Litchfield enquirer., 1868-01-30


 fare. The untried craft, unlike anything that ever before had foated, wrought their way slowly and heavily against the current of the Tennessee, the flagship leading the way, and the order to the feet being, '' Do just as Issdo." Coming within range just at the hour of noon, shell from the Cincin- natl opens the fight. But to the horror of the rebels Ill their casemates, the monsters do not halt as they fire. Steadily on and on they come, nearer at every shot, firing, as they have been instructed, slowly and deliberately, not without suffering loss and damage themselves, but hinging their huge missiles with such terrible havoc in the fort that human nature can stand 1t no longer and the white flag runs up on the splinter ed flagstaff in an hour and twelve minutes by the Commodore's watch, and General Tilghman as gallant man as ever fought in an evil cause, makes his unconditional surrender to the Commander of the fleet before the brigades of General Grant, who wero instructed to take the fort themselves, have been able to get near enough to inter cept the retreat of the greater part of the garrison across the neck of land to Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland river. Be- fore the battle, so confidently had he cal culated, Foote had given orders to two ac- tive officers immediately on the capture of the fort to proceed up the river, So that this first great calamity to the rebel cause was announced far in the interior of Se- cessia by the awful apparition of the Uni ted States gun-boats.
 Without delay, Foote ran back to his ec- tempoTe navy yard at Cairo to repair h1s shattered fiotilla and provide for the woun- ded and scalded men Tn hospital. The bat tie was on Thursday Sunday morning he was in his pew, as usual, iu the Presbyte- rian church, and,with the crowded congre- gation, waited in vain for the minister. At length he stepped from his pew and sug- gested to one of the elders to speak to the multitude and not send them away empty to faint by the way. The elder declined. Whereupon, the Commodore, remembering his VOW, "In all circumstances, I will act for God,'' went into the pulpit and offered devout and simple prayer, and opening the Scriptures, read to them the l4th chapter of John. Then from the text, '' Let not your heart be troubled; ye be- ieve in God, believe also in me-" he taught them the secret of true Christian courage, and of that peace even in the midst of death and battle which Christ giv- eth not as the world giveth
 From the hour when the news of the capture of Fort Henry reached him at his distant headquarters, Gen. Halleck's care fully studied theories of the military art seem to have undergone revulsion. He seems to have quite lost his head, and whereas he had supposed that gunboats could do nothing, he is now confident there is nothing they cannot do. He hurries i'ooto away with preparations still incom- plete, and in spite of his distinct protest hot l,n slsts upon his attempting to reduce one of the most formidable earthworks on the continent. eff he had given me three days more," said Foote," < to repair dam ages to gunboats, and get four mortar boats ready, I could have shelled out the garrison at that point, and secured the victory with comparatively small loss of life''
 Notwithstanding that he was sent against his own better judgment, he brought up his fleet against the fort with the same ap- palling steadiness which, as much by it's moral as by it's material force, had stricken terror into the garrison at Fort Henry, and laid the bows of his iron clads within $50 yards of the muzzles of the rebel guns, un- til from the ports of the pilot-house the Commodore could distinguish the faces of the enemy's gunners. Panic began to seize the garrison, and they ran from the water batteries in terror, when Q shot crash ed through the pilot-house, broke the wheel, and cut in two the man at the wheel, sprinkling the Commodore with his blood. Almost unconscious of any hurt himself, he sprang to the deck, imped upon frac- tured ankle to another steering apparatus. and attempted with his own hands to keep the vessels head to the stream. But that apparatus also had been disabled. Sixty one shots had struck his ship-the St. Lou is-some of them passing through her from stem to stern. Thirty-fve had struck the Louisville; 26 the Carondelet; 21 the Pittsburgh; all his iron-clads but one were manageable; and at the last moment, when, as he was afterwards satisfied, the fort was on the point of surrendering to the fleet, he was compelled to hoist the signal for retiring, and the awful carnage of Grants attack went on and on for three expended as the price of the fort
 As soon as his wounds were dressed- three wounds on arm, hip and foot, and contusions discoloring his entire side, from hip to heel-he ordered crutches, and on Monday, the day Following the surrender, was up the Cumberland River again. An old New Haven friend who was with him on this trip, describes to me, in 9 letter which I wish could read to you, the daily life of him whom the world was looking on as the bravest and fiercest fighter of the age. His tender and womanly tears over the men whom he had been forced to lead to certain death the idolatrous affection of his men as they lifted him up in the com panion-way and as he hobbled over the deck with his crutches; his sharp reproofs | of any profane or unclean word among of- ficers or men; and his sitting in his cabin l in the evening, having book in his hand. Mir. Munson.' said he, ''that is one of the best books ever published " What is it, Commodore?" "Baxter's Saints Rest; l have read it over and over again. It is one of the best books ever put in print. " He pushed on at once beyond the captured fort, to show the conquering flag as before, in the interior of the enemy s territory. He accepted the surrender of Clarksyille, and was on the point of push ing on to seize Nashville, the capital of the State, with it's rebel Legislature, its depot of troops, it's $2,OO0,0O0 worth of rebel military stores, and thus to intercept the retreat of Albert Sidney Johnstons army from Bowling Green, and effect one of the ,,os+ 1,r;l1;ant succasses of the war, when a