after a severe conflict of little more than an hour. It was all over before the land troops arrived, and neither those on the Fort Henry side of the river, nor they who moved against Fort Hieman, on the other bank of the stream, had an opportunity to fight. The occupants of the latter had fled at the approach of the Nationals without firing a shot, and had done what damage they could by fire, at the moment of their departure.

"A few minutes before the surrender," says Pollard, "the scene in and around the fort exhibited a spectacle of fierce grandeur. Many of the cabins in and around the fort were in flames. Added to the scene were the smoke from the burning timber, and the curling but dense wreaths of smoke from the guns; the constantly recurring, spattering, and whizzing of fragments. of crashing and bursting shells; the deafening roar of artillery; the black sides of five or six gun-boats, belching fire at every port-hole; the volumes of smoke settled in dense masses along the surrounding back-waters; and up and over that fog, on the heights, the army of General Grant (10,000), deploying around our small army, attempting to cut off its retreat. In the

the assault at the appointed hour. Never men worked harder. The guns of the fleet opened while we were yet quite a mile from our objective. Our line of march was nearly parallel with the line of fire to and from the gun-boats. Not more than seven hundred yards separated us from the great shells, in their roaring, fiery passage. Without suffering from their effect, we had the full benefit of their indescribable and terrible noise. Several times I heard the shot from the fort crash against the iron sides of the boats. You can imagine the excitement and martial furor the circumstances were calculated to inspire our men with. I was all eagerness to push on with my brigade, but General Smith rode, like the veteran he was, laughing at my impatience, and refusing all my entreaties. He was too good a soldier to divide his column."

1 Report of Commander Foote to the Secretary of the Navy, February 6, 1862. Commander Stembel and Lieutenant-Commander Phelps were sent to hoist the Union flag over the fort, and to invite General Tilghman on board the commodore's flag-ship. When, an hour later, Grant arrived, the fort and all the spoils of victory were turned over to him. General Tilghman, and Captain Jesse Taylor of Tennessee, who was the commander of the fort, with ten other commissioned officers, with subordinates and privates in the fort, were made prisoners. It was said that the General and some of his officers attempted to escape, but were confronted by sentinels who had been pressed into the service, and who now retaliated by doing their duty strictly. They refused to let them pass the line, such being their orders, and threatened to shoot the first man who should attempt it

2 The National loss was two killed and thirty-eight wounded, and the Confederates had five killed and ten wounded. Of the Nationals, twenty-nine were wounded and scalded on the gun-boat Essex, Captain W. D. Porter; some of them mortally. This calamity was caused by a 32-pound shot entering the boiler of the Esser. It had passed through the edge of a bow port, through a bulkhead, into the boiler, in which, fortunately, there was only about sixty pounds of steam. In its passage it took off a portion of the head of Lieutenant S. B. Brittain, Jr., one of Porter's aids. He was a son of the Rev. S. B. Brittain, of New York, and a very promising youth, not quite seventeen years of age. He was standing very near Commander Porter at the time, with one hand on that officer's shoulder, and the other on his own cutlass. Captain Porter was badly scalded by the steam that escaped, but recovered. That officer was a son of Commodore David Porter, famous in American annals as the commander of the Essex in the war of 1812; and he inherited his father's bravery and patriotism. The gun-boat placed under his command was named Esser, in honor of his father's memory.

EFFECTS OF THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY.

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midst of the storm of shot and shell, the small force outside of the fort had succeeded in gaining the upper road, the gun-boats having failed to notice their movements until they were out of reach. To give them further time, the gallant Tilghman, exhausted and begrimed with powder and smoke, stood erect at the middle battery, and pointed gun after gun. It was clear, however, that the fort could not hold out much longer. A white flag was raised by the order of General Tilghman, who remarked, 'It is vain to fight longer. Our gunners are disabled-our guns dismounted; we can't hold out five minutes longer.' As soon as the token of submission was hoisted, the gun-boats came alongside the fort and took possession of it, their crews giving three cheers for the Union. General Tilghman and the small garrison of forty were taken prisoners."

The capture of Fort Henry was a naval victory of great importance, not only because of its immediate effect, but because it proved the efficiency of gun-boats on the narrow rivers of the West, in co-operating with land troops. On this account, and because of its promises of greater achievements near, the fall of Fort Henry caused the most profound satisfaction among the loyal people. Halleck announced the fact to McClellan with the stirring words, "Fort Henry is ours! The flag of the Union is re-established on the soil of Tennessee. It will never be removed." Foote's report, brief and clear, was received and read in both Houses of Congress, in open session; and the Secretary of the Navy wrote to him, "The country appreciates your gallant deeds, and this Department desires to convey to you and your brave associates its profound thanks for the service you have rendered."

The moral effect of the victory on the Confederates was dismal, and drew forth the most serious complaints against the authorities at Richmond, and especially against Mallory, the so-called "Secretary of the Navy." Painful apprehensions of future calamities were awakened; for it was felt that, if Fort Donelson should now fall, the Confederate cause in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri must be ruined. The first great step toward that event had been taken. The National troops were now firmly planted in the rear of Columbus, on the Mississippi, and were only about ten miles by land from the bridge over which was the railway connection between that post and Bowling Green. There was also nothing left to obstruct the passage of gunboats up the Tennessee to the fertile regions of Northern Alabama, and carrying the flag of the Republic far toward the heart of the Confederacy.

1 First Year of the War, page 238.

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GUN-BOAT EXPEDITION UP THE TENNESSEE.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON.

HE fall of Fort Henry was followed by immediate preparations for an attack on Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River. Preparatory to this was a reconnoissance up the Tennessee River. Lieutenant-Com

@ Feb. 6,
1862.

mander S. L. Phelps was sent up that river on the evening of the day of battle," with a detachment of Foote's flotilla, consisting

of the Conestoga, Tyler, and Lexington, to reconnoiter the borders of the stream as far toward its upper waters as possible. When he reached the bridge of the railway between Memphis and Bowling Green, he found the draw closed, its machinery disabled, and some Confederate transports just above it, escaping up the river. A portion of the bridge was then hastily destroyed, and the work of demolition was completed the following day by Commander Walke, of the Carondelet, who was sent up by General Grant for the purpose. The fugitive transports were so closely pursued that those in charge of them abandoned all, and burned two that were laden with military stores.1 In this flight an officer left papers behind him which gave an important official history of the Confederate naval preparations on the western rivers.

Onward the little flotilla went, seizing Confederate vessels and destroying Confederate public property as far up as Florence, in Alabama, at the foot of the Muscle Shoals. When Phelps appeared in sight of that town, three Confederate steamers there, loaded with supplies, were set on fire, but a part of their contents, with other property on shore, was saved. A delegation of citizens waited upon the commander to ask for kind treatment for their families, and the salvation of the bridge that spanned the Tennessee there. He assured them that women and children would not be disturbed, as he and his men were not savages; and as to the bridge, being of no military account, it should be saved.

Returning, Lieutenant Phelps recruited a number of loyal Tennesseeans, seized arms and other Confederate property in several places, and caused the

1 "The first one fired," says Lieutenant Phelps, in his report to Commodore Foote, "had on board a quantity of submarine batteries; the second one was freighted with powder, cannon-shot, grape, balls, &c. Fearing an explosion from the fired boats, I had stopped at the distance of a thousand yards; but even there our skylights were broken by the concussion." The boat was otherwise injured; and he said, "the whole river for half a mile round about was completely beaten up by the falling fragments and the shower of shot, grape, balls, &c." He also said that the house of a reported Unionist was blown to pieces. It was believed that the vessels were fired in front of it for the purpose of destroying it.

FOOTE IN THE PULPIT AT CAIRO.

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flight of a considerable number of troops from Savannah, on the eastern bank of the river, which he had prepared to attack. His reconnoissance was a perfect success. It discovered the real weakness of the Confederacy in that direction, the feasibility of marching an army into the heart of the Confederacy, and, better than all, it developed the most gratifying evidences of genuine Union feeling in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. The river banks in places were crowded with men, women, and children, who greeted the old flag with the greatest enthusiasm. "I was assured at Savannah," he said, "that, of the several hundred troops there, more than one-half, had we gone to the attack in time, would have hailed us as deliverers, and gladly enlisted with the National forces." Over and over again he was assured that nothing but the dreadful reign of terror then prevailing kept thousands from openly expressing their attachment to the old flag. "Bring us a small organized force, with arms and ammunition," they said, "and we can maintain our position."

The report of this reconnoissance was very cheering, and it was determined to capture Fort Donelson as speedily as possible, and then, with a heavy force, march across Tennessee and penetrate Alabama. Foote had already hurried back to Cairo with the

Cincinnati, Essex, and St. Louis, to prepare mortar-boats for the new enterprise, leaving Commander Walke, of the Carondelet, in charge of a portion of his flotilla at Fort Henry. With the spirit of the old Puritans (from whom he was descended'), who were everr eady to fight or pray, as circumstances might require, he went into the pulpit of the Presbyterian church at Cairo, on the Sunday after the capture of Fort Henry, and preached a stirring sermon from the words of Jesus-" Let

A MORTAR-BOAT.4

not your hearts be troubled. Ye believe in God; believe also in me." He poured forth eloquent sentences in humble thanks to Almighty God for the recent victory, and inspired all who heard him with burning zeal in the National cause.

General Grant, at the same time, was making vigorous preparations for attacking Fort Donelson. Re-enforcements were arriving in Cairo, where

1 Report of Commodore Foote, Feb. 6th, 1862.

2 He was a son of Senator Samuel Foote, of Connecticut, whose resolution concerning the public lands occasioned the famous debate in the Senate of the United States between Daniel Webster and Robert Y. Hayne. The congregation were disappointed by the non-appearance of their pastor at the proper time, and Foote was invited to conduct the religious services of the occasion.

4 This represents a mortar-boat. They were constructed for strength and steadiness of position. On a broad float were walls of wood, about eight feet in height, plated with iron on the outside, and sloping, so as to more easily ward off shot. In each was a single heavy mortar, with ammunition below water-mark, a tent for shelter, and other conveniences.

The following named officers composed General Grant's personal Staff at this time: Colonel J. D. Webster, Chief of Staff; Colonel J. Riggin, Jr., Volunteer Aid; Captain J. A. Rawlins, Assistant Adjutant-General; Captains C. B. Logan and W. S. Hillyer, Aids; and Lieutenant-Colonel V. B. McPherson, Chief Engineer. According to the report of the Adjutant-General, Grant had under him in the district of Cairo, on the 10th of January, 1862, 26,875 men, officers and privates.