CHAPTER XXI.-Continued.
Grant had also captured forty pieces of artillery and about seven thousand small arms. In a letter to the victorious general, the President thanked him and his men for their  skill and bravery in securing "a lodgment at Chattanooga and Knoxville." Congress voted thanks and a gold medal for Grant, and directed the President of the Republic to cause the latter to be struck, with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions." The general was the recipient of other tokens of regard, of various kinds; and the legislatures of New York and Ohio voted him thanks in the name of the people of those great States.
During the first half of 1863, General J.G. Foster was in command of the National troops in North Carolina, with his headquarters at New Berne, from which point he sent out raiding parties to scatter Confederate forces who were gathering here and there to recover lost posts in that State. In these expeditions, many sharp skirmishes took place. The Nationals were generally successful, and confined their antagonists to the interior of the State. Finally, in July (1863), Foster was called to the command at Fortress Monroe, and left his troops in charge of General Palmer. Meanwhile there had been important occurrences in the vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina, the capture of that city being one objective of the National Government. Attempts had been made the previous year by General David Hunter (commanding the Department of the South) and Admiral Dupont, to seize that city, but failed. Dupont had received important information concerning military affairs at Charleston, from Robert Small, a slave, who was a pilot in the Confederate service. One night, in the middle of May (1862), assisted by some fellow-bondsmen, Small took the Confederate steamer Planter out of Charleston harbor, delivered her to Dupont, gave him valuable information, and entered the service of the Republic. Soon afterward the National land troops took a position on James Island, near Charleston; and at Secessionville,
Copyright, 1895, by Charles F. Johnson, Copyright, 1905, by Lossing History Company .Copyright, 1912, by The War Memorial Associationn, Inc.,
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