Letter of General McClernand. 209 balanced, since, in the whole conflict, Foote brought to bear but eleven heavy guns against as many or more of the same weight on the part of the enemy. The country and the government received the news of the fall of Fort Henry with enthusiasm. The loyal papers over the whole country were full of the details of the conflict and congratulations upon the happy event-which was one of those events not in itself of great proportions, but whose singular felicity" depends upon its time, circumstances, and consequences. One of the most generous acknowledgments of the victory, and one that must have been personally gratifying to Foote, was the letter of General McClernand, written the day after the battle: 66 "HEAD-QUARTERS, FIRST DIVISION, FORT FOOTE "COMMODORE FOOTE, Flag-Officer, Western Waters: "DEAR SIR,-As an acknowledgment of the consummate skill with which you brought your gun-boats into action yesterday, and of the address and bravery displayed by yourself and your command, I have taken the liberty of giving the late 'Fort Henry' the new and more appropriate name of Fort Foote.' "Please pardon the liberty I have taken without first securing your concurrence, as I am hardly disposed to do, considering the liberty which you took in capturing the fort without my co-operation. "Very respectfully yours, etc., "JOHN A. MCCLERNAND, Brig.-Gen., Com. First Division." From the mass of other letters and testimonials of honor and gratitude which speedily flowed in, we select but these two, as expressive at the same time of the value set by the gov ernment upon our commander's services and of warm personal friendship: "NAVY DEPARTMENT, February 13, 1862. "SIR,-Your letter of the 7th instant, communicating the details of your great success in the capture of Fort Henry, is just received. I had previously informed you of the reception of your telegraphic dis patch announcing the event, which gave the highest satisfaction to the country. "We have to-day the report of Lieutenant-Commanding S. L. Phelps, with the gratifying result of his successful pursuit and capture and destruction of the rebel steamers, and the dispersion of the hostile camps as far up the Tennessee River as Florence. "I most cordially and sincerely congratulate you, and the officers and men under your command, on these heroic achievements, accomplished under extraordinary circumstances, and after surmounting great and almost insuperable difficulties. The labor you have performed, and the services you have rendered in creating the armed flotilla of gun-boats on the Western waters, and in bringing together for effective operation the force which has already earned such renown, can never be overestimated. The Department has observed with no ordinary solicitude the armament that has so suddenly been called into existence, and which under your well-directed management has been so gloriously effective. "I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, "GIDEON WELLES. "Flag-Officer A. H. Foote, U. S. N., commanding) Gun-boat Flotilla, etc., Cairo, Ill." "NAVY DEPARTMENT, February 8, 1862. "DEAR FLAG-OFFICER,-You have been rewarded for the trials and sublime patience of the labors you have given to your work, and crowned with victory. Of yourself, we all knew that the hour of trial for you was but the hour of success. Another fort knocked over by the Navy is my reward. The victory is very important, as this stage of the river, I presume, gives you access even to Nashville if you take the Cumberland. You will also strengthen the branch of the service with the great West, where the empire soon will be. Your telegraph came at noon, and we sent it immediately to Congress, where it gave intense satisfaction. Believing that you will carry our arms wherever your flag can penetrate, I am sincerely yours, G. V. Fox. “Flag-Officer A. H. Foote, U. S. N., commanding Western Flotilla.” The following letter shows on the part of Commodore Foote a characteristic courtesy, as well as a positive assertion of principles: Expedition up the Tennessee. 211 "CAIRO, February 10, 1862. "SIR,-Your note of the 9th instant, referring to my official telegram to the Navy Department, and requesting me to correct an error where mortars are referred to, has been received. "I have, as you will see by the inclosed letter to the Secretary of the Navy, stated to him that I did not speak of mortars at all in my telegram, which was probably introduced by the printer by mistake. "The haste in which my dispatch was prepared, or, rather, the short time I remained after the fort surrendered, I find has led me into several little errors referred to in my letter to the Secretary. Still, to show that I intended to represent matters fairly, I did not, either in my telegram or report, speak of our four armed boats having, I believe with a single exception, fired or used but the eleven bow guns-two in the Essex, and three in the other three boats. I appreciate your high qualities of courage and other characteristics (always excepting your disunion views and conduct) too highly not to wish to do you every justice. “I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "General Lloyd Tilghman, Paducah, Kentucky." A. H. FOOTE. In accordance with the special order of his chief, Lieutenant Phelps, when the surrender of Fort Henry took place, started at once up the Tennessee to cut the railroad track between Memphis and Bowling Green, and to capture rebel gun-boats and steamers upon the river. His report, as showing the state of the country, and in many other respects, though long, is so interesting and valuable, that we give it in full: "UNITED STATES GUN-BOAT CONESTOGA,' TENNESSEE RIVER, February 10, 1862. "SIR,-Soon after the surrender of Fort Henry, on the 6th instant, I proceeded, in obedience to your orders, up the Tennessee River, with the Taylor, Lieutenant-Commanding Gwin; Lexington, Lieutenant-Commanding Shirk, and this vessel, forming a division of the flotilla, and arrived after dark at the railroad crossing, twenty-five miles above the fort, having on the way destroyed a small amount of camp equipage abandoned by the flying rebels. The draw of the bridge was found closed, and the machinery for turning it disabled. About a mile and a half above were several rebel transport steamers escaping up stream. "A party was landed, and in one hour I had the satisfaction to see the draw open. The Taylor being the slowest of the gun-boats, LieutenantCommanding Gwin landed a force to destroy a portion of the railroad track, and to secure such military stores as might be found, while I directed Lieutenant-Commanding Shirk to follow me with all speed in chase of the fleeing boats. In five hours this boat succeeded in forcing the rebels to abandon and burn three of their boats loaded with military stores. The first one fired (Samuel Orr) had on board a quantity of submarine batteries, which very soon exploded. The second was freighted with powder, cannon, shot, grape, balls, etc. Fearing an explosion from the fired boats-there were two together—I had stopped at a distance of one thousand yards; but even there our skylights were broken by the concussion, the light upper deck was raised bodily, doors were forced open, and locks and fastenings every where broken. "The whole river, for half a mile about, was completely beaten up' by the falling fragments and the shower of shot, grape, balls, etc. The house of a reported Union man was blown to pieces, and it is suspected that there was design in landing the boats in front of the doomed house. The Lexington having fallen astern, and being without a pilot, I concluded to wait for both of the boats to come up. Joined by them, we proceeded up the river. Lieutenant - Commanding Gwin had destroyed some of the trestle-work at the end of the bridge, burning with them a lot of camp equipage. L. N. Brown, formerly a lieutenant in the Navy, now signing himself 'Lieutenant C. S. N.,' had fled with such precipitation as to leave his papers behind. These Lieutenant-Commanding Gwin brought away, and I send them to you, as they give an official history of the rebel floating preparations on the Mississippi, Cumberland, and Tennessee. Lieutenant Brown had charge of the construction of gun-boats. "At night, on the 7th, we arrived at a landing in Hardin County, Tennessee, known as Cerro Gordo, where we found the steamer Eastport being converted into a gun-boat. Armed boat crews were immediately sent on board, and search made for the means of destruction that might have been devised. She had been scuttled and the suction-pipes broken. These leaks were soon stopped. A number of rifle-shots were fired at our vessels, but a couple of shells dispersed the rebels. On examination I found that there were large quantities of timber and lumber prepared for fitting up the Eastport; that the vessel itself-some 280 feet longwas in excellent condition, and already half finished; considerable of the Expedition up the Tennessee. 213 plating designed for her was lying on the bank, and every thing at hand to complete her. I therefore directed Lieutenant-Commanding Gwin to remain with the Taylor, to guard the prize and to load the lumber, etc., while the Lexington and the Conestoga should proceed still higher up. "Soon after daylight, on the 8th, we passed Eastport, Mississippi; and at Chickasaw, farther up, near the state-line, seized two steamers-the Sallie Wood and Muscle-the former laid up, and the latter freighted with iron destined for Richmond and for rebel use. We then proceeded on up the river, entering the State of Alabama, and ascending to Florence, at the foot of the Muscle Shoals. On coming in sight of the town, three steamers were discovered, which were immediately set on fire by the rebels. Some shots were fired from the opposite side of the river below. A force was landed, and considerable quantities of supplies, marked 'Fort Henry,' were secured from the burning wrecks. Some had been landed and stored. These I seized, putting such as we could bring away on our vessels, and destroying the remainder. No flats or other craft could be found. I also found more of the iron and plating intended for the Eastport. "A deputation of citizens of Florence waited upon me; first, desiring that they might be able to quiet the fears of their wives and daughters with assurances from me that they would not be molested; and, secondly, praying that I would not destroy their railroad bridge. As for the first, I told them we were neither ruffians nor savages, and that we were there to protect from violence and to enforce the law; and with reference to the second, that if the bridge were away we could ascend no higher, and that it could possess no military importance, so far as I saw, as it simply connected Florence itself with the railroad on the south bank of the river. "We had seized three of their steamers-one the half-finished gunboat-and had forced the rebels to burn six others loaded with supplies; and their loss, with that of the freight, is a heavy blow to the enemy. Two boats are still known to be on the Tennessee, and are doubtless hidden in some of the creeks, where we shall be able to find them when there is time for the search. We returned on the night of the 8th to where the Eastport lay. The crew of the Taylor had already got on board of the prize an immense amount of lumber, etc. The crews of the three boats set to work to finish the undertaking, and we have brought away probably 250,000 feet of the best quality of ship and building lumber, and the iron, machinery, spikes, plating, nails, etc., belonging to the rebel |