My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field

al, of taking no part in the great contest; but that was not possible. The Rebels invaded the State, by sailing up the Mississippi and taking possession of Columbus,-a town twenty mil

Donelson. A good road was cut through the woods between them, so that troops and supplies could be readily removed from one to the other. Fort Henry was on the eastern bank of the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson on the western bank of the Cumberland. They were very important places to the Rebels, for at high water in the w

Fo

ld sweep the Mississippi far up stream, and pour plunging shots with unobstructed aim upon any descending gunboat. They called it a Gibraltar, because of its

aptain Andrew H. Foote of the navy was placed in charge of their construction. They were built at

s delightful books,-Martin Chuzzlewit. It was a forest, with a few log-huts, when Mark Tapley resided there, and all the people were smitten with fever and ague. It is a town now, with several thousand inhabitants.

smoke rolling up from their tall chimneys, and puffs of steam vanishing in the air. Among them are the gunboats,-a cross between a floating fort, a dredging-machine, and a mud-scow. The sailors, who have been tossed upon the ocean in stately ships, call them mud-turkles. Th

in the Pilgrim's Progress,-a place for all the filth, sin, and slime of this world. Christian was mired there, and Pliable nearly lost his life. If Bunyan had seen Cairo, he might have made the picture still more graphic. There are old houses, shanties, sheds, stables, pig-sties, wood-piles, carts, wagons, barrels, boxes, and all the old things you can imagin

d balmy that the blue-birds and robins are out. The steamboats are crowded with troops, who are waiting for orders to sail, they know not where. Groups stand upon the topmost deck.

re taking a lunch. The oyster-saloons are crowded. Boys are crying their newspapers. There are laughable and solemn scenes. Yonder is the hospital. A file of soldiers stand wai

no thought of being a soldier; but he was a patriot, and when his country called him he sprang to her aid. He yielded to disease, but not to the enemy. He was far

r. You tuck your pants into your boots, and pick your way along the slippery, slimy streets. There are a few ladies who brave the mud, wearing boots suited to the walking. Boots which

ed each gunboat of his fleet, called the crews together, read to them his general orders, that no unnecessary work should be done on

rteen guns, with stout oaken carriages. The men are moving about, exercising the guns,-going through the motions of loading and firing. How clean the floor! It is as white as soap and sand can make it. You must not spit tobacco-juice here, if you do, the courteous officer will say you are violating the rules. In the centre of the boat, down beneath the gun-deck in the hull, are the engines and the boilers, partly protected from any shot which may happen to come in at a p

at the bow. There are two forty-two-pounders at the stern, and those upon the side are thirty-twos and twenty-fours. There are rooms for

y do so, and not be disturbed. He has given a library of good books to the crew, and he has persuaded them that it will be better for them to give up their allowance of grog than to drink it. He w

o, accompanied by several river steamboats with ten regiments of troops. They went up the Ohio to Paducah, and entered the Tennessee Rive

ed at a farm-house. "You never will take

fleet of iron-clad gunboat

blown sky-high before t

how

ch might be desirable for them to know, and informed her that, unless she told all she knew, she must go with them a

h grappling-irons, and six infernal machines were fished up; but t

ain-sacks filled with sand. You count the guns, seventeen in all. One ten-inch columbiad, one sixty-pounder, twelve thirty-two-pounders, one twenty-four-pounder, and two twelve-pounders. They are nearly all pivoted, so that they may be pointed down the river against the boats or inland upon the troops. The river is nearly a half-mile wide, and on the opposite bank is another fort, not yet comple

hell the Rebels out just as you can pound rats from a barrel or a box, and if G

he fort. Those on the west side are to look after any Rebels which may be in or around the unfinished fort, while those upon the east s

ments of Fort Henry or escape from it. Also to be held in readiness t

agreed that the gunboats should co

nd, and it will take me about an hour to reach the fort, for I shall steam up slowly. I am afraid, General, that the roads a

very muddy, and when the engagement commenced the

to the officers and crews of the gunboats se

ncinnati-will keep in line. The Conestoga, Lexington, and Tyler wi

mmanders

st as

the crews

ys a waste of ammunition. Your range is imperfect, and your shots go wide of the mark, and that encourages the enemy; and it is

, shot and shell brought up from the magazines and piled on deck,-confident of succes

ide of the island. The Essex is on the right of the battle line, nearest the island. Her Commander is William D. Porter, who comes from good stock. It was his father who co

ave Commodore on board,-and nearest the western shore the St. Louis. These are al

ess flight. Your watch ticks fifteen seconds before you hear from it. You see a puff of smoke, a cloud of sand thrown up in the fort, and then hear the explosion. The commanders of the other boats remember the instructions,-"Do just as I do!"-and from each vessel a shell is thrown. All fall within the fort, or in the

t H

. 5 Lex

elet. 6

nnati.

8 & 9 Rebel

der of the cannonade rolls along the valley, reverberating from hill to hill. Loud

ls. You see the logs tossed like straws into the air. Their tents are torn into paper-rags. The hissing shells sink deep into the earth, and then there are sudden upheavals of sand,

fearful storm. They leave arms, ammunition, tents, blankets, trunks, clothes, books, letters, papers, pictures,-everything. They pour out of the intrenchments into the road leading to Dover, a motley rabble. A small steamboa

by clouds of sand. The gun-carriages are crushed, splintered, and overturned. Men are cut to pieces. Something unseen tears them like a thunderbolt. The fort

They are like the strokes of sledge-hammers, indenting the sheets, starting the fastenings, breaking the tough

ready to surrender. But a shot strikes the Essex between the iron plates. It tears through the oaken timbers and into one of the steam-boilers. There is a great puff of steam. It pours from the port

n, killing or wounding every gunner. The boats are so near that every shot is sure to do its work. The fire of the boats increases while the fire of the fort diminishes. Coolness, determination, energy, perseverance, and power win the day. The Rebel flag comes down, and the w

mmanded in the fort. He w

o you grant m

nconditional, sir. I can

it gives me pleasure to surrend

render, sir; but I should not

do not unde

ermined to capture the f

Commodore, but you w

ght against the o

had only let us alone, there would have been no t

n willing that the South should have all her rights, under the Constitution. The South

t the gunboats from ascending the river was forced to surrender, and there was unobstructed wate

, there would have been terrible slaughter. When Commodore Foote was informed that there were several thousand troops in the fortifications, said he, "I am sor

ured, but being delayed by the mud, the fleet-footed Rebels were far on their way towards Fort Donelson when General Grant reached the rear of

Cairo, to send his despatches to Washington, also to repair his gunboats

told me what I have written of his plan of the battle, and his talk with General Tilghman. He could not sit still. He was wear

ight before last, and I never prayed more fervently than on yesterday morning before going into the batt

r declined. But the Commodore never let slip an opportunity for doing good. He was always ready to serve his country and his God. He went into the pulpit, read a chapter, offered a prayer, and preached a short sermon from the words,-"Let not your heart

s written, you will see how important a thing it was, how great its results, and you will admire more and more the sterling patrio