The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-21 00:00:00

THE CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY.

A victory had been achieved by the Federals on
the Tennessee, resulting in the capture of Fort
Henry. The following is the official despatch of
General Halleck :

ST. LOUIS, FRIDAY, Feb, 7.
The following is announced from Head-quarters :
" Fort Henry is ours I The flag of the Union is re-esta-
blished on the soil of Tennessee. It will never be removed.
" By command of Maj.-Gen. Halleck,
44 W. W. SMITH, Captain and Aide-de-Camp."
The naval despatch is fuller :
WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, Feb. 7.
Secretary Welles has received the following despatch :
" U. S. Flagship Cincinnati, off Fort Henry,
Tennessee River, Feb. 6, 1862.
" The gunboats under my command—the Essex, Com-
mander Porter; the Carondelet, Commander Walke; the
Cincinnati, Commander Stembel ; the St. Louis, Lieut.-
Commanding Paulding; the Conestago, Lieut.-Command-
ing Phelps; the Tyler, Lieut.-Commanding Gwinn ; and
the Lexington, Lieut.-Commanding Shirk—after a severe
and rapid fire of one hour and a quarter, have captured Fort
Henry, and have taken General Lloyd Tilghman and his
Staff, with 60 men, as prisoners. The surrender to the
gunboats was unconditional, as we kept an open fire upon
the enemy until their flag was struck. In half an hour
after the surrender I handed the fort and prisoners over to
General Grant, commanding the army, on his arrival at the
fort in force.

" The Essex had a shot in her boilers, after fighting
most effectually for two-thirds of the action, and was
obliged to drop down the river. I hear that several of her
men were scalded to death, including the two pilots. She,
with the other gunboats, officers, and men, fought with the
greatest gallantry.
" The Cincinnati received 31 shots, and had one killed
and eight wounded, two severely.
" The fort, with 20 guns and 17 mortars, was defended
by Generel Tilghman with the most determined gallantry.
" I have sent Lieutenant Commanding Phillips and
three gunboats after the rebel gunboats.
(Signed) " A. H. FOOTE, Flag Officer."
There are some details from Cairo:—
" CAIRO, ILL., FRIDAY, FEB. 7.

" Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, surrendered yes-
terday at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, after a most deter-
mined resistance. The fight, which lasted one hour and 20
minutes, was conducted bythe gunboats Cincinnati, Essex,
and St. Louis. The Cincinnati fired 125 rounds, and re-
ceived 34 shots from the rebel guns, but only one man was
killed. The St. Louis fired 110 rounds, but received no
damage. The Essex was disabled after firing 10 rounds by
a ball striking her boiler. Thirty-two persons on board of
her were scalded to death. Capt. Porter, her commander,
was badly scalded, but not dangercusly so. Two rebel
generals, one colonel, two captains, and 100 privates were
taken prisoners. The fort mounted 17 guns. The land
forces did not reach the scene of the action until two hours
after the surrender of the fort. The Memphis and Ohio
railway bridge, 15 miles above the fort, has been taken
possession of by our troops."
The Cincinnati. Gazette and Commercial have
correspondences :

" Yesterday, at half-past 12 p.m., the gunboats Cincin-
nati, St. Louis, Carondelet, and Essex, the Tyler, Cones-
tago, and Lexington bringing up the rear, advanced boldly
against the rebel works, going to the right of Painter Creek
Island, immediately above where, on the east shore of the
river, stands the fortifications, and keeping out of range till
at the head of the island, and within a mile of the enemy,
passing the island in full view of the rebel guns. We
steadily advanced, every man at quarters, every ear strained
to catch the flag officer's signal gun for the commencement
of the action. Our line of battle was on the left, the St.
Louis next, the Carondelet next, the Cincinnati (for the
time being the flagship, having on board Flag Officer
Foote), and the next the Essex. We advanced in line,
the Cincinnati a boat's length ahead, when, at 11.30,
the Cincinnati opened the ball, and immediately the
three accompanying boats followed suit. The enemy was
not backward, and gave an admirable response, and the
fight raged furiously for half an hour. We steadily ad-
vanced, receiving and returning the storm of shot and shell,
when, getting within 300 yards of the enemy's w trks, we
came to a stand, and poured into him right and left. In the
meantime the Essex had been disabled, and drifted away

from the scene of action, leaving the Cincinnati, Caroudelet,
and St. Louis alone engaged.
" At precisely 40 minutes past one the enemy struck his
colours—and such cheering, such wild excit ernent, as seized
the throats, arms, or caps of the 400 or 500 sailars of the
gunboats can be imagined. After the surrender, which was,
made to Flag-officer Foote by Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, who
defended the fort in a most determined manner, we found
that the rebel infantry encamped outside the fort, number. I
ing 4,000 or 5,000, had cut and run, leaving the rebel ar-
tillery
company in command of the fort.
"The fort mounted 17 guns, most of them 32-pounders,
one being a magnificent 10-inch columbiad. Our shots dis-
mounted two of their guns, driving the enemy into the em-
brasures. One of their rifled 32-pounders burst during the
engagement, wounding some of their gunners. The rebels
claimed to have but 11 effective guns worked by 54 men, the
number all told of our prisoners. They lost five killed and
10 badly wounded. The infantry left everything in their
flight. A vast deal of plunder has fallen into our hands,
including a large and valuable quantity of Ordnance stores.
" General Tilghman is disheartened. He thinks it one
of the most damaging blows of the war. In surrendering
to Flag-officer Foote, the rebel general remarked, ' I am
glad to surrender to so gallant an officer.' Flag-officer
Foote replied, you do perfectly right, sir, in surrendering,
but you should have blown my boat out of the water before
I would have surrendered to you.'
" In the engagement the Cincinnati was in the lead, and,
flying the Flag-officer's pennant, was the chief mark. Flag-
officer Foote and Captain Stemble crowded her defiantly
into the teeth of the enemy's guns. She got 31 shots, some
of them going completely through her.
" The Essex was badly crippled when about half through
the fight, and crowding steadily against the enemy. A ball
went into her side-forward port, through the heavy bulk-
head and squarely through one of her boilers, the escaping
steam scalding and killing several of the crew.
_ _

" Captain Porter, his Aide, L. P. Britton, jun., and Pay-
master Lewis were standing in a direct line of the balls
passing, Mr. Britton being in the centre of the group. A
shot struck Mr. Britton on the top of his head, scattering
his brains in every direction. The escaping steam went
into the pilot-house, instantly killing Messrs. Ford and
Bride, pilots. Many of the soldiers, at the rush of steam,
jumped overboard, and were drowned.

"The Cincinnati had one killed and six wounded. The
Essex had six seamen and two officers killed, 17 men
wounded, and five missing. There were no casualties on
the St. Louis or Carendelet, though the shot and shell fell
upon them like rain.

" The St. Louis was commanded by Leonard Paulding,
who stood upon the gunboat and wrought the guns to the
last. Not a man flinched, and with cheer upon cheer sent
the shot and shell among the enemy." •

A letter from Paducah states that a party of the
victors had started in pursuit :
" Paducah, Kentucky, Friday, Jan, 7.
.. _

" General Smith on the west, and General Grant on the
east side of the Tennessee River, are pursuing the retreat-
ing rebels. It is reported and credited by some of our
officers that the rebel troops at Fort. Henry were not true to
the rebel cause, and took advantage of the opportunity
offered by an attack to run away from a fight that was dis-
tasteful to them."

The achievement has caused great exultation in
Washington.

Mr. Sedgwich caused the despatch from Flag-
officer Foote to Secretary Welles to be read to the
House of Representatives, and it was received with
great demonstrations of applause.

The New York Times describes the fort and its
strategic importance thus :
" Fort Henry, situate in Tennessee, upon the Tennessee
River, and a short distance from the northern boundary of
the State, was constructed last summer by the rebels. It is
an earthwork, and stands in the river bottom, about the
high-water mark, just below a bend in the river, and at the
head of a straight stretch of about two miles. It, therefore,
commands the river for that distance down stream, and very
little else. The land around it is a little higher than the
fort, and a portion of it is covered with heavy timber. On
the opposite side of the river are three hills commanding
the fort completely. The armament of the fort, according
to Commodore Foote's report, was 20 guns and 17 mortars.
It consisted, we understand, of two 64-pounders, eight 32-
pounders, 4 12-pounders, and the rest 6-pounders, most of
them smooth bore. It was also supported by a battery of
two guns, planted on the commanding,hills on the opposite
side of the river, but of whose capture we have no record.
A small creek, setting into the Tennessee just at the South
of the fort, forming a pond or marsh. Across this a bridge
or causeway has been constructed, giving communication
by means of a military road recently cut directly back to
Fort Donelson, at Dover, on the Cumberland river.
From a point on this road, back of the pond, another
road has been cut, leading around under the bluffs, back
of the bottom land to the Pine Bluff landing, six miles
below the fort. The chart of the Fort will furnish an idea
of the position of the guns of the battery on the west side
the Tennessee, and of the relation of Fort Henry to Fort
Donelson, which, at latest accounts, was still unreduced.
" Until lately, the garrison of the place was but one regi-
ment, the 10th Tennessee, 900 strong, and composed mostly
of Irishmen; but, since the fort was menaced, reinforce-
ments of two Mississippi and one Louisiana regiments
have been sent, and likely also some additional Tennessee
troops. The Memphis Appeal of the 12th January said that
the rebel authorities had taken into consideration the criti-
cal condition of Fort Henry, and that vigorous and ener-
getic preparations had been made, by land and river, to
meet our advance. The whole force was placed under com-
mand of General Lloyd Tilghman, of Kentucky, a graduate
of West Point, and reported an able commander. He is
now a prisoner in our hands, and this most important and
strategical position is in possession of the United States
troops.

_
WASHINGTON, FEB- 4, 1862.
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO HOLDERS OF GOVERNMENT

BONDS.

The following official notices were to-day promulgated
by the Treasury Department :
" Holders of the Bonds of the United States, payable
three years from date, the coupons of semi-annual interest
thereon being due on the 19th inst., are hereby notified that
provision is made for the payment in coin of all such
coupons, agreeably to their tenor, at the office of the As-
sistant-Treasurer of the United States, in the city of New
York. All such coupons must be presented at the office,
accompanied with schedules showing the number and
amount of each coupon, together with the aggregate sum of
each parcel, three full business days for examination and
verification before payment. Notice is hereby given of the
readiness of this Department to redeem the Treasury notes
payable in one year from date, authorised by act of Con-
gress, approved December 23, 1857, and the Treasury notes
payable in 60 days from date, authorised by an act of Con-
gress, approved March 2, 1861. The interest on the Trea-
sury notes of the above issue will cease on the 7th day of
April next by the teams of those acts respectively."