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being answered so long as the great river communications of the West were in the power of the enemy. The Ohio River was to be kept open through its entire length; the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers were to be cleared of their formidable fortifications; Kentucky and Tennessee were to be held possession of with a strong grasp; Columbus was to be flanked, and the Mississippi River to be opened to its mouththese were the problems that presented themselves to our government to be solved before it could hope to deal successfully with the rebellion at the West, or with the rebellion at all in its essential strength.

We have in this country been put to school by the hard schoolmistress, War, and have learned a great deal of the geography of our own country that we did not know before; and, above all, we have come to understand better than before the magnificent system of inland water communication that traverses our vast territory, and makes it available, not only to the peaceful offices of commerce, but the sterner uses of war. The inhabitants of the rebel states grasped the idea sooner than we at the North did, and they promptly seized upon the Western rivers as they had done upon the Potomac; but they evidently did not anticipate the creation and powerful character of the Northern gun-boats, although upon the Mississippi they themselves had commenced at an early date the construction of iron-clads and the armoring of river steamers already in use.

The first operations of "Foote's Flotilla," now that the gunboats were fast becoming prepared for action, were wholly tentative, and chiefly directed to exploring expeditions and reconnoissances on the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee rivers. They were at this time under the immediate control of the War Department, and were more especially to act in cooperation with the army force under General Grant, whose head-quarters were at Cairo; but Captain Foote, strenuous for

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Fight at Lucas's Bend.

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the independence and freedom of his command, while at the same time prompt to co-operate with the Army, seemed at first to be busy in trying the capacities of his fleet before attempting great things. He sent his grim river-dogs, singly or two in company, up and down these waters on short excursions to spy out the enemy's position, and sometimes to give them a little taste of what was to come. It was characteristic of him not to attempt any thing important until he was perfectly ready, and then he moved swiftly.

One of these early minor but not unimportant expeditions, made in conjunction with the land forces, is what is called the fight of "Lucas's Bend." Eight miles below Cairo, at Norfolk, a town in Missouri, there was a body of rebel troops whom General Grant determined to dislodge, and two vessels of the flotilla-the Lexington and the Conestoga-were at once put in requisition. The narrative of this action is briefly given in the following letter, written by Lieutenant Phelps, commanding the Conestoga:

"U. S. GUN-BOAT 'CONESTOGA,' CAIRO, ILL.,
September 10, 1861.

"CAPTAIN A. H. FOOTE, U. S. N., commanding Naval Forces, Western

Rivers:

"SIR,-I have to inform you that this morning I got under way with this vessel, in company with the Lexington, at the request of Colonel Waggoner, and went down the river to cover an advance of troops from Norfolk in that direction. After passing considerably below the forces on shore, the Lexington turned back to be nearer them. I proceeded on farther down to examine the head of Island No. Two for a reported battery, but failed to find it. I, however, discovered the enemy in force on the Missouri side at Lucas's Bend, and at once opened fire upon their artillery and cavalry. The enemy had about sixteen pieces of field artillery, and, it is believed, one heavy piece in battery. Several of their pieces were rifled cannon, and ranged to and beyond this vessel, striking all about her. In a short time Commander Stembel, hearing our guns, came down with the Lexington, and joined in the fight. The rebels moved their batteries from point to point, while we availed ourselves of

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our motive power to move up stream as the enemy would attempt to move up, back from the banks, and bring their several batteries out at different places to fire a few rounds, and then gallop to some other point. Their force of cavalry was considerable, and I fired several shells among them with great apparent effect. The shell and shot of both our vessels were lodged among their batteries. Both the Lexington and this vessel retired out of range for a short time about one o'clock, hoping to lead the enemy up higher, to where our land forces were. Two steamers of the enemy had come up from Columbus, one of them the gun-boat Yankee, which also opened fire on us; but I found our guns could not reach them where they lay below the batteries. At about two o'clock I again dropped down with this vessel, determined to try a shot again at the rebel gun-boat. The first shot must have struck her on the ricochet, as it touched the water close alongside, and she at once started down stream. "The Lexington again came up, and, it is believed, succeeded in landing an 8-inch shell in the Yankee's wheel-house and side, where it burst. At all events, the vessel appeared to be greatly injured, and went off with but one engine working. She retired under the batteries at Columbus, where the other one had previously gone. Our boats again opened fire upon the enemy's batteries, and before five o'clock we had silenced them entirely, driven their force out of reach, and without any injury to ourselves. I am satisfied we did great damage to the enemy. While retiring, this boat was fired upon with musketry by an enemy concealed in a thicket, and one man, Nelson Castle, quartermaster, was shot through the arm and in the forehead. I think he will recover, but an operation will be required upon his skull. I at once opened with canister upon the thicket, and quickly cleared it of the rebels. Some of them were shot by our small-arms men. I can not speak too highly of the spirit and will of the crew, scarcely one of whom had been under fire before. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

"S. L. PHELPS, Lieutenant U. S. N."

Captain Foote makes the following report to General Fremont of a reconnoitring expedition which he himself conducted:

“OWENSBORO, KY., Sept. 25, 1861. "GENERAL,-Agreeably to your orders per telegram of the 22d instant, and further instructions from General Grant, commanding at Cairo, to proceed to Owensboro with the gun-boats for the purpose of keeping the

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