"Because I was fully determined to capture the fort, or go to the bottom," was the satisfactory response of the gallant Admiral.

"I thought I had you, Commodore; but you were too much for me."

"How could you fight against the old flag, General?" "Well, it did come hard at first; but, if the North had let us alone, there would have been no trouble. They would not abide by the Constitution."

The Commodore assured him the opposite of that was the truth, and that the South was responsible for the blood shed that day.

General Grant's account of the affair is marked with the unostentatious and honorable bearing of the brave chieftain :

HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OF Cairo,

FORT HENRY, TENN., February 6, 1862. CAPT. J. C. KELTON, A. A. General, Department of Mo., St. Louis, Mo.: CAPTAIN: Owing to dispatches received from Major-General Halleck, and corroborating information here, to the effect that the enemy were rapidly re-enforcing, I thought it imperatively necessary that the fort should be carried to-day. My forces were not up at ten o'clock last night, when my order was written, therefore, I did not deem it practicable to set an earlier hour than eleven o'clock to-day to commence the investment. The gunboats started up at the same hour to commence the attack, and engage the enemy at not over six hundred yards. In little over one hour all the batteries were silenced, and the fort surrendered at discretion to Flag-Officer Foote, giving us all their guns, camp and garrison equipage. The prisoners taken are General Tilghman and Staff, Captain Taylor and company, and the sick. The garrison, I think, must have commenced their retreat last night, or at an early hour this morning.

Had I not felt it imperative to attack Fort Henry to-day, I should have made the investment complete, and delayed until to-morrow, so as to secure the garrison. I do not believe, however, the result would have been any more satisfactory.

The gunboats have proved themselves well able to resist a severe cannonading. All the iron-clads have received more or less shots-the flagship some twenty-eight-without any serious damage to any, except the Essex. This vessel received one shot in her boiler that disabled her, killing and wounding some thirty-two men, Captain Porter among the wounded.

I remain, your obedient servant,

U. S. GRANT, Brigadier-General.

General Tilghman, in his dispatches, bears fine testi

mony to the greatness of Grant's character, rising above the mean revenge of baser minds when flushed with victory:

"Through the courtesy of Brigadier-General Ulysses S. Grant, commanding Federal forces, I am permitted to communicate with you in relation to the result of the action between the fort under my command at this place and the Federal gunboats, on yesterday. I take great pleasure in acknowledging the courtesies and consideration shown by Brigadier-General U. S. Grant and Commodore Foote, and the officers under their command."

CHAPTER VI.

THE ATTACK UPON FORT DONELSON, AND ITS RESULTS.

General Grant turns his Attention to Fort Donelson.-The Plan of Advance.-The March.-Bivouac.-The Morning of Battle.-The Conflict opens.-The Struggle of Thursday.-The Rebels Victorious.—The Heroism of Wallace's Troops.-The Tide of Battle turns.-The Council of War.-The Victory.-The Second Conclave of Rebel Generals.-The Surrender.-The General Joy.-General Grant's Report.-Incidents.-Fine Commemorative Lines.

THE reduction of Fort Henry, in which the lamented, Christian hero, Commodore Foote, was providentially conspicuous, was only a part of the grand work to be accomplished in the general plan of the commanding mind. No time was wasted by General Grant over the success of his movement; but he at once ordered all available troops in his district to be sent to his command, for an advance upon the more formidable works of Fort Donelson, on the western shore of the Cumberland River, a dozen miles from Fort Henry. These fortifications, guarding the waters flowing into the Ohio, as will be seen on the map, were the great barrier between the Union army and the very heart of the treasonable Confederacy.

The plan of march was given in the following order, issued on the evening of February 11 :

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One brigade of the First Division will move by the Telegraph Road directly upon Fort Donelson, halting for further orders at a distance of two miles from the fort. The other brigades of the First Division will move by the Dover Ridge road, and halt at the same distance from the fort, and throw out troops, so as to form a continuous line between the two wings.

The two brigades of the Second Division, now at Fort Henry, will follow as rapidly as practicable, by the Dover road, and will be followed by the troops from Fort Heiman, as fast as they can be ferried across the river.

One brigade of the Second Division should be thrown into Dover, to cut off all retreat by the river, if found practicable to do so.