A Gun-Boat Fleet

WHEN the Confederate line in Kentucky was broken, the National Government determined to concentrate the forces of Halleck and Buell for a great forward movement to push the Confederates toward the Gulf of Mexico. Fremont's plan for providing gun-boats for the western rivers, to co-operate with the armies, had been carried out. Twelve of these vessels (some of them covered with iron-plates) had been constructed at St. Louis and Cairo, and at the close of January these were armed with one hundred and twenty-six heavy guns and some lighter artillery, and were placed under the command of flag-officer A. H. Foote of the National navy. When everything was in readiness, some feints were made to deceive the Confederates. These were reconoissances down each side of the Mississippi River from Cairo; and Thomas feigned a movement in force against East Tennessee.

In the meantime an expedition against Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, where those streams approach each other to within a distance of about twelve miles, had been prepared. The land troops were placed under the command of General U. S. Grant, assisted by General C. F. Smith. Commodore Foote was called to the Tennessee with his flotilla of gun-boats; and at dawn on the 3d of February, 1862, a portion of that flotilla was only a few miles below Fort Henry, on that stream, and the land troops were disembarking from transports. The fort lay at the bend of the stream, on the right bank, and its guns commanded a reach of the river for about two miles. It was armed with seventeen guns, twelve of which could sweep the river. At the time we are considering, the garrison in the fort and troops encamped around it, numbered less than three thousand, commanded by General Tilghman, of Maryland, a graduate of the West Point Academy. Grant and Foote had asked and obtained permission of Halleck to attack Fort Henry, and that was the task which they attempted on the morning of the 3d of February.

Both arms of the service proceeded to strike Fort Henry simultaneously The land force was composed of the divisions of McClernand and Smith. The armed flotilla in hand consisted of the gun-boats Essex, St. Louis, Carondelet, and Cincinnati. The river below Fort Henry had been strewn with torpedoes, but these were successfully fished up before the attack. Opposite Fort Henry was Fort Hieman, situated upon a great hill, from which artillery might be brought to bear upon assailants of the former. To silence its batteries, a portion of the land troops went up that side of the river, while others proceeded to gain a point between Forts Henry and Donelson. The flotilla moved forward and opened the contest at noon on the 6th, and before the land troops could reach a position to co-operate, the fort, with its little garrison, had been surrendered to Foote. A tremendous rain-storm, with thunder and wind, which occurred the night before, had made the roads so heavy, and so swelled the little streams, that the march of the troops was difficult and slow. The garrison made a gallant defence; but at the end of one hour's conflict, they were compelled to strike their flag. Fort Hieman was also surrendered. This was a naval victory of great importance, because it proved the efficiency of gun-boats on the narrow western rivers in co-operation with land forces. Therefore the fall of Fort Henry was hailed as a most happy omen of the success of the Union cause. Halleck telegraphed to McClellan: "Fort Henry is ours! the flag of the Union is re-established on the soil of Tennessee. It will never be removed!" The Secretary of the Navy wrote to Foote: "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."

This victory inflicted a severe blow upon the power of the Confederates. It gave to the Nationals the possession of formidable and important posts; also a firm footing in the vicinity of stronger Fort Donelson and in the rear of Columbus, on the Mississippi. There was now no obstacle to the river navy in its passage up the Tennessee to the fertile regions of northern Alabama toward the heart of the Confederacy. Thitherward Foote sent Lieutenant-commander S. L. Phelps, on the night after the capture of the fort, with three vessels, to reconnoitre the borders of the river. Those vessels went steadily onward, seizing Confederate vessels and destroying Confederate property, as far up as Florence, in Alabama, at the foot of the Muscle Shoals. The reconnoissance was a perfect success, for it discovered the weakness of the Confederacy in that region, and developed a most gratifying evidence of genuine Union feeling among the inhabitants of Tennessee which had been repressed by Confederate despotism. Phelps was assured that nothing but the dreadful reign of terror kept thousands from openly manifesting their love for the old flag.

The report of Phelps's reconnoissance was very cheering, and it was determined to attack Fort Donelson, near Dover, the capital of Stewart country, Tennessee. It was a formidable work, situated with a front on the high left bank of the Cumberland River, among hills furrowed by deep ravines, and its irregular lines of outlying intrenchments covering about one hundred acres. General Grant reorganized his army in three divisions, under Generals McClernand, Smith, and Lewis Wallace; and Commodore Foote hurried back to Cairo with three of his gun-boats to take his mortar-boats to the Cumberland River to assist in the attack on Fort Donelson.