[Illustration: A VIGILANT PATROLLER--THE "SILVER LAKE"]
In the picture the "Silver Lake" is lying off Vicksburg after its fall.
While Admiral Porter was busy attacking Vicksburg with the Mississippi
squadron, Lieutenant-Commander Le Roy Fitch, with a few small gunboats,
was actively patrolling the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. It was soon
seen that the hold upon Tennessee and Kentucky gained by the Federals by
the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson would be lost without adequate
assistance from the navy, and Admiral Porter was authorized to purchase
small light-draft river steamers and add them to Fitch's flotilla as
rapidly as they could be converted into gunboats. One of the first to be
completed was the "Silver Lake." The little stern-wheel steamer first
distinguished herself on February 3, 1863, at Dover, Tennessee, where she
(with Fitch's flotilla) assisted in routing 4,500 Confederates, who were
attacking the Federals at that place. The little vessel continued to
render yeoman's service with the other gunboats, ably assisted by General
A. W. Ellet's marine brigade.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE CONFEDERACY CUT IN TWAIN