Letter of the Hon. Gideon Welles.

395

any exception to river employment, for he considered it a duty to obey orders of any and every kind-to go wherever the Department directed or thought he could be most useful, for it could best judge as to the wants of the service.

"The hesitancy and reluctance of Admiral Dupont, during the winter of 1863, to attack Sumter, the failure of the assault when made in April, followed by his total want of confidence in further effort, and an express desire and intention to withdraw the vessels from Charleston harbor, with the injurious effect of his dispiriting influence upon his subordinates, were matters of deep concern to the Navy Department and the administration. Foote participated in the general disappointment over the result at Charleston; his friendship for Dupont, however, prevented him from giving utterance to any opinion adverse to that officer. But personal feeling was not permitted to interfere with public duty. It was finally determined, as a matter of necessity, to relieve Dupont; but there was some difficulty in regard to the selection of a successor. Among three or four names that were canvassed, Foote's was prominent; but so sensitive were his feelings toward Dupont, and the delicacy of his position in connection with the Department, that he frankly expressed a wish that he might not be called upon to supersede his friend. But after a thorough examination of all the circumstances, and with a full knowledge of his views in regard to operations, freely expressed before the failure of Dupont and when success was considered certain, it was decided to give him command of the South Atlantic squadron. To relieve Dupont, who had court friends and admirers, would be likely to cause commotion, though he had indirectly invited it. Foote had shown his ability for the position, and possessed in an eminent degree, beyond any other officer suggested except Farragut, the confidence of the country. Farragut could not be withdrawn from his important command in the Gulf and on the Lower Mississippi. I therefore, on the 29th of May, invited Foote to an interview, and after a frank and free interchange of opinion in regard to the duties expected and required of the commander of the South Atlantic squadronthe rigid enforcement of the blockade of the entire coast, and particularly of operations against Charleston, and the absolute sealing up of its harbor-informed him that he was designated for that command. On the same day I introduced him to General Gilmore, who had been selected by the War Department to take the place of General Hunter, and was with the military forces expected to co-operate with him and the Navy in joint movements in Charleston harbor. That conference, though interesting,

was never in its details consummated by Foote. It was arranged that Rear-Admiral Dahlgren, distinguished for his proficiency in ordnance, between whom and Foote there was close intimacy and friendship, should be associated with him as second in command for special duty in the anticipated operations against Charleston.

"The question being settled, and Foote having received his orders, he entered with alacrity upon his new duties. The necessary details were at once commenced, and on Sunday, the 31st, I met him at the door of the church as I was leaving after the morning service, and we spent some time together on the subject of his command. He proposed to leave that evening for New York with Commander Simpson, whom he had selected as his confidential executive officer. Although noted for his strict religious sentiments, he would not permit the sanctity of the Sabbath to interrupt him in the necessary discharge of his duty. That week he was engaged in active preparation for his departure; but there was unexpected delay on the part of one habitually and proverbially prompt in his movements in leaving, or in specifying the day on which he would leave for his command. I had a letter from him on Monday, the 8th of June, and its unusually desponding tone, complaining of disability and bad health, alarmed me; but on the following day (Tuesday, the 9th) he made a flying visit to Washington, when his earnest manner and evident and expressed satisfaction with his new command, dissipated and put at rest any apprehension I might have entertained from his letter. He also explained the cause of his depressed feelings, and the reason why his departure had been delayed. It might also, he said, lead to a further detention of two or three days, unless the necessities of the service demanded his immediate departure. Dupont he was aware had been advised that he would be relieved, and it was important that the change of commanders should take place as speedily as possible; but on reaching home, preparatory to his departure, the appearance of Mrs. Foote, whose delicate and failing health was evidently giving way, alarmed him. On conversing with the attending physicians, he was frankly told her case was hopeless-that her days on earth were numbered, and she could not long survive. It became necessary, therefore, for him to make arrangements for his family wholly different from what he had expected. When he should leave for his station, it would be with the melancholy knowledge on his part that it was a final earthly separation—that they would never again meet in this life. Nevertheless he had so far completed his arrangements that he intended to leave on the Tuscarora on Monday, the 15th, for his station. He took

His War Record.

397

his leave of me that evening to return to New York, expecting to embark on the succeeding Monday. We never met again. On the morning of Thursday, the 18th, I received information that he was lying dangerously ill at the Astor House, in New York, having arrived there on his way to his command. The tidings on that and the succeeding day were alarming, and on Saturday Dr. Wheelan, Chief of the Bureau of Medicine, an old friend and admirer, in whom Foote had great faith, left Washington to attend him. Admiral Dahlgren, who was associated with Foote, and had been in New York expecting to accompany him to Port Royal, returned to Washington, and called on me on Sunday. He said Foote's case was hopeless-that he had an interview with him on Saturday, when the admiral told him all was over, that it was 'the last of this world, and he was prepared for the event.' He lingered until the 26th, when he died. His devoted and loving wife, for whom he felt so much solicitude, and from whom he expected an earlier and final earthly separation, attended him in his last illness, and survived him several months. Next to Farragut, Foote was, unquestionably, at the time of his death the most popular officer in the Navy, and had more fully the confidence, not only of the Navy, but of the government and country. He was proud of his profession, and did much, by his example and precept, to elevate the tone and character of the Navy. No man had greater influence over his men. His earnest sincerity inspired confidence which was felt in battle, and led his command to do or die; in peaceful times it had improved their habits and elevated their character and self-respect. The unexpected death of this gentleman and truly Christian sailor was deplored by those who knew him, and was an irreparable loss to the government and country. "Very respectfully, GIDEON WELLES.

"Professor James M. Hoppin."

As to what Admiral Foote really accomplished in the last war, nothing need be added to what has been said. The simple facts are the best witnesses; but it is a singular thing in regard to the kind of service that he rendered, that he who passionately loved the sea, and who coveted the fame of the older sea-captains, who fought their ships in blue water, should have been above all a fort-batterer, a fort-taker, and that his principal exploits should have been in this line against earthworks and stone-works, such as the Chinese Barrier Forts,

Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Columbus, Island No. Ten.

He

had no opportunity to lead a squadron or a single ship to the encounter amid the winds and waves of the open ocean, where seamanship and skill are almost of as much account as valor; but we may imagine that the same qualities of mingled caution and daring would have characterized his operations, and that, once tackled to an enemy, he never would have released his hold. He was, we would say in this connection, as a seaman, thorough but prudent, and from being overcautious when first in command, he is said by those competent to judge to have grown extremely bold in his seamanship, and ready to do any thing that the circumstances dictated.*

He is to be judged by the quality of what he did in the war, rather than the quantity-he was in active service considerable less than a year. During that time the blows he struck were telling blows-there were none more so. He had the sagacity to perceive the right point of attack where the blow would be felt. Before he was thought of as one to take command at the West, and before naval operations in that quarter were decided upon by the government, he advanced the opinion that there would be need of gun-boats on the Western waters; and when he really took hold of the matter, he saw at once the value of the idea, and threw himself into it with all his force, until it grew to be a mighty fact under his hand; so that, in the words of another, whereas "not a gun belonging to the Navy was to be found on the Mississippi or its tributaries at the beginning of the war, before the close of the war there were a hundred steamers armed with new American guns." Not that Foote accomplished all this, but he was a main factor in its accomplishment. When once the instrument was

* I am indebted to Surgeon S. Henriques of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting, one of Admiral Foote's oldest friends, who sailed with him in the Portsmouth, and who was with him at the West, for much information on professional points.

The Sailor's Friend.

399

shaped to his hand he used it with great skill. He brought it to bear with tremendous effect.

He seized with the intuition of genius upon the strategic importance of Fort Henry as a key of the enemy's position in Northern Tennessee, and the impulse as well as the plan to capture that stronghold went from him. That was the beginning of the end of the Southern power in the Southwest. The permanent hold of the loyal arms upon the South was then established, which was never afterward essentially weakened, and which slowly but surely from that moment advanced in strength. We quote the following words as including in a comprehensive form a fair statement of the military services that Admiral Foote rendered to his country during the War of the Rebellion: "By these brilliant operations of the Army and Navy, the rebel line of defense was broken at the centre, and this made it a necessity for them to abandon the two wings of this line-Bowling Green on their right, and Columbus on the Mississippi. It was one of the great hinge-points of the war, the first great blow which the rebellion received. A forced lodgment in the heart of Tennessee involved, almost of necessity, the final overthrow of the rebel cause. The naval battles which had been fought on the Atlantic coast were perhaps more brilliant; but none, unless it were that between the Monitor and the Merrimack, were followed by more important results."

As a friend of the sailor, Admiral Foote will be long and warmly remembered. He saw the rough diamond in Jack's nature. He knew his wants and temptations. The seaman recognized him instinctively as his friend, and went to him for help in his troubles; and one of the most touching tributes paid to the admiral's memory was in some resolutions passed immediately after his death by the New York Port Society, in which it was said: "He led the men of his command in battle and inspired them by his valor-he led them likewise in of Christian truth. His care for the men was marked D D

the way