Foote had asked and obtained permission of Halleck to attack Fort Henry, and that was the task which they attempted on the morning of the 3d of February.

Both arms of the service proceeded to strike Fort Henry simultaneously. The land force was composed of the divisions of McClernand and Smith. The armed flotilla in hand consisted of the gunboats Essex, St. Louis Carondelet and Cincinnati. The river below Fort Henry had been strewn with torpedoes, but these were successfully fished up before the attack. Opposite Fort Henry was Fort Hieman, situated upon a great hill, from which artillery might be brought to bear upon assailants of the former. To silence its batteries, a portion of the land troops went up that side of the river, while others proceeded to gain a point between Forts Henry and Donelson. The flotilla moved forward and opened the contest at noon on the 6th, and before the land troops could reach a position to co-operate, the fort, with its little garrison, had been surrendered to Foote. A tremendous rain-storm, with thunder and wind, which occurred the night before, had made the roads so heavy, and so swelled the little streams, that the march of the troops was difficult and slow. The garrison made a gallant defence; but at the end of one hour's conflict, they were compelled to strike their flag. Fort Hieman was also surrendered. This was a naval victory of great importance, because it proved the efficiency of gunboats on the narrow western rivers in co-operation with land forces. Therefore the fall of Fort Henry was hailed as a most happy omen of the success of the Union cause. Halleck telegraphed to McClellan: "Fort Henry is ours! the flag of the Union is re-established on the soil of Tennessee. It will never be removed!" The Secretary of the Navy wrote to Foote: "The country appreciates your gallant deeds; and this department desires to convey to you and your brave associates its profound thanks for the service you have rendered."

This victory inflicted a severe blow upon the power of the Confederates. It gave to the Nationals the possession of formidable and important posts; also a firm footing in the vicinity of stronger Fort Donelson and in the rear of Columbus, on the Mississippi. There was now no obstacle to the river navy in its passage up the Tennessee to the fertile regions of northern Alabama toward the heart of the Confederacy. Thitherward Foote sent Lieutenant-Commander S. L. Phelps, on the night after the capture of the fort, with three vessels, to reconnoitre the borders of the river. Those vessels went steadily onward, seizing Confederate vessels and destroying Confedcrate property, as far up as Florence, in Alabama, at the foot of the Mussel Shoals. The reconnaissance was a perfect success, for it discovered the weakness of the Confederacy in that region, and developed a most gratifying evidence of genuine Union feeling among the inhabitants of Tennessee which bad been repressed by Confederate despotism. Phelps was assured that nothing but the dreadful reign of terror kept thousands from manifesting their love for the old flag.

The report of Phelps's reconnaissance was very cheering, and it was determined to attack Fort Donelson, near Dover, the capital of Stewart County, Tennessee. It was a formidable work, situated with a front on the high left bank of the Cumberland River, among hills furrowed by deep ravines, and its irregular lines of outlying intrenchments covering about one hundred acres. General Grant reorganized his army in three divisions, under Generals McClernand, Smith, and Lewis Wallace; and Commodore Foote hurried back to Cairo with three of his gunboats to take his mortar-boats to the Cumberland River to assist in the attack on Fort Donelson.

The divisions of McClernand and Smith left Fort Henry on the morning of the 12th of February (1862), and marched for Fort Donelson, leaving Wallace with a brigade to hold the vanquished forts on the Tennessee. They invested Fort Donelson the same evening; and after some picket-firing the next morning, General Grant resolved to wait for the arrival of the flotilla (bearing troops that would complete Wallace's division) before making a general attack. On the same morning Ex-Secretary Floyd arrived from Virginia, with troops, and superseded General Pillow, who was in command of Fort Donelson. Floyd and Pillow were materially assisted by General S. B. Buckner, a better soldier than either of them, but he was subordinate to both of the inefficient commanders. All that day (February l3th) there was skirmishing, and toward evening an unexpected enemy appeared in the form of severe frost. The morning had dawned in uncommon splendor, and the air was as balmy as that of late spring; but toward evening a violent rain-storm arose, the temperature fell, and before morning the ground became frozen almost as hard as iron and everything was mailed in ice. The National troops were bivouacked without tents, and