Campaigns of 1862.
THE Federal forces now numbered about four hundred and fifty thousand men. Of these nearly two hundred thousand, under General McClellan, were encamped near Washington. Another army, commanded by General Buell, was stationed at Louisville, Kentucky.
2. At the beginning of the year the capture of Fort Henry on the Tennessee and Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland, was planned by General Halleck. Commodore Foote was sent up the Tennessee with a fleet of gunboats, and General Grant was ordered to move forward against Fort Henry. Before the land-forces reached that place, the flotilla compelled the evacuation of the fort, the Confederates escaping to Donelson.
Fort Donelson.
3. The Federal gunboats now dropped down the Tennessee and then ascended the Cumberland. Grant pressed on from Fort Henry, and began the siege of Fort Donelson. The defences were manned by ten thousand Confederates, under General Buckner. Grant's force numbered nearly thirty thousand. On the 16th of February Buckner was obliged to surrender. His army became prisoners of war, and all the magazines, stores, and guns of the fort fell into the hands of the Federals.
Battle of Shiloh.
4. General Grant now ascended the Tennessee to Pittsburg Landing. A camp was established at Shiloh Church, near the river; and here, on the 6th of April, the Union army was attacked by the Confederates, led by Generals Albert S. Johnston and Beauregard. All day long the battle raged with great slaughter on both sides. Night fell on the scene with the conflict undecided; but in the crisis General Buell arrived with strong reinforcements. In the morning General Grant assumed the offensive. General Johnston had been killed, and Beauregard was obliged to retreat to Corinth. The losses in killed, wounded, and missing were more than ten thousand on each side.
Island Number Ten.
5. After the Confederates evacuated Columbus, Kentucky, they fortified Island Number Ten in the Mississippi, opposite New Madrid. Against this place General Pope advanced with a body of Western troops, while Commodore Foote descended the Mississippi with his gunboats. Pope captured New Madrid; and for twenty-three days Island Number Ten was besieged. On the 7th of April the Confederates attempted to escape; but Pope had cut off the retreat, and the garrison, numbering five thousand, was captured. On the 6th of June the city of Memphis was taken by the fleet of Commodore Davis.
6. Early in the year General Curtis pushed forward into Arkansas, and took position at Pea Ridge, among the mountains. Here he was attacked on the 6th of March by a Confederate force of twenty thousand men, which included a large number of Indians from the adjacent Indian Territory. A hard-fought battle ensued, lasting for two days, in which the Federals were victorious.