Few will recognize in this early and unusual photograph the man who at
Appomattox, wore plain fatigue dress in striking contrast with the fully
uniformed Lee. Here Grant appears in his full-dress Brigadier-General's
uniform as he came to Cairo to assume command of a military district
including southern Illinois, September 4, 1861. Grasping at once the
problems of his new post he began the work of reorganization, assisted by
a well-chosen staff. Without waiting for permission from Frémont, his
immediate superior, Commander of the Department of the West, Grant pushed
forward a force and occupied Paducah, Kentucky, before the Confederates,
approaching with the same purpose, could arrive. Grant was impatient to
drive back the Confederate lines in Kentucky and Tennessee and began early
to importune Washington to be allowed to carry out maneuvers. His keen
judgment convinced him that these must quickly be made in order to secure
the advantage in this outlying arena of the war. Captain Rawlins was made
Assistant Adjutant-General by Grant, and lifted from his shoulders much of
the routine of the post. Captain Lagow and Captain Hillyer were two of the
General's aides-de-camp. Dr. James Simons was Medical Director of the
District.
[Illustration: BRIGADIER-GENERAL U. S. GRANT.]
[Illustration: CAPTAIN WILLIAM S. HILLYER.]
[Illustration: CAPTAIN JOHN A. RAWLINS.]
[Illustration: CAIRO CITIZENS WHO MAY HAVE RECALLED THIS DAY.]
With his hands thrust in his pockets stands General Grant, next to General
McClernand, who is directly in front of the pillar of the Cairo
post-office. The future military leader had yet his great name to make,
for the photograph of this gathering was taken in September, 1861, and
when, later, the whole world was ringing with his praises the citizens who
chanced to be in the group must have recalled that day with pride. Young
Al Sloo, the postmaster's son, leans against the doorway on Grant's right,
and next to him is Bob Jennings; then comes Dr. Taggart, then Thomas, the
mason, and Jaques, the butcher. On the extreme right, facing the camera,
is young Bill Thomas. Up in the windows sit George Olmstead and Will
Smith. In his shirt sleeves, on General McClernand's left, is C. C.
Davidson. In the group about him are Benjamin Munn, Fred Theobold, John
Maxey, and Phil. Howard. Perhaps these men told their children of the
morning that Grant left his headquarters at the St. Charles Hotel and met
them here. Who knows?
[Illustration: THE UNLUCKY _ESSEX_ AFTER FORT HENRY.]
The thousand-ton ironclad _Essex_ received the severest punishment at Fort
Henry. Fighting blood surged in the veins of Commander W. D. Porter, son
of Admiral David Porter and brother of Admiral David D. Porter. The
gunboat which he led into action at Fort Henry was named after the famous
_Essex_ which his father commanded in the War of 1812. Fifteen of the
shots from Fort Henry struck and told upon the _Essex_, the last one
penetrating her armor and piercing her middle boiler. Commander Porter,
standing among his men directing the fight, was terribly scalded by the
escaping steam, as were twenty-seven others. Wrongly suspected of
disloyalty at the outbreak of the war, Commander Porter's conduct during
the struggle gave the lie to such calumny. He recovered after Fort Henry,
and was made Commodore in July, 1862. Again in command of the _Essex_ he
attempted unsuccessfully to destroy the dread Confederate ram _Arkansas_
at Vicksburg on July 22d. Porter and the _Essex_ then joined Farragut's
fleet. His shells helped the Union forces to repulse the Confederates at
Baton Rouge, August 5th, and he witnessed the blowing up of the _Arkansas_
the following day. He died May 1, 1864.
[Illustration: COMMANDER W. D. PORTER.]
[Illustration: THE _ESSEX_ TWO YEARS LATER.]
[Illustration: THE GUNBOAT THAT FIRED THE FIRST SHOT AT FORT HENRY.]
Here, riding at anchor, lies the flagship of Foote, which opened the
attack on Fort Henry in the first movement to break the backbone of the
Confederacy, and won a victory before the arrival of the army. This
gunboat, the _Cincinnati_, was one of the seven flat-bottom ironclads
built by Captain Eads at Carondelet, Missouri, and Mound City, Illinois,
during the latter half of 1861. When Grant finally obtained permission
from General Halleck to advance the attack upon Fort Henry on the
Tennessee River, near the border of Kentucky, Flag Officer Foote started
up the river, February 2, 1862, convoying the transports, loaded with the
advance detachment of Grant's seventeen thousand troops. Arriving before
Fort Henry on February 6th, the intrepid naval commander at once began the
bombardment with a well-aimed shot from the _Cincinnati_. The eleven heavy
guns of the fort responded in chorus, and an iron rain began to fall with
telling effect upon the _Cincinnati_, the _Essex_, the _Carondelet_, and
the _St. Louis_, which were steaming forward half a mile in advance of the
rear division of the squadron. At a range of 1,700 yards the _Cincinnati_
opened the engagement. After a little over an hour of heavy firing the
colors on Fort Henry were lowered and General Tilghman surrendered it to
Flag-Officer Foote. When General Grant arrived an hour later, Foote turned
over the fort to him and returned to Cairo with his disabled gunboats.
[Illustration: FLAG-OFFICER FOOTE.]