With the shots from the Confederate batteries ringing and bounding off her
iron plates, this gallant gunboat that Foote had chosen for his flagship,
entered the zone of fire at Fort Donelson. In the confined space of her
smoke-filled gun-deck, the river sailors were loading and firing the heavy
broadsides as fast as the great guns could be run out and aimed at the
frowning line of entrenchments on the river bank. From them the
concentrated hail of iron was poured upon her and the marksmanship was
good. Fifty-nine times was this brave vessel struck. But her armored sides
withstood the heavy shocks although the plating, dented and bent, bore
record of each impact. Nearer and nearer grew the forts as up the narrow
channel the flag-ship led the way, the _Louisville_, the _Carondelet_, and
the _Pittsburgh_ belching their fire at the wooded heights, as though
endeavoring to attract the attention of the Confederate gunners to
themselves and save the flag-ship from receiving more than her share. Up
in the pilot-house the brave man who knew the channel stood at the wheel,
his eyes firmly fixed ahead; and on the "texas," as the upper deck was
called, within speaking distance of him, stood Foote himself. A great
shot, aimed accurately as a minie ball, struck the frail pilot-house. It
was as if the vessel's heart was pierced. The wheel was swept away from
the pilot's hand and the brave river guide was hurled into the corner,
mangled, bleeding and soon to die. Flag Officer Foote did not escape. He
fell badly wounded in the leg by a fragment of the shell--a wound from
which he never fully recovered. Helpless now, the current swept the _St.
Louis'_ bow around, and past her consorts that were still fighting, she
drifted down the stream and out of action; later, in convoy of the
_Louisville_, she returned to Cairo, leaving the _Carondelet_ and
_Pittsburgh_ to escort the transports. Meanwhile on shore, Grant was
earning his first laurels as a soldier in a big battle. The disabling of
the gunboats caused the Confederates to make the fatal attack that
resulted so disastrously for them. Assailing Grant's right wing that held
a strong position, on the 15th of February, 19,000 men were hurled against
a force 8,000 greater in number. But the repulse was complete. Shattered
they retreated to their works, and in the morning of the 16th, the
Confederate general, Buckner, surrendered. About 14,000 prisoners were
taken. The Federal loss was nearly 3,000, and that of the Southern cause
about 1,000 less. For the capture of Fort Donelson Grant was made
major-general. The first step to the conquest of the Mississippi had been
achieved. In October, 1862, the river fleet was transferred from the Army
to the Navy Department, and as there was another vessel in the service,
bearing the same name the _St. Louis_ was renamed the _Baron de Kalb_. At
Fort Henry, she went into action lashed to the _Carondelet_ on account of
the narrowness of the stream; and later again, the gallant gunboat won
laurels at Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, Memphis, and Vicksburg.
[Illustration: THE FLAG-SHIP _ST. LOUIS_ VIEWED FROM ASTERN.]
[Illustration: _LOUISVILLE_--A FIGHTER AT THE FORT.]
[Illustration: THE ADVENTUROUS GUNBOAT _CONESTOGA_.]
Lying at anchor in the Ohio River this little wooden gunboat is having the
finishing touches put to her equipment while her officers and men are
impatiently waiting for the opportunity to bring her into action. A
side-wheel river steamer originally, she was purchased at Cincinnati by
Commander John Rodgers in the spring of 1861 and speedily converted into a
gunboat. Her boilers and steam pipes were lowered into the hold and the
oaken bulwarks five inches thick which we see were put on her and pierced
for guns. She got her first taste of fighting when, at Lucas Bend, she
engaged the land batteries and a Confederate gunboat, September 10, 1861.
She was present at Fort Henry in the second division of the attacking
fleet, and also at Fort Donelson.
[Illustration: THE _TYLER_
A sister-ship of the _Conestoga_. She was present both at Fort Henry and
Fort Donelson.]