Our Standard-Bearer; Or, The Life of General Uysses S. Grant

by Oliver Optic

On the 11th the commodore started with his fleet for the Cumberland, protecting transports conveying six regiments of troops and the supplies for the entire force. On the same day McClernand, with the advance, moved out a few miles towards the point of attack. The next morning, Grant himself, with the main body of the army, consisting of fifteen thousand strong, marched from Fort Henry, leaving twenty-five hundred men in garrison there.

The roads were inundated, and it was impossible to transport tents and baggage. But few wagons were taken, and the only food carried was in the haversacks of the soldiers. In order to understand the difficulties in the way of the gallant commander, it should be remembered that this movement was made in the month of February. The country was flooded with water, rendering the roads almost impassable, and requiring that many streams should be bridged. But without tents or baggage, the confident general moved on to do the mighty work before him. At noon he arrived at his destination, and proceeded to post his troops. Grant's information in regard to the fortress was so meagre and indefinite that he could only promise to issue the necessary orders in the field. This was the task now before him.

Fort Donelson was one of the most elaborately constructed systems of works which yet frowned on the path of the Union army. It was built on a group of hills, the highest of which were not less than a hundred feet above the level of the river. It consisted of a nest of forts, thrown around the principal one, mounting, with the addition of the field guns of the batteries, sixty-five pieces. The country in which it was situated was rough, and densely wooded. The approaches to the works were rendered difficult by ingeniously-contrived abatis. Above and below the fort was a stream, overflowing its banks, and protecting the right and left of the rebel line. Water batteries on the river effectually guarded the approaches in that direction. The fort was garrisoned by twenty-one thousand men. For a week the rebels had been at work, day and night, increasing its defences, and calling in reënforcements from the vicinity.

Grant went to work with his usual promptness, and before night had surrounded the fort, so far as the overflow of the streams would permit. McClernand's division was on the right, Smith's on the left. There were but three educated officers on the field—Grant, Smith, and McPherson; all the rest of the force were volunteers, most of whom had never seen a battle, and some had been in the service but a very brief period.

The gunboats did not arrive the next day, as expected, but the time was occupied in perfecting the investment of the place, and in feeling of the enemy. Some smart skirmishes occurred, but nothing of importance to either side resulted from them. A gallant attempt was made by McClernand to capture a battery, but it failed. At night Grant's line extended for three miles along a series of hills parallel to the enemy's line. The reënforcements did not arrive, and Foote's squadron was not heard from. The weather changed from heavy rain to intense cold, and the thermometer fell nearly to zero. The troops suffered fearfully from cold; for without tents, and without sufficient clothing, they bivouacked in line of battle, sleeping, if they slept at all, on their arms. The rebel pickets were within easy range, and no fires could be built. Some of the raw troops had even thrown away their blankets in the toilsome march through the mud. Before morning a driving storm of hail and snow set in, horribly increasing the sufferings of the troops.

What a terrible price was paid for the integrity of this blessed Union! What an awful sacrifice for the liberty in which we now rejoice! I tremble when I think of the horrors of that dreadful night, in the snow, and the sleet, and the piercing cold, where the devoted patriots lay under the fire of the enemy! All night long the rebel pickets fired, and the groans of the wounded and the dying mingled with the howls of the storm. All the horrors of war seemed to be blended together in one discordant mass—hunger, cold, and all the torturing agony of suspense and anxiety. From what I know of Grant, I am sure he suffered the most, for the tortures of his men were his own; but peace and freedom were the glittering prize for which he fought and endured the bitter anguish of that horrid night. I wonder that even his iron will did not yield in the presence of the calamities which were there heaped upon him and his men; for he endured all that the humblest soldier endured. Besides the burden they had to bear, he carried the responsibility of the enterprise upon his shoulders; but he was as confident as he was patient and self-sacrificing. For the glorious cause in which he had embarked, he endured all which that awful period had in store for him.

Glory, honor, and an immortal name to the man who had the fortitude to endure the horrors of that terrible night! I am amazed as I view him, the thinking power of the expedition, resolutely maintaining his bold front through the accumulated miseries of that gloomy trial-hour! Think of the man who had the hardihood to beleaguer a fortress garrisoned by twenty-one thousand men with fifteen thousand, and to stand by them confidently through such a storm and such a night! It was watching and waiting for the morning. Conscious of his comparative weakness, Grant sent a messenger to Fort Henry for the garrison which had been left there.

In the gloom of the early morning came glad tidings to the anxious commander, and to his suffering force. A gunboat was coming up the river, and its presence heralded the approach of the fleet, with reënforcements and with supplies for the half-famished men in the line. Though abundant rations had been issued to the troops, they were improvident, in their inexperience, both of food and clothing. The warm, humid air of the preceding day had been oppressive to them, and they had lightened their burden, reckless of the future. The sudden change of the weather and the delay of the fleet subjected them to terrible hardship. Many of the wounded and others were frozen to death in the line.

General Lew Wallace and the garrison from Fort Henry, arrived, and were immediately placed in the centre of the line of investment. The transports came up to a point three miles below the fort, landed their troops, who were added to the line encircling the fort, increasing the besieging force to twenty-two thousand. During the entire day, an irregular fire of sharp-shooters was kept up by the rebels, and at times the artillery played briskly upon the national lines. This was on the second day of the siege, Friday, the 14th of February.

Early in the afternoon, six gunboats, only four of which were protected by armor, opened fire upon the fort, and continued to pour in shot and shell for an hour and a half. The water batteries had the advantage of a high position in this conflict, which enabled them to throw plunging shot at the gunboats. Commodore Foote was severely wounded, fifty-four of his men killed or wounded, two of his craft disabled, and the others crippled by the vigorous fire of the rebels. Twenty guns had acted upon the little squadron, which could use only twelve in reply. Two of the iron-clads were drifting helplessly down the river, and the others were so disabled that it was impossible to continue the action any longer. Sorely against his will, the gallant commodore was compelled to withdraw from the unequal contest. It was Grant's plan to take the fort by storm on the land side, as soon as the result of the naval combat warranted the step. As it failed, he was obliged to remain inactive. He feared to attempt to carry the place by assault with untrained troops, but he did not for a moment lose his confidence in the ultimate result.