EMBARCATION FROM PADUCAH--INSTANCE OF OFFICIAL BRUTALITY--CAPTURE
OF FORT HENRY--RECONNOITERING FORT DONELSON--FIRST MEETING WITH
FOREST'S MEN--INVESTMENT OF FORT DONELSON--MCLERNAND'S REPULSE--
ATTACK BY GUNBOATS--SORTIE--GRANT TURNS THE TIDE--SURRENDER BY
BUCKNER.
"Tears may be ours but proud for those who win
Death's royal purple in the foeman's lines."
On February 2nd, 1862, Companies A and B, known as the First Battalion,
2nd Illinois Cavalry, under command of Major John J. Mudd, accompanied
by Companies I and C of the U.S. Dragoons, embarked upon a transport
for Fort Henry. For some reason which I cannot explain, we had
proceeded but a short distance when we were disembarked to march the
remainder of the way.
An instance has been given in the last chapter, of the brutality to
which unlimited power over men may lead when based upon selfish
motives. At the time of landing our men we were forced to witness
another crime of like character, committed in the name of military
discipline.
The dragoons were the last to go on board and hence, the first to
disembark. In leaving the boat, the men led their horses to the shore
where they mounted and formed in line. One of them had been drinking.
While capable of leading and mounting his horse, he was bereft of all
sense of propriety and in condition to attempt almost any foolish act.
Imagining that his horse was thirsty, he left the line without
permission and deliberately rode to the river. The water was shallow at
the edge but within a few feet there was an abrupt descent to a
considerable depth. The horse refused to go in, but a vigorous use of
the spurs caused him to plunge forward and both horse and man
disappeared beneath the water. When they arose the horse endeavored to
swim out and would probably have succeeded had not the rider pulled
back with the curb-bit. Four of the Regulars attempted to render
assistance, as did our men on the boat, but the Regular officer,
Lieutenant Du Boise, gave orders not to interfere. As a result, both
horse and man were drowned.
[Illustration: SITE OF FORT HENRY]
Our camp that night was made at the landing which, owing to the high
waters, was nearly overflowed. The landing was upon the north side of a
deep slough extending from the Cumberland River to the Tennessee, about
twelve or fifteen miles above Paducah. The slough was about forty rods
wide where we were, and in order to proceed to Fort Henry, we were
obliged to cross it, which we did early upon the following morning. The
water was icy cold and came well up to the sides of our horses. The
Regulars were in advance and their commanding officer evidently
considered it an opportune time for showing the supreme importance of
discipline. The four men who went to the assistance of their drowning
comrade, were compelled to walk, lead their horses and carry their arms
through the slough. They wore high cavalry boots which were filled with
water, and in this condition the poor fellows were forced to walk with
their horses in the deep mud during the entire day.
Brutality and fatality have not infrequently been associated in war
with subsequent engagements. Our sympathies instinctively turn to that
crude method of obtaining justice. It is surprising that it was not
resorted to in this case.
There had been much rain, the streams were overflowing and the deep mud
greatly impeded our progress. We had hoped to arrive at the fort on the
fifth; but the condition of the roads made it impossible. General
Grant, more than anybody, realized the great strategic importance of
Forts Henry and Donelson and knew how highly they were prized by the
enemy. In his "Memoirs" he says:
"The two positions were so important to the enemy, _as he saw his
interest_, that it was natural to suppose that reinforcements
would come from every quarter from which they could be got. Prompt
action on our part was imperative."
Accordingly, on the 6th, without waiting for more troops, Grant ordered
an attack upon Fort Henry. We heard the firing and used every effort to
get there but without avail. Upon our arrival we found that the fort
had been reduced by the gun-boats, that the greater portion of the
garrison had retreated to Fort Donelson before the battle commenced and
that only ninety, who had been left to man the guns and cover the
retreat, had been captured.
Fort Heiman was on the west bank of the Tennessee and commanded Fort
Henry. It had been evacuated before the attack upon the latter and the
garrisons of the two forts had gone to re-enforce that of Fort
Donelson. Grant's problem, then, was to capture that stronghold,
defended by twenty-one thousand men, with an available force at hand,
of only fifteen thousand and that in mid-winter, with no alternative
for his army but to move and fight and sleep in mud and rain and snow
until victory brought them shelter. He has stated his view as follows:
"I was impatient to get to Fort Donelson because I knew the
importance of the place to the enemy and supposed he would
re-enforce it rapidly. I felt that 15,000 men on the 8th, would be
more effective than 50,000, a month later."
He did not falter. Mud and rain and snow it must be; and he went on,
inspiring his men with his splendid confidence.
After our arrival at Fort Henry, Captain Hotaling went out with a
platoon of sixteen men to reconnoiter Fort Donelson, eleven miles
distant. They encountered some of Forrest's cavalry and drove them
in. Several of the confederates were wounded in the conflict, one
frightfully so, from a saber-stroke from the captain. Nicholas Hotaling
received a buck-shot wound in the cheek and George Taylor, two shots in
the jaw, resulting in a painful wound.
After a day's rest at Fort Henry, Colonel Silas Noble, with Companies A
and B and the two companies of Regulars who accompanied us from Paducah,
in all about two hundred men, went out to make a reconnaissance in
force and succeeded without mishap, in getting close to the enemy's
works. Our road led along the crest of a high ridge with a deep ravine
upon each side. Instead of deploying a skirmish-line, two men were
stationed at a cross-road. While the Colonel was studying the works
through his field-glass, shots were heard behind us. Instantly the
Regulars went into line. At the same moment a thousand cavalry appeared
upon our right in the ravine below. The Regulars fired a volley and the
command was given: "Fours right! Gallop! March!" When they reached the
road the confederates were swarming towards them. The command: "Left
into line! Fire!" was followed by a volley which checked their
assailants. Our two companies were back upon the ridge firing volley
after volley and we did not realize that we were being surrounded--as
we were--until warned by the second volley from the Regulars. Then we
started back. The enemy had recovered from the volley given by the
Regulars and filled the lane. Our fire checked them however but we were
not out of our difficulties. A large body of infantry had appeared upon
the river-side of the lane which we were obliged to traverse for half a
mile, while many were upon the other side. It was an exciting ride. The
"zip" of the bullets was constant but the enemy, being below us, made
the common mistake under such circumstances, of aiming too high. The
cavalry attempted to cut us off by another road but we were better
mounted than they and escaped with a surprisingly small loss. One of
our men, Frank Hatch, was captured and one of Company B's men mortally
wounded. Aside from these and the wounding of several horses, we were
unscathed and returned to Fort Henry some time after dark, very tired
but well satisfied with our accomplishment.
On the 12th of February we accompanied the army in a general move
against Fort Donelson. The fact that there were but four companies of
cavalry with the expedition proved to have been a misfortune as will be
shown by the sequel.
We reached the vicinity of the fort about eleven o'clock and commenced
to feel our way and tighten our lines. The remainder of the day was
spent by us in reconnoitering. During the evening of the 13th, Thayer's
Brigade, which was sent around on the transports from Fort Henry, was
landed from the Cumberland side and the night was spent in their
disposal to complete the line of battle.
About daybreak on the morning after our arrival, the first cannon was
fired from a Confederate battery, a section of which was in charge of
George Fletcher, an uncle of the writer. Twenty-six of our company, of
which the writer was one, were sent out to reconnoiter when our
presence drew the battery fire. The first was a solid shot, followed by
grape. But one man, "Jim" Parsons, was injured. He insisted that his
face was grazed by a grape-shot. A comrade near him was quite as
confident that the injury was caused by the limb of a tree which flew
back and hit him.
There was an ambulance bearing a hospital-flag in front of us and when
the enemy saw it they ceased to fire.
Our companies were used to patrol the right army wing from the center
to the extreme right, while the two companies of Regulars were used for
a like purpose from the center to the extreme left of the left wing.
About ten o'clock in the day matters upon the right began to assume a
grave aspect. McLernand's division attempted to capture a battery which
held a strong position near a line of rifle-pits. The slaughter was
terrific and our men were forced to give it up. The 11th Illinois
Infantry and the Chicago Batteries, A and B, suffered severely.
We were nearly out of rations and had no forage of any kind for our
horses. There was nothing to do but wait, however, as the enemy was
absorbing all of our attention. On the afternoon of the 14th, our
gun-boats made a severe attack upon the fort but were repulsed and
forced to retire, two of them, including the flag-ship, being badly
disabled. They had fought better than they then knew, however, as
results soon showed. The enemy's lines were closely reconnoitered and
in the afternoon, Captain Hotaling, who kept close watch, became
satisfied that something unusual was going on within the enemy's lines.
Before night he sent word to Colonel Babcock, General Grant's Chief of
Staff, to come to the extreme right. The Colonel arrived just at dark,
when the Captain informed him that it was his opinion that the enemy's
cavalry would attempt to break out that night or in the morning. Should
they do so, our line was too weak to withstand their charge; that we
should be immediately strengthened with one brigade of infantry and two
batteries of artillery. Babcock was said to have reported to General
Grant and returned about nine o'clock with the statement that he did
not think there would be a move of that kind before the next day and
that there would be ample time in the morning to re-enforce the line.
Hotaling was not convinced and we were kept near the road upon the
extreme right where our Captain anticipated that Forrest's cavalry
would attempt to break through. Grant makes no mention of having
received any intimation of such a condition and the inference from his
statements would indicate that he failed to receive Colonel Babcock's
report.
We remained in the rear of the line of battle until about 12 o'clock
that night. It snowed hard and became very cold. Our horses were
restless, so we moved towards the center, tore down a rail-fence and
built fires in a vain effort to warm ourselves. About five o'clock a.
m., we returned to our former position where we remained until nearly
nine o'clock. Our horses became so hungry and exhausted that
Lieutenants Bennett and Jackson took us back a mile or two upon the
road leading towards the Tennessee River in the hope of finding forage
but without success. From there we were moving towards our center, when
a humming fire upon the extreme right attracted our attention. We
returned upon the keen run, just in time to see the rear of a body of
cavalry about a quarter of a mile away, in full retreat. The enemy had
made a desperate attack upon our right wing, which was doubled back
upon itself more than half a mile. Had they taken prompt advantage of
the situation they might all have escaped; or, had they followed up
back of our line, it is possible that our whole army might have been
stampeded.
When our company started back to find forage, Calvin Steel was unable
to go. He had been very sick the night before, so we left him by the
road-side with his horse and when the enemy advanced he was captured.
They were obliged to make a temporary hospital for their wounded where
they left Steel but took his horse and equipments. Steel wanted a drink
of water and went to a pail for it. It was empty. He asked permission
of the surgeon to fill it at a spring. Upon reaching the spring he
found a horse tied to a fence. Forgetting his errand, he mounted the
horse and came flying back to meet us upon our return near where he had
been captured. He was very ill, however, and was sent to the hospital
at St. Louis, where he remained until nearly fall, when he returned. He
was still too weak for service and was detailed to the commissary
department of General Logan's Division, where he remained until after
the fall of Vicksburg.
Much speculation has been given to the incident which involved the
breaking of our line, as well as to the fact that Floyd and Pillow and
Forrest were permitted to escape before the final surrender. It has
been suggested that had re-enforcements been supplied, together with a
battery to have prevented transports from plying up the Cumberland with
escaping troops, the history of the war might have been changed and
Shiloh might never have been fought.
It must not be forgotten that General Grant was subject to the
immediate command of a painstaking plodder who mistook arrogance for
dignity and timidity for caution. Halleck's orders contemplated a very
different thing from what happened at Donelson. We owe the capture of
the fort and the discovery thereby to the world of General Grant, to
the treachery of a telegraph operator at Cairo, who, in the belief that
he was helping the Southern cause, held up Halleck's order to Grant to
"fortify Fort Henry strongly on the land-side," until Grant, in
ignorance of it, had gone on and invested Fort Donelson. Had Grant
received that order, Donelson and Shiloh and Vicksburg might have had a
very different history, and General Grant might not have been known.
The fame given him by that one victory was too great even for General
Halleck to take away, who did his utmost to do it. With Halleck tying
the hands of Grant after his great victory, even to the extent of
making groundless charges against him and causing his arrest and with
the entire South frantically and hysterically pushing Albert Sidney
Johnson forward to a sacrifice, the battle of Shiloh was as much of a
logical result as that effect follows cause. Had Grant been given free
rein, it could not have been fought; for he would have possessed
Corinth before the Confederate armies could have concentrated.
Grant's generalship and brilliant resourcefulness were never shown to
better effect than when confronted with that crisis at Donelson. He had
depended upon the gun-boats to help reduce the works, run the batteries
and take position above. They did severe execution in the fort but in a
few hours were helplessly disabled. Grant knew of his own loss but not
of that in the fort. At this stage he writes:
"The sun went down on the night of the 14th of February, 1862,
leaving the army in front of Fort Donelson anything but comforted
over the prospects. The weather had turned intensely cold; the men
were without tents and could not keep up fires where most of them
had to stay, &c."
It was but natural for him to view the situation in the light of facts
as they then appeared and not as he might guess them to be. Had he
calculated upon the cowardice rather than the bravery of opposing
commanders, he might have provided differently; but it was incredible
to him that a fresh army of 21,000 men, within a well provisioned
fortress, in direct communication with another army from which it could
draw supplies and men, with the Federal gun-boats rendered helpless
from its fire, would, at the very outset, without a siege, try to
escape from one in an open field, when, by so doing, it was abandoning
the key to an immense territory needed for its supplies, breaking, to a
large extent, communication between its armies and submitting to
lasting disgrace before its own people. That Grant was justified in
this view is shown by the fact that the two Confederate Generals, Floyd
and Pillow, were, after the surrender, promptly tried and summarily
relieved from their commands.
Flag-Officer Foote had been wounded when his flag-ship was disabled and
before sunrise on the morning of the 15th, sent for General Grant to
call upon him on his flag-ship about four miles below the fort. It was
decided that the gun-boats should be sent away for repairs before it
would be possible to renew the attack. This, it was estimated, would
require about ten days. There was no alternative but a siege.
While leaving the boat, Grant was notified of the severe attack upon
our right and of the breaking of our line. He hurried to the scene,
about seven miles away. Before knowing the true situation, he gave
orders to retire and intrench with a view to a siege. When, however, he
learned that the enemy was actually trying to escape, he at once saw
its significance and said to Colonel Webster of his staff: "The one who
attacks first now will be victorious." Instead of intrenching, he gave
orders for an immediate and vigorous attack along the entire left
before the enemy, who had withdrawn his forces to our right, could
reform. The result was an irresistible onslaught upon the enemy's
center and right.
McClernand's men had failed mainly for want of ammunition. Grant gave
orders for a supply and for reforming the line. The Confederates waited
just long enough to permit this to be done. It subsequently developed
that Pillow mistook his partial success for complete victory and
stopped to talk about it when he should have been following it up. That
he must have been wildly jubilant is indicated by the fact that he
telegraphed to Johnson at Nashville, "on the honor of a gentleman,"
that "the day is ours." A controversy arose between Floyd and Pillow.
Pillow, the veteran general, flushed with temporary success, refused to
recognize the authority of Floyd, whom he regarded as a civilian,
finally took matters into his own hands and ordered Buckner to renew
the attack upon our right. Buckner obeyed but it was too late. Our line
had been reformed and was ready. A desperate struggle ensued and the
enemy was driven back into his works. In the meantime our left wing had
pushed forward against the weakened defences upon the enemy's right and
bivouacked that night within his lines. The fort was doomed. The famous
night council was held by Floyd and his Staff. Before morning dawned
Floyd and Pillow were aboard the transports on their way up the river
with three thousand men and Forrest, with a thousand men and horses,
was struggling in the icy waters of a bayou in a desperate effort to
get away. It was one of the ironies of Fate that at about the same
time, the authorities at Richmond were rejoicing over Pillow's
grandiloquent message announcing Confederate victory.
General Lew Wallace describes Forrest's escape as follows:
"Col. Forrest was present at the council, and when the final
resolution was taken he promptly announced that he neither could
nor would surrender his command. He assembled his men, all as hardy
as himself, and moved out and plunged into a slough formed by back
water from the river. An icy crust covered its surface, the wind
blew fiercely and the darkness was unrelieved by a star. There was
fearful floundering as the command followed him. At length he
struck dry land and was safe.
"He was next heard of at Nashville."
The surrender was made upon the following morning, and a very
picturesque example of "Southern hospitality" occurred in connection
with it. When General Buckner sent his first letter to General Grant,
proposing an armistice with a view to the appointment of commissioners
to consider the question of surrender, he directed that small white
flags be displayed before the different commands in order to prevent
hostilities pending the negotiations. No such flag was displayed over
the fort. General Lew Wallace, upon seeing the flags, understood that
there had been a surrender and went right into Buckner's headquarters
where he was politely received by Buckner, introduced to his staff and
invited to breakfast. This was an hour before Grant received Buckner's
final letter of surrender.
It may be interesting here to mention the 10th Missouri sharp-shooters
who contributed much to the success of the battle. We first met them at
Bird's Point. The organization was composed almost entirely of
backwoodsmen who were skillful hunters and trappers. They wore grey
uniforms with oddly shaped caps, each adorned with a squirrel's tail at
the back, and they were armed with target-rifles. They were a shrewd,
reticent, independent lot of fellows, knew how to use their weapons
with deadly effect, and were, in a sense, entirely independent. Each
man was expected to approach as closely as possible to the enemy's
lines, choose a prominent position, conceal himself and pick off
officers, gunners in batteries, orderlies and others. Three of these
men succeeded in keeping one rebel battery silenced for an entire day.
These same men afterwards did effective work at Shiloh.
On the afternoon before the surrender, Fred, one of our faithful cooks,
arrived at our lines in the rear with two camp-kettles, coffee, and a
sack of hard-tack; all of which was gratefully received. That evening
we rode back to Fort Henry to feed our horses and get some more
substantial refreshments for ourselves. In the morning we returned,
rode directly into the fort and were assigned to a camp within the
works a short distance east and south of the town of Dover, where we
remained about five or six days.
Walking down one day to the water front to look at the gun and
mortar-boats, I was surprised by meeting my old friend and neighbor,
James Minnis, tugging at a long rope attached to a mortar-boat which
the men were towing up stream. There were some others there of Battery
G, 2nd Illinois Artillery but Minnis was the only one whom I knew.
Our friends in the North were quick to realize conditions and needs
among the soldiers. Dr. Gould of Lane, was soon there to minister to
the wants of the sick and wounded and rendered valuable assistance, as
did many other self-sacrificing physicians and surgeons.
[Illustration: CALVIN STEEL
Mr. Steel served with credit during the war and at its close returned
to his home at Rochelle, where he married. In 1871 he moved to
Fairbury, Nebraska, and engaged in mercantile business. He held
various public offices, including County Clerk, County Treasurer,
State Representative and State Senator. Upon the election of Governor
Savage to the United States Senate, Mr. Steel, by virtue of his
office as President of the Senate, became acting Governor of the
State and completed the unexpired term with credit and distinction.
Mr. Steel served one year as the Grand Army Department Commander of
his State. He died at his home in March, 1910. As a soldier, he was
faithful and brave--as a friend, loyal and true--as a man, just,
sincere and lovable.]