The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-03-27

/ who VIII have rnore especial charge OF the
old gunboats, and operate ia less exposed
Icondition than the armored boats. @
| have the honor TO be. very respectfully
your obsdient servant, .sFyt'
| 5'oi All. FOOoTE, Flag Officer, Y
Cong Naval Forces on the Western Ws.
ters. Hon. Gideon Wslles. '7s "s'a 7
Sec'y Of tho Navy, Washington. D. O. I
P.S.-Seversl transports With troops have
lust arrived. 'Saala aai laA.H..F
| Iprocsed up the Tennessee early IN The
morning, and viii there make the Cincinnati
my flagship. ss4r' 1sf'a ss'a siAfH.F.
On the pre,'eding day hsh.d issaed the
following order to Lieutenant Phelps :'ia :
tspeeias ord1rs,, No.s.l i'sat {
| UmrrD srArEs GusBoAr TAYtos,l
PADucxh, February ., 1863.
/ lieutenant Commanding Pfsips wsa. l.
soon as.the tort stan have surrendered, and
upon signal from the iisg ship, proceed with
tho Conestoga, Taylor, and Lexington, up
the river to where the railroad bridge crosses
and If the army shaIi not already have got
Iposssssion, he win destroyso much of ths
track rs win entirely prevent rs use By the
rebels. NIB E77T 4,a 97e z ,s9oft4 tr'aio
He win then proceed ~ far up the river -
the stage Of the water will admit, snd cap
ture the ensmy's gunboats and other ves-
seis which might prove available to tho enc
my. fis sle7 e. '-5'sS .Iea 80 y
! "A. II. Foorz, Flag Officer,
Command'g Naval Forces on Western
Waters. 7tE s
The feet, consisting Of the iron clad boats
Essex, Carondolet, Cincinnati and ST. Louis
and the three wooden. boats Taylor, Lcxing-
lton, and Concstoga proceed to Fort Henry
and reduced it in one hour and twenty min
Iutes, Commodore Foote being, a. is his wont
in the forefront Of the battle. It appears
from the order to Lisutenat Phelps, (which
that gallant officer promptly erecutsc,) } that
Commodore Foot knew before leaving Padu-
cab that he should take Fort Henry. no mat
ter what might be the force or the resistance
he should meet there. He was thoroughly
inspired BY the great idea Of victory. The
contingency offailure did not enter into his
calculations. He, therefore, addressed him.
self to plans for reaping tho fruits Of victory,
rather than toplans for repairing the conse.
quences Of defeat. II win be observed from
the foregoing letter to the Secretary Of the
Navy written before the battle Of Fort Hen.
ry, that the:.efficiency Of the flotilla was much
impaired by the want Of seamen, or by q
neglect n scme quarter to have those trans.
ferred from. the military service who had
been selected for that purpose. sssS hs'''
After reducing Fort Henry and sweeping
the Tennessee river Is far up IS Florence, in
Alabama, Commodore Foote returned "a
Cairo to prepare the mortar boats Tor opera.
tions against Fort Donelson. He was aware
ofthe formidable character Of the rebel works
at Donelson, and he desired q delay Of few
|days to complete the mortar boats, By which
hs believed the garrison. however extensive
lcould be shelled out without much loss o1
lifs On our siie. General Halleck believed
IN immediate attack to be military neces'
sity. In this. doubt not. he wss right, and
| I only refer TO it 10 show that the crippled
condition Of the neet'and tho heavy'lsss d
HNs on our side arc DOT TO be attributed ia
rashness u bad management on the part d
the Dag officer OF the gallant attack on
Fort Doneison no one need be reminded.--
/ Subjected, as our vessels were, to along.con'
tinued and hot iire Of thres rebe! batteries u
i Scur hundred yards distsn0s. they continued
the fight fot ono hour and Thirty minutes
4 and not until ths whsel Of ono and The tillel
roaps ofanother Of bis boats were shot away
did the weilsmanagsd boats Of the cornnno
dors cease to scatter death and CONSERVATION
among4he foes Of his country. Although
/ wounded himself, and his gunbcAts crippled
but With tho glory u the combat on BIZ
throw, he INDUCED IN no sepinings Tor hi'
Ipersonai inisfbrtunes Or Iaudations Of hiS sue
4 cess; but ike true Christian hero, b
thought only ofhis mon. y In letter written
~ nosniuk SITTER tho battle to friend. b
lsSld: ykas si'FAa 10 Y.'ls.isislra r'sa 4''
swhne / hope ever u rely On Him twh,
controls all things. and to say tom th'
alheart. Not unto us, but unto Thee, Q Lord
|bslongs tie slorx' Jet I fesl sadly q the re
sult Of our attack on Fort DoncIson. 70 80,
the brave officers and men who Say they
4 win 20 wherever + lead them fall By my sid,
makes me feel sad 70 lead them to almos
oartain DEATH ,,,,s1 iosas,rsiss sns Is.
Bat hs obeyed what was believed 10 hs ~
military necessity Of the situation q. ,,a. \
4 The Senator, from Massachusetts, pearss
me has this npsnig kindly sfprpised me- viii
. 4 lettsr ltsm atsustvaFthy friend Of his VII
has from tise hssiunips been NTH the ARM
Of the West, fsom which l am permitted I
!, nAd the following attracts :sstps gsa, ii
. tWhen Fort Henry sssrendssed, the sat
Twas cpensd BY which the rebellion will h
{ finally end pttsriy erashedsil In . few day
Com. Psots willopen the Missisaippi, prov
! Idsd he 4 not haaperedp pand also Pre- ride
/ Ihe is properly supported BY Goyarsment-.
II Hs has dets great work for his country
1 9 work which, I an sorry to say, has NJ
! lbesas properly appreciated. He has impr'
!. vissds . usvy with almost insusmountable d