_Wherein Captain Galligasken states the Results of the Victory at
Fort Henry, and attends the illustrious Soldier in the Investment
of Fort Donelson_.
The capture of Fort Henry was as inspiring to the national troops as it
was discouraging to the rebels. General Grant telegraphed to Halleck
that he had taken Fort Henry, and he announced his intention to serve
Fort Donelson in the same way. Not a word had been said before about
the strong work on the Cumberland, and Grant had no instructions from
his superior on this point. Halleck made no reply to his despatch,
though he notified General Buell of the expected attack.
The idea of capturing Donelson was Grant's from its inception to
its culmination in the surrender. He had no definite information in
regard to the fort, but he formed his plan, not only to attack but
to capture it. It seems to have been written down in his mind from
the commencement that there was to be no failure. The flood and the
continued heavy rains delayed the movement, and the troops were obliged
to fight with the waters to save their scanty supplies.
General Halleck used every exertion to supply Grant with troops and
material, but he did not order the movement, or even express any hopes
or opinions in regard to it. He simply suffered it to proceed, yielding
all the assistance required of him; but it would have been curious
to know what he would have said if the enterprise had proved to be a
failure. Halleck sent minute orders in regard to the disposition of
Fort Henry, instructing Grant to hold it, intimating that he would send
picks and shovels to strengthen the work, and directed that the guns
should be changed so as to meet an attack from the land; but he does
not mention Donelson. He repeats his instructions very carefully on the
10th of the month, again kindly offers to send the picks and shovels,
and assures the rising hero that large reënforcements would soon join
him; but he is thoroughly non-committal on the subject of Fort Donelson.
For my own part, I am thankful that he was so; for I am convinced that
any man with a genius for war inferior to that of the illustrious
soldier would have been a marplot if he had meddled with the matter.
Grant was willing to take the responsibility; and doubtless the
singular silence of his superior suggested to him his fate in case of
failure.
Grant did not wait for any of the additional force promised; and
while the solemn autocrat in St. Louis was prating about picks and
shovels, and matters which a volunteer who had seen service for a week
understood as well as he, the bold brigadier in command hurried up
Commodore Foote, who was waiting for the gunboats he had sent up the
river. He was impatient to be on the move, and chafed like a leashed
tiger at the delay; for the news kept coming in that the rebels were
continually strengthening Donelson.
On the 11th the commodore started with his fleet for the Cumberland,
protecting transports conveying six regiments of troops and the
supplies for the entire force. On the same day McClernand, with the
advance, moved out a few miles towards the point of attack. The next
morning, Grant himself, with the main body of the army, consisting of
fifteen thousand strong, marched from Fort Henry, leaving twenty-five
hundred men in garrison there.
The roads were inundated, and it was impossible to transport tents and
baggage. But few wagons were taken, and the only food carried was in
the haversacks of the soldiers. In order to understand the difficulties
in the way of the gallant commander, it should be remembered that this
movement was made in the month of February. The country was flooded
with water, rendering the roads almost impassable, and requiring that
many streams should be bridged. But without tents or baggage, the
confident general moved on to do the mighty work before him. At noon he
arrived at his destination, and proceeded to post his troops. Grant's
information in regard to the fortress was so meagre and indefinite that
he could only promise to issue the necessary orders in the field. This
was the task now before him.
Fort Donelson was one of the most elaborately constructed systems of
works which yet frowned on the path of the Union army. It was built on
a group of hills, the highest of which were not less than a hundred
feet above the level of the river. It consisted of a nest of forts,
thrown around the principal one, mounting, with the addition of the
field guns of the batteries, sixty-five pieces. The country in which
it was situated was rough, and densely wooded. The approaches to the
works were rendered difficult by ingeniously-contrived abatis. Above
and below the fort was a stream, overflowing its banks, and protecting
the right and left of the rebel line. Water batteries on the river
effectually guarded the approaches in that direction. The fort was
garrisoned by twenty-one thousand men. For a week the rebels had
been at work, day and night, increasing its defences, and calling in
reënforcements from the vicinity.
Grant went to work with his usual promptness, and before night had
surrounded the fort, so far as the overflow of the streams would
permit. McClernand's division was on the right, Smith's on the left.
There were but three educated officers on the field--Grant, Smith, and
McPherson; all the rest of the force were volunteers, most of whom had
never seen a battle, and some had been in the service but a very brief
period.
The gunboats did not arrive the next day, as expected, but the time
was occupied in perfecting the investment of the place, and in
feeling of the enemy. Some smart skirmishes occurred, but nothing
of importance to either side resulted from them. A gallant attempt
was made by McClernand to capture a battery, but it failed. At night
Grant's line extended for three miles along a series of hills parallel
to the enemy's line. The reënforcements did not arrive, and Foote's
squadron was not heard from. The weather changed from heavy rain to
intense cold, and the thermometer fell nearly to zero. The troops
suffered fearfully from cold; for without tents, and without sufficient
clothing, they bivouacked in line of battle, sleeping, if they slept
at all, on their arms. The rebel pickets were within easy range, and
no fires could be built. Some of the raw troops had even thrown away
their blankets in the toilsome march through the mud. Before morning
a driving storm of hail and snow set in, horribly increasing the
sufferings of the troops.
What a terrible price was paid for the integrity of this blessed Union!
What an awful sacrifice for the liberty in which we now rejoice! I
tremble when I think of the horrors of that dreadful night, in the
snow, and the sleet, and the piercing cold, where the devoted patriots
lay under the fire of the enemy! All night long the rebel pickets
fired, and the groans of the wounded and the dying mingled with the
howls of the storm. All the horrors of war seemed to be blended
together in one discordant mass--hunger, cold, and all the torturing
agony of suspense and anxiety. From what I know of Grant, I am sure he
suffered the most, for the tortures of his men were his own; but peace
and freedom were the glittering prize for which he fought and endured
the bitter anguish of that horrid night. I wonder that even his iron
will did not yield in the presence of the calamities which were there
heaped upon him and his men; for he endured all that the humblest
soldier endured. Besides the burden they had to bear, he carried the
responsibility of the enterprise upon his shoulders; but he was as
confident as he was patient and self-sacrificing. For the glorious
cause in which he had embarked, he endured all which that awful period
had in store for him.
Glory, honor, and an immortal name to the man who had the fortitude to
endure the horrors of that terrible night! I am amazed as I view him,
the thinking power of the expedition, resolutely maintaining his bold
front through the accumulated miseries of that gloomy trial-hour! Think
of the man who had the hardihood to beleaguer a fortress garrisoned by
twenty-one thousand men with fifteen thousand, and to stand by them
confidently through such a storm and such a night! It was watching and
waiting for the morning. Conscious of his comparative weakness, Grant
sent a messenger to Fort Henry for the garrison which had been left
there.
In the gloom of the early morning came glad tidings to the anxious
commander, and to his suffering force. A gunboat was coming up the
river, and its presence heralded the approach of the fleet, with
reënforcements and with supplies for the half-famished men in the
line. Though abundant rations had been issued to the troops, they were
improvident, in their inexperience, both of food and clothing. The
warm, humid air of the preceding day had been oppressive to them, and
they had lightened their burden, reckless of the future. The sudden
change of the weather and the delay of the fleet subjected them to
terrible hardship. Many of the wounded and others were frozen to death
in the line.
General Lew Wallace and the garrison from Fort Henry, arrived, and
were immediately placed in the centre of the line of investment. The
transports came up to a point three miles below the fort, landed their
troops, who were added to the line encircling the fort, increasing
the besieging force to twenty-two thousand. During the entire day, an
irregular fire of sharp-shooters was kept up by the rebels, and at
times the artillery played briskly upon the national lines. This was on
the second day of the siege, Friday, the 14th of February.
Early in the afternoon, six gunboats, only four of which were protected
by armor, opened fire upon the fort, and continued to pour in shot and
shell for an hour and a half. The water batteries had the advantage of
a high position in this conflict, which enabled them to throw plunging
shot at the gunboats. Commodore Foote was severely wounded, fifty-four
of his men killed or wounded, two of his craft disabled, and the others
crippled by the vigorous fire of the rebels. Twenty guns had acted
upon the little squadron, which could use only twelve in reply. Two of
the iron-clads were drifting helplessly down the river, and the others
were so disabled that it was impossible to continue the action any
longer. Sorely against his will, the gallant commodore was compelled to
withdraw from the unequal contest. It was Grant's plan to take the fort
by storm on the land side, as soon as the result of the naval combat
warranted the step. As it failed, he was obliged to remain inactive. He
feared to attempt to carry the place by assault with untrained troops,
but he did not for a moment lose his confidence in the ultimate result.
Another night of freezing cold succeeded, and the snow and the sleet,
in unison with the rebel guns, pelted the patriot host. The sufferings
of the preceding night were repeated, and increased by the weakened
condition of the men. Grant felt for his suffering troops, but he
seemed to be insensible to cold and fatigue himself, even after the
long-continued strain of ceaseless action and sleepless nights upon
his frame. At two o'clock on the morning of Saturday he received a
note from Commodore Foote, who was disabled by his wound, soliciting
an interview with him on board of the flag-ship. Before daylight Grant
visited the St. Louis, and the flag-officer informed him that he should
be compelled to return to Cairo and refit his squadron, and suggested
that Grant should hold his line until the gunboats could return to his
assistance.
While this conference was in progress on board of the St. Louis,
the rebels massed their troops at the right of the Union line, and
made a tremendous sally upon the besiegers. The soldiers fought like
tigers for hours in this unequal strife. All of McClernand's division
was hotly engaged. A brigade which had been posted on the extreme
right, after bravely holding its ground against overwhelming odds,
fell back after suffering terribly. McClernand, sorely pressed, was
hardly holding his ground, and sent to Wallace in the centre for aid.
Messengers were hurried to the headquarters of General Grant, but he
was still on board of the flag-ship. Wallace was afraid to weaken the
centre without orders from his chief; but at last, when McClernand
declared that his flank was turned, and his whole division in peril
of being cut to pieces, he marched to his assistance, drove back the
rebels, and changed the fortunes of the day.
In his turn Wallace charged upon the rebel line; but he also was
forced back, and it seemed as though the enemy had massed nearly his
whole force on his left. The fighting was of the most determined and
desperate character, but no decided result to either side ensued. The
rebels were endeavoring to force their way through the Union line, but
they were defeated in their purpose, and the national troops still held
their position.
About nine o'clock, as Grant was returning from his anxious conference
with the naval commander, an aid gave him his first information of
the furious assault which had been made upon his line. Learning from
General Smith--who was in command of the left, and had not been
engaged--the situation on the right, he ordered him to make instant
preparations for an assault with his whole force. Sudden and startling
as the intelligence was to him, he was ready for the emergency, and
before he had visited the scene of action his plan was formed. His
splendid genius fathomed the truth, and he was prompt in his remedy.
Where other commanders in that trying moment would have summoned a
council of war, he stood boldly up and confronted the difficulty alone.
The gunboats had failed him, and there was no hope but in the army.
Leaving Smith, he dashed on to the scene of the severest conflict. The
rebels, disappointed in their attempt to break the Union line, were
slowly retiring. The prospect there was disheartening in the extreme.
The raw troops, bravely as they had fought, were in disorder. The
heavy loss of officers was severely felt, and confusion reigned in the
ranks. The men were discouraged, and, in a measure, demoralized. It
was Grant's mission to inspire them anew, and to bring order out of
confusion. It was reported to him that the rebels had come out with
knapsacks and haversacks to continue the battle for an indefinite
period.
"Are the haversacks filled?" asked Grant; and, upon examination of
some of the prisoners who had been taken, it was found that they were
supplied with rations for three days. "They mean to cut their way out,"
added Grant, "and have no idea of staying here to fight us. Whichever
party attacks first now will whip, and the rebels will have to be very
quick if they beat us."
Thus Grant rose above the presages of evil which surrounded him, and
thus breathed new confidence into the sinking hearts of his troops.
Thus he put far from him the evil omens of the hour, and, by his
vigorous measures and his personal presence, prepared to turn the
discouraging circumstances which environed him into the channel of
victory.
The rebels appear to have comprehended the situation in front of them;
for Pillow was so confident they had cut a path through the national
line, that he telegraphed to Nashville, "On the honor of a soldier, the
day is ours." He did not know what manner of man he was who commanded
the national forces.