Part 5 (1/2)
Half of the congregation are from the army and navy. Commodore Foote is there, a devout wors.h.i.+pper. Before coming to church he visited each gunboat of his fleet, called the crews together, read to them his general orders, that no unnecessary work should be done on the Sabbath, and enjoining upon the commanders the duty of having wors.h.i.+p, and of maintaining a high moral character before the men.
Let us on Monday accept the kind invitation of Commodore Foote, and go on board the Benton, his flag-s.h.i.+p, and make an inspection of the strange-looking craft. It is unlike anything you ever saw at Boston or New York. It is like a great box on a raft. The sides are inclined, made of stout oak timbers and plated with iron. You enter through a porthole, where you may lay your hand upon the iron lips of a great gun, which throws a ball nine inches in diameter. There are fourteen guns, with stout oaken carriages. The men are moving about, exercising the guns,--going through the motions of loading and firing. How clean the floor! It is as white as soap and sand can make it. You must not spit tobacco-juice here, if you do, the courteous officer will say you are violating the rules. In the centre of the boat, down beneath the gun-deck in the hull, are the engines and the boilers, partly protected from any shot which may happen to come in at a porthole, or which may tear through the sides,--through the iron and the oak. Near the centre is the wheel. The top of the box, or the _casemate_, as it is called, is of oak timbers, and forms the upper deck. The pilot-house is on this upper deck, forward of the centre. In shape it is like a tunnel turned down. It is plated with thick iron. There, in the hour of battle, the pilot will be, peeping out through narrow holes, his hands grasping the wheel and steering the vessel.
Its guns, which the sailors call its battery, are very powerful. There are two nine-inch guns, and also two sixty-four-pounders, rifled, at the bow. There are two forty-two-pounders at the stern, and those upon the side are thirty-twos and twenty-fours. There are rooms for the officers, but the men sleep in hammocks. They take their meals sitting on the gun-carriages, or cross-legged, like Turks, on the floor.
Captain Foote is the Commodore of the fleet. He points out to you the _Sacred Place_ of the s.h.i.+p,--a secluded corner, where any one of the crew who loves to read his Bible and hold secret devotion may do so, and not be disturbed. He has given a library of good books to the crew, and he has persuaded them that it will be better for them to give up their allowance of grog than to drink it. He walks among the men, and has a kind word for all, and they look upon him as their father. They have confidence in him. How l.u.s.tily they cheer him! Will they not fight bravely under such a commander?
On Monday afternoon, February 2d, the gunboats Cincinnati, Ess.e.x, St.
Louis, Carondelet, Lexington, Tyler, and Conestoga sailed from Cairo, accompanied by several river steamboats with ten regiments of troops.
They went up the Ohio to Paducah, and entered the Tennessee River at dark. The next morning, about daylight, they anch.o.r.ed a few miles below Fort Henry. Commodore Foote made the Cincinnati his flag-s.h.i.+p.
A party of scouts went on sh.o.r.e and called at a farm-house. ”You never will take Fort Henry,” said the woman living there.
”O yes, we shall; we have a fleet of iron-clad gunboats,” said one of the scouts.
”Your gunboats will be blown sky-high before they get up to the fort.”
”Ah! how so?”
The woman saw that she was letting out a secret, and became silent. The scouts mistrusted that she knew something which might be desirable for them to know, and informed her that, unless she told all she knew, she must go with them a prisoner. She was frightened, and informed them that the river was full of torpedoes, which would blow up the gunboats.
The scouts reported to Commodore Foote. The river was searched with grappling-irons, and six infernal machines were fished up; but they were imperfectly constructed, and not one of them would explode.
Looking up the river from the deck of one of Commodore Foote's gunboats you see Panther Island, which is a mile from the fort. It is a long, narrow sand-bank, covered with a thicket of willows. There is the fort on the eastern bank. You see an irregular pile of earth, about fifteen feet above the river, with sand-bag embrasures, which at first sight you think are blocks of stone, but they are grain-sacks filled with sand.
You count the guns, seventeen in all. One ten-inch columbiad, one sixty-pounder, twelve thirty-two-pounders, one twenty-four-pounder, and two twelve-pounders. They are nearly all pivoted, so that they may be pointed down the river against the boats or inland upon the troops. The river is nearly a half-mile wide, and on the opposite bank is another fort, not yet completed. All around Fort Henry you see rifle-pits and breastworks, enclosing twenty or thirty acres. Above and below the fort are creeks. The tall trees are cut down to obstruct the way, or to form an _abatis_, as it is called. It will not be an easy matter to take the fort from the land side. Inside these intrenchments is the Rebel camp,--log-huts and tents, with accommodations for several thousand men.
Commodore Foote has planned how to take the fort. He is confident that he can sh.e.l.l the Rebels out just as you can pound rats from a barrel or a box, and if General Grant will get in rear and watch his opportunity, they will all be caught.
General Grant lands two brigades of troops on the west side of the river, and three brigades on the east side, about four miles below the fort. Those on the west side are to look after any Rebels which may be in or around the unfinished fort, while those upon the east side, under General McClernand, work their way through the woods to gain the rear of the fort. This is the order to General McClernand:--
”It will be the special duty of this command to prevent all reinforcements of Fort Henry or escape from it. Also to be held in readiness to charge and take Fort Henry by storm, promptly on receipt of orders.”
General Grant and Commodore Foote agreed that the gunboats should commence the attack at twelve o'clock.
”I shall take the fort in about an hour,” said the Commodore. ”I shall commence firing when I reach the head of Panther Island, and it will take me about an hour to reach the fort, for I shall steam up slowly. I am afraid, General, that the roads are so bad the troops will not get round in season to capture the enemy. I shall take the fort before you get into position.”
General Grant thought otherwise; but the roads were very muddy, and when the engagement commenced the troops were far from where they ought to have been.
Commodore Foote had prepared his instructions to the officers and crews of the gunboats several days before. They were brief and plain.
”The four iron-clad boats--the Ess.e.x, Carondelet, St. Louis, and Cincinnati--will keep in line. The Conestoga, Lexington, and Tyler will follow the iron-clads, and throw sh.e.l.ls over those in advance.”
To the commanders he said:--
”_Do just as I do!_”
Addressing the crews, he said:--
”Fire slowly, and with deliberate aim. There are three reasons why you should not fire rapidly. With rapid firing there is always a waste of ammunition. Your range is imperfect, and your shots go wide of the mark, and that encourages the enemy; and it is desirable not to heat the guns.
If you fire slowly and deliberately, you will keep cool yourselves, and make every shot tell.”
With such instructions, with all things ready,--decks cleared for action, guns run out, shot and sh.e.l.l brought up from the magazines and piled on deck,--confident of success, and determined to take the fort or go to the bottom, he waited the appointed hour.