Fall of Memphis. 313 fight. In this purely naval combat the rebel fleet was badly cut up, there being but one sole survivor, the Van Dorn, which escaped; and Memphis, at the demand of Davis, was forced to surrender to the gun-boats. This battle brought to an end the naval power of the rebels on the Mississippi. We now return to him who, in feebleness and pain, had been compelled to forego these triumphs, which his foresight and patient skill had prepared, and which, as far as human prescience went, he had fully anticipated for himself. Notwithstanding all he had done, the disproportion between his aspirations and his achievements, to so generously ambitious a nature, could not but be a source of keen disappointment. But he was a thoroughly Christian man, and no loss of this kind could trouble him overmuch. CHAPTER XXIV. CORRESPONDENCE AT CLEVELAND. DETACHED FROM THE COMMAND OF THE WESTERN FLOTILLA. WHEN Commodore Foote left the scene of action on the Mississippi, he went at once to Cleveland, Ohio, the home of his brother, Hon. John A. Foote, where he was joined by his wife, and where he would have quiet and rest, but at the same time could exercise a general supervision over the fleet, and receive the reports of his officers. The citizens of Cleveland welcomed him among them with great delight, tendering him a public reception and the hospitalities of the city. In his reply to their communication, he said: "Sympathizing as you do with my physical condition and impaired health, and sharing with me, as you so feelingly express, my desire to rejoin my command at the earliest possible moment, I know you will permit me to decline these distinguished honors. "I should be as able to renew the fight with my flotilla as to be the recipient of your favors; and I know too well the intelligent citizens of Cleveland to doubt for a moment that they would esteem this my duty. "If I were in better health, and had completed the mission with which I am charged, nothing would give me greater pleasure. We are, however, in the midst of our work, and my brave comrades may this day be engaged in deadly strife for the vindication of our flag; therefore I could not, consistently with my views of duty, accept your kind invitation." Commodore Foote's relations to the flotilla now became a matter of earnest thought to him, and many letters passed between him and Secretary Welles. Mr. Welles was willing to grant him a temporary release, but not willing that he should About giving up the Command. 315 be wholly detached from the command. He says in one of his letters, dated April 21: "Your life and services are too valuable to be put in jeopardy, even if great events are dependent on your continued active duty. I do not think it necessary or expedient, however, to detach you from the command of the flotilla: you must have a respite. "I propose, therefore, to send Captain Davis to you, agreeably to your request, to relieve you from active physical and mental exertion. He can take temporary charge while you are off duty, and with the aid of the skill and experience of Lieutenant-Commanding Phelps, and your general direction and advice, I trust matters will go forward efficiently and well. Unless it is absolutely indispensable, I should be reluctant to have you leave a position where you have earned such just renown, and where the whole country desires you to remain. No other man can inspire the people with equal confidence in the position you occupy; and it is no disparagement to others to say no one has the experience and right comprehension that you have of the required service. I can not express to you how much I have been gratified with your labors and efforts. They have given heart to the whole country, and I, personally, have been sustained and encouraged by them." Again he says (April 23): "I mentioned that Captain Davis would be ordered to report to you, but on no account do I wish to detach you from the position you occupy. If you deem it necessary to go to Cairo or St. Louis, you will still remain flag-officer in command, and Captain Davis will be next in command under you. Your name and prestige I deem important, and therefore do not wish the rebels to know that you are disabled even. Let the enemy know that they have you to combat them." When Foote reached Cleveland, letters from the Secretary followed him, full of friendly expression, and yet earnest that he should recover his health entirely and thoroughly, in order to resume his command. Knowing his spirited and excitable temperament, he warns him against allowing the decds of Farragut to destroy his rest, and to incite him to a rash and hasty resumption of active duty; but urges him to get well, to fight the enemy again in his gun-boats. On the other hand, his good old friend Commodore Smith counsels him to give up at once. His letter is characteristic for its blunt sincerity: "May 30, 1862. "MY DEAR FOOTE,-I have yours of the 27th inst. You ask for my advice; I give it cheerfully. Take care of yourself. You have done enough. Your duty is to your country, and to yourself and family. As the summer will bear hard upon you, even if you recruit, I would not run any risk of the climate in your present state of health. You require repose and retirement; therefore I would retire and go home, and leave Daviswho was your choice, not mine-as your successor. Every body knows that you encountered every kind of obstacle, and surmounted them all. While was here for months preparing his squadron and expedi tion, and had the choice of ships and the pick of the Navy List, you were sent off without notice or much consultation, and officers sent to you not of your selection; funds and men were not furnished; you were thwarted in many of your plans by others; and yet you overcame all with your tact and talent, and won a glorious victory. After all this, it will be an unthankful task for you to return to the flotilla, and contend with a summer climate on the river, in your state of body and mind. Therefore relinquish it, and let others take a hand and do what you have left undone -which is not much, I apprehend, in the way of fighting. "You are not bound to 'die in harness.' Nobody would thank you for doing so in your present condition, and, as I said before, the country may require you another day.* We are in perilous times, great events are in embryo. God only knows what is to be the end. We hope for a peace, but it does not appear to me to be at hand to-day or to-morrow. I have just seen the Secretary. He says you had better remain where you are for the present; that you can come East or go where you please, but prefers to have your name cover the flotilla, and so I suppose you must keep to your tethers. My kind regards to Mrs. Foote. "Yours, as always, in haste, JOSEPH W. SMITH." There is an interesting series of letters from LieutenantCommanding S. L. Phelps to Commodore Foote while the * Referring to war with England, which the writer strongly anticipated. latter was in Cleveland, reporting the movements of the gunboats, some of which we give in full, as they contain much of the history of the fleet with which Foote was so vitally connected. The first letter recounts the naval fight at Fort Pillow: "U. S. GUN-BOAT BENTON,' OFF FORT PILLOW, "FLAG-OFFICER FOOTE, U. S. N., Cleveland, Ohio: "MY DEAR SIR,-You will have heard of the fight yesterday morning. Eight rebel gun-boats came up to the point, and four or five of them proceeded at once toward the Cincinnati, then covering the mortarboat, one of the rebel boats, with masts, being considerably in advance. Captain Stembel in the most gallant manner steamed up, rounded to, and, opening fire, stood down for the rebel. As he approached, the fire was withheld, the ram striking Stembel's vessel in the quarter, and swinging broadside to, when, the muzzles absolutely against the rebel boat, a broadside was poured into her, making a terrible crashing in her timbers. The rebel, swinging clear, made down stream, with a parting salute of other guns, in a helpless condition. By this time the Benton, Mound City, and Carondelet were far enough down, half-way at least, to Stembel's assistance, to open an effective fire. The Pittsburg, not yet clear of the bank, and the Cairo just sending a boat out to cast off her hawsers. The St. Louis came down pretty well. Two rams were making for the Cincinnati, and once again hit her in the stern, receiving the fire of the stern guns. That boat struck Stembel twice, doing little damage, but using sharpshooters to such effect as to dangerously wound Stembel, and the fourth master, Mr. Reynolds, and one man in the leg. By this time we were in their midst, and I had the satisfaction to blow up the boilers of the ram that last hit the Cincinnati by a shot from our port bow 42-pound rifle. I fired it deliberately with that view, and when the ram was trying to make another hit. Another ram had now hit the Mound City in the bow, and had received the fire of every gun of that vessel in the swinging that followed the contact. We interposed between another and the Mound City, and the fellow, afraid to hit us, backed off, where he also blew up from a shot hitting a steampipe or a cylinder. All the rams drifted off disabled, and the first one that blew up could not have had a soul remaining alive on board, for the explosion was terrific. We could have secured two or three of them |
