Part 6 (1/2)
”Why so? I do not understand you.”
”Because I was fully determined to capture the fort or go to the bottom.”
”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 only let us alone, there would have been no trouble. They would not abide by the Const.i.tution.”
”You are mistaken, General, and the whole South is mistaken. The North have always been willing that the South should have all her rights, under the Const.i.tution. The South began the war, and she will be responsible for the blood which has been shed to-day.”
Thus, in an hour and twelve minutes, the fort which the Rebels confidently expected would prevent the gunboats from ascending the river was forced to surrender, and there was un.o.bstructed water communication to the very heart of the Southern Confederacy. Their line of defence was broken.
There was but little loss of life in this engagement,--twenty to thirty killed and wounded on each side. If the Rebel army had not fled almost at the first fire, there would have been terrible slaughter. When Commodore Foote was informed that there were several thousand troops in the fortifications, said he, ”I am sorry for it, because if they stand their ground there will be great destruction of life from the heavy sh.e.l.ls; for I shall take the fort or sink with the s.h.i.+ps.”
If the troops under General Grant had been in position to have intercepted the Rebel force, the whole panic-stricken crowd would have been captured, but being delayed by the mud, the fleet-footed Rebels were far on their way towards Fort Donelson when General Grant reached the rear of the intrenchments. In their haste and terror the Rebels abandoned nine pieces of field artillery on the road, and a large supply of ammunition.
The battle was fought on Thursday. On Friday Commodore Foote returned to Cairo, to send his despatches to Was.h.i.+ngton, also to repair his gunboats and to see that the poor scalded men on the Ess.e.x were well taken care of.
I was writing, at Cairo, the account of the battle. It was past midnight when the Commodore came to my room. He sat down, and told me what I have written of his plan of the battle, and his talk with General Tilghman.
He could not sit still. He was weary and exhausted with his labors. ”I am afraid, Commodore, that you have overworked. You must have rest and sleep,” I remarked.
”Yes, I have been obliged to work pretty hard, and need rest, but I never slept better in my life than night before last, and I never prayed more fervently than on yesterday morning before going into the battle; but I couldn't sleep last night for thinking of those poor fellows on board the Ess.e.x,” was the reply.
On Sunday morning he was at church as usual. The minister was late. The people thought there would be no meeting, and were about to leave the house. Commodore Foote went to one of the Elders of the church, and urged him to conduct the wors.h.i.+p. The Elder declined. But the Commodore never let slip an opportunity for doing good. He was always ready to serve his country and his G.o.d. He went into the pulpit, read a chapter, offered a prayer, and preached a short sermon from the words,--”Let not your hearts be troubled. Ye believe in G.o.d; believe also in me.” It was an exhortation for all men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world. Some who heard him, as they went home from church, said that they also believed in Commodore Foote!
To him belongs the credit not only of taking Fort Henry, but of planning the expedition. When the true history of this Rebellion is written, you will see how important a thing it was, how great its results, and you will admire more and more the sterling patriotism and unswerving Christian principles of a man who struck this first great blow, and did so much towards crus.h.i.+ng the Rebellion.
CHAPTER V.
THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON.
General Grant's plan for taking Fort Donelson was, to move the first and second divisions of his army across the country, and attack the fort in the rear, while another division, accompanied by the gunboats, should go up the c.u.mberland and attack the fort from that direction. Commodore Foote informed the General that it was necessary to repair the gunboats which had been injured before commencing operations; but General Grant determined to make no delay on that account. Without fully perfecting his arrangements, or calculating the time needed for the steamboats to go from Fort Henry down to the Ohio and up the c.u.mberland, he ordered the two divisions to march. General Lewis Wallace was left at Fort Henry with a brigade, while six regiments of his division, the third, were embarked on the steamboats, which sailed down the Tennessee in fine style, turning back other boats, and all proceeded up the c.u.mberland.
There are steep hills, sandy plains, deep ravines, trickling brooks, and grand old forest-trees between Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The road winds along the hillsides, over the plains, and descends into the ravines. There are but few farm-houses, for the soil is unproductive and the forests remain almost as they have been for hundreds of years. The few farmers who reside there live mainly on hog and hominy. They cultivate a few acres of corn, but keep a great many pigs, which live in the woods and fatten upon acorns and hickory-nuts.
The regiments which marched to Fort Donelson bivouacked the first night beside a stream of water about four miles from Fort Henry. They had no tents. They had been in barracks at Cairo through December and January, but now they must lie upon the ground, wrapped in their blankets. The nights were cold, and the ground was frozen. They cut down the tall trees and kindled great fires, which roared and crackled in the frosty air. They sc.r.a.ped the dead leaves into heaps and made them beds. They saw the pigs in the woods. Crack! crack! went their rifles, and they had roast sparerib and pork-steaks,--delicious eating to hungry men. The forest was all aglow with the hundreds of fires. The men told stories, toasted their toes, looked into the glowing coals, thought perhaps of home, of the dear ones there, then wrapped their blankets about them and went to sleep. Out towards Fort Donelson the pickets stood at their posts and looked into the darkness, watching for the enemy through the long winter night. But no Rebels appeared. They had been badly frightened at Fort Henry. They had recovered from their terror, however, and had determined to make a brave stand at Fort Donelson. They had been reinforced by a large body of troops from General Albert Sidney Johnston's army at Bowling Green, in Kentucky, and from General Lee's army in Virginia.
General Grant's two divisions, which marched across the country, numbered about fifteen thousand. There were four brigades in the first division,--Colonel Oglesby's, Colonel W. H. L. Wallace's, Colonel McArthur's, and Colonel Morrison's. Colonel Oglesby had the Eighth, Eighteenth, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Illinois regiments. Colonel Wallace's was composed of the Eleventh, Twentieth, Forty-fifth, and Forty-eighth Illinois regiments. In Colonel McArthur's were the Second, Ninth, Twelfth, and Forty-first Illinois, and in Colonel Morrison's the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth Illinois regiments.
Schwartz's, Taylor's, Dresser's, and McAllister's batteries accompanied this division.
There were three brigades in the second division. The first, under the command of Colonel Cook, was composed of the Seventh Illinois, Twelfth Iowa, Thirteenth Missouri, and Fifty-second Indiana.
Colonel Lauman commanded the second brigade, composed of the Second, Seventh, Fourteenth, and Twenty-eighth Iowa regiments, the Fifty-second Indiana, and Colonel Birges's regiment of sharpshooters.
The third brigade, commanded by Colonel Morgan L. Smith, was composed of the Eighth Missouri and Eleventh Indiana.
Major Cavender's regiment of Missouri artillery was attached to this division, composed of three full batteries,--Captain Richardson's, Captain Stone's, and Captain Walker's.
The Fourth Illinois cavalry and three or four companies of cavalry were distributed among the brigades.
Colonel Birges's sharpshooters were picked men, who had killed many bears, deer, and wolves in the Western woods. They could take unerring aim, and bring down a squirrel from the top of the highest trees. They wore gray uniforms of felt, with close-fitting skull-caps, and buffalo-skin knapsacks, and a powder-horn. They were swift runners. Each man carried a whistle. They had signal-calls for advancing, or retreating, or moving to the right or the left. They glided through the forests like fleet-footed deer, or crept as stealthily as an Indian along the ravines and through the thickets. They were tough, hearty, daring, courageous men. They thought it no great hards.h.i.+p to march all day, and lie down beside a log at night without supper. They wanted no better fun than to creep through the underbrush and pick off the Rebels, whirling in an instant upon their backs after firing a shot, to reload their rifles. Although attached to Lauman's brigade, they were expected in battle to go where they could do the most service.
As you go up the c.u.mberland River, and approach the town of Dover, you see a high hill on the west bank. It is crowned with an embankment of earth, which runs all round the top with many angles. At the foot of the hill are two other embankments, fifteen or twenty feet above the water.