Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-04-16

actively engaged in fortifying Column
bus, Hickman, and other points adj
mirably situated for offensive opera
tons on the Mississippi river; and as
they appeared determined to extend
their occupation to all the equally adj
yantageous sites ON that stream, and
also on the Ohio river, Gen. Grant
made strategic move; and on the 9th
OF September occupied Paducah, at the
mouth OF the Tennessee river, having
arrived there before the rebels could
secure possession When his troops
entered the town, the emblem of trea-
son was floating from numerous flag
stalls, and the people openly expressed
their disloyal sentiments. The rail-
road depot, postotfice, telegraph Office.
and other public buildings were seized,
and the following proclamation was
| issued:
"PADUcAH, KY, Dec G, 1sil.-To THE
| CITIZENS OF PADuCAH: / have come
among you not as an enemy, but as your
/ fellow-citizen. Not TO mailrelt or annoy
| you, but TO respect and enforce the rights
| OF all loyal CITIZENS. An enemy, in rebell-
| ion against our common government, has
| taken possession of and planted its Guns Oh
the soil of Kentucky, and fired upon you.
! Columbus and Hickman are its hands.
| He Is moving upon your city. / am here to
! defend you against this enemy to assist
! the authority and sovereignty of your gov
eminent. / have nothing to do with opln-
ions, and shall deal only with armed re-
bellion and its aidsrs and anettOrs. You
| can pursue your usual ayoeatiOnS without
fear. The strong arm of the government
| is here to protect its friends and punish
| Its enemies Whenever 1t Is manifest that
You are able to defend yourselves and
maintain the authority OF tie government
and protect the rights of citizens, | shall
withdraw the forces under my command.
u. 5. GRANT.
"Brigadier General Commanding"
| This movement was one of the bold
est which had up to that date been
made in the West.
Early in November, 1861, Gen. Grant
received orders from the commanding
general of the department TO make
| formidable movement down the Missis-
sippi toward Belmont and Columbus,
the object of the expedition being to
prevent the enemy from sending
force into Missouri to cut off troops
that Grant had sent there for special
purpose, and to prevent reinforcing
Price. The first result of this move
ment was what is known as the battle
of Belmont, of which Grant, in pri-
vate letter to his father, said:
I'VE fought our way from tree to tree
through the woods to Belmont, about two
| and half miles, the enemy contesting
every foot of ground. Here the enemy
had strengthened their position by Telling
| the trees for two or three hu dred yards
and sharpening their limbs, making sort
/ OF abattiS. Our men charged through,
making the victory complete giving us
l ion If fhair DIsI
| page. artillery, and everything else.
I'VE got a great many prisoners. The
majority, however, succat ded in getting
! aboard their steamers and pushing across
/ the river. We burn 4 everything possible
| and started back, having accomplished all
that we went for, and even more. Bel
mont is entirely covered by the batteries
from Columbus, and is worth nothing as
military pos tion--can not be held without
! Columbus Besides being well fortified at
! Columbus their numbers arexceeded ours,
/ and it would have been folly to have at
| tackled them. We found the cOnfederates
| well armed and brave. On our return,
straggiers that had been left in orr rear
/ (now 'FRONT.' fired into us, and more re-
crossed the river and gave us battle for
full mile, ana afterward at the boats when
we wer embracing.
/ Taking into account the object Of the eX-
| petition, the victory Was complete. IL has
1 given us condolences in the officers and men
/
/ lead them in any future engagement with
| out fear OF tile result.
On returning To Cairo Grant formally
thanked his troops in a written order,
| in which he said THAT it had been his
fortune to have been in all the battles
fought in Mexico by Gems Scott and
Iaylor. save Buena Vista, and he never
saw one more holly contested or where
troops behaved with more gallantry."
| HENRY.
Grants operations in northern Mis-
souri,, his dash ON Belmont, and his
seizure on Paducah though all credit
able. We're thrown into the shade by
the brilliant Fort Donelson campaign
which opened his career of success in
! the west.
The Fort Donelson expedition was
intended to break in two the rebel de-
fensivc line. which stretched the whole
/ length of the State of Kentucky from
Columbus on the Mississippi through
Bowling Green to Cumberland gap.
On this line. the rebels, under A. S.
johnson, stood looking northward with
threatening and defiant aspect. Grant
saw that if he could seize Forts Henry
and Donelson, which had been built to
shut up the Tennessee and Cumberland
| rivers, the union gunboats could range
up and down through the heart of
rebcldom and the union armies with
them, and that thus the great rebel de-
| fensivc line, cut through in the middle,
would be broken, as a chain is when q
link is destroyed.
| Having secured his rear from sur
prise, he started with the First division
| of the district of Cairo under Gen. Nc
Clernand on an expedition against Fort
Henry, on the Tennessee river, near
the boundary line between Kentucky
and Tennessee. Arriving near that
work, he. on the 9th of February, 1852,
issued his orders prescribing the mode
of attack. The gunboats, seven in
| number, had also arrived, and three of
them were ordered by General Grant
to proceed cautiously toward the fort,
Smelling the woods on either bank TO
ascertain if any hidden batteries had
been erected. The transports followed,
and the troops were landed at a point
about four miles from the fort. A ju-
| dicious arrangement was made that
night of the camp-fires for the purpose
! of deceiving the enemy as to the
strength of the union forces, and it
was doubtless owing in a great meas
ure to the impression thus created that
the rebels made such hasty flight after
the surrender. Toward noon of the
9th, with twenty-three thousand men,
/ Grant made detour inland for the pur-
pose of cutting off the retreat of the
| garrison, while Commodore Foote,
| with a fleet of gunboats, made a direct
| attack in front. The roads were all
most impossible, and when the land
forces arrived at the fort it was found
that the confederates had escaped
/ across the country to Fort Donelson,
on the Cumberland river. The gun
boats returned up the Ohio river and
thence proceeded up the Cumberland
to the new theater of conflict, while
Grant. leaving three thousand men in
Fort Henry, marched his troops over
/ land.
DoNELsoN.
Up to this time Grant had shown
/ himself to be Woodworking, yioilant
| officer, but had given no indication Of
the possession of high military genius.
| The operation against Fort Donelson
/ which now began was his first manifes-
tation of a superior order of general
ship. Fort Donelson was a place of
| great strength. 1t was occupied by a
force of well-drilled and well armed