the accursed links. It was a gigantic task, for which neither workman nor implements seemed to have been yet found:

Island No. 10 is about forty-five miles below Columbus. It lies nearly in mid-channel, and is about a mile long and a half mile in breadth at its widest part. Its armament consisted principally of four heavy batteries on the island, sweeping the main channel, and seven on the Kentucky and Tennessee shores, most of the guns having been brought from Columbus. To define its situation a little more clearly, the river, which above it flows westward, makes a bend to the south; then to the west and north, in which is the island; and again, eight miles below, a turn to the south, on which, upon the right bank, is New Madrid. Point Pleasant is a village on the right bank, about ten miles below New Madrid; while Tiptonville is on the opposite bank, a short distance below Point Pleasant. The double bend, in the form of an irregular and inverted S, with the island and the town at the extreme points, with peninsulas thus formed, cutting off in the one case nine miles, and in the other twenty, seems exactly formed to take the eye of the strategist and engineer.

The works on the island, and the supporting batteries on the left bank, having been completed, the old Pelican dock of New Orleans was brought up, armored, and converted into a floating battery; the rebel gunboats nestled under the batteries; forts were erected at New Madrid, and the entire defences of Island No. 10 were declared to be very strong-at least, a sort of semi-Gibraltar.

It mattered little to the Confederacy that General John Pope was dispatched against them; and, even when he had captured Point Pleasant, they felt little concern. They were still more exultant when the nine hours' bombardment by FlagOfficer Foote failed of results. He had, in order to test the strength of the works, moved down with a fleet, consisting of five gunboats and four mortar-boats, from Hickman, twenty miles above, and his bombardment had seemed to produce no effect.

Pope's first essay was to take New Madrid; and this he suc

ceeded in doing, notwithstanding the efforts of Commodore Hollins with the rebel gunboats to prevent him. Thus, while Foote was coming down to try the defences above, he received information from Pope that, under fire of his siege-guns, the enemy had evacuated the town, that the river was closed below, and that there was no escape for the garrison by water. The first act was done, and well done.

But, although shut up by water, the garrison was strong, the works numerous and powerful, and the island would seal the river for us, until they should be reduced.

The rebel force consisted of about eight thousand men, commanded by Brigadier-General W. W. Mackall, who had assumed command on the 5th of March,-so much a stranger to his own troops, that he deemed it necessary to rest his merits in their eyes upon the fact that he was "a general made by Bragg and Beauregard." He was a graduate of West Point, and, as an assistant adjutant-general in our service, had been esteemed a good officer; but he promised too much at the island, and failed. His promises and his energy, however, had given new hope to the Confederacy. They considered us checkmated in the river game: at the least, it was to be "an American Thermopyla." The rebel generals were fond of Grecian and Roman precedents, but the comparison was never complete.

Although thus hemmed in by Pope's army on the south, and the gunboats on the north, they would, however, have kept the river sealed against us for some time, had it not been for a plan conceived by General Schuyler Hamilton, who commanded a division in Pope's army.

The overflow in the river-bottom rendered it impossible for Pope to march his troops from New Madrid to the vicinity of the Union gunboats, and he had no transports to carry them across to any point south of the island. Could that passage be made, the strong works would be taken in rear by a land force, and must fall.

Hamilton's suggestion was this: to cut a navigable passage across the peninsula above New Madrid, by which to float the

transports across. This herculean task was at once executed, and with perfect success.

In nineteen days our army had completed a canal twelve miles long, and fifty feet wide, a portion of it through heavy timber, which had to be sawed off four and a half feet under water by the hand. The work was done under the superintendence of Colonel J. W. Bissell, with his engineer regiment. The passage was pronounced ready, Foote again engaged the enemy, and while one gunboat was attracting, or rather distracting, the attention of Rucker's Battery, the Carondelet slipped past them all, and ran down to New Madrid. This was on the night of the 4th of April. On the 6th, at nightfall, the Pittsburg likewise ran the batteries, not without some damage; and, on the same night, a fleet of steamboats and transport barges came through the canal, took on our troops at New Madrid, carried them over to the Tennessee shore, and the impregnable works fell like the walls of Jericho. Where now was their boasted strength? Would they immortalize their American Thermopyla? Alas, for their vain-glorying! There was no intrepidity, no dignity; the scene was pitiable in the extreme. They had shown great skill in putting themselves into traps: the attempt to escape was panic, confusion, utter imbecility. One hundred and twenty-four guns were taken, most of them uninjured. The attempt at spiking, by the hands of those eager to fly, was an entire failure. Their boats, not effectually scuttled, were most of them recovered by our men. The floating-battery was true to her name; although scuttled, she would not sink, but was found high and dry near Point Pleasant, and was immediately put in commission, as chief of the United States nondescripts. The number of prisoners actually accounted for at the surrender was not more than three thousand, but hundreds upon hundreds of starving wretches wandered among the swamps in their efforts to escape, most of whom fell into our hands, and were glad at the last to escape starvation on the terms of imprisonment or parole.

Again had the soldiers of the Confederacy been duped by their leaders; again had the people been beguiled into false security. A glance at the map will show to any military eye, that Island No. 10 was only a temporary expedient. Strong as an isolated point, it could be flanked, surrounded, perfectly invested, and then its very isolation made it a cage. Its fall was certain; and the value of their boasted strategy is indicated, when we remember that Polk evacuated Columbus on the 3d of March; Mackall took command of the island defences on the 5th; and just one day over a month—that is, on the 6th of April-our transports were going down to New Madrid. The formal surrender was made on the 8th.

Although General Grant had no immediate connection with these operations, we have dwelt upon them as forming a part of the great problem, a knowledge of which is needed to enable us to take in the entire scope of action. And now, after this glance at the collateral and contemporaneous movements by Pope, let us return to Grant.

NOTE.-After the battle of Fort Donelson, Grant had gone (Feb. 26) to Nashville to confer with Buell. Some malignant persons had reported this to Halleck and to Washington, and it was made a cause of complaint against him. Add to this, that the state of his command, on account of constant marchings, battles, sickness, detachments, and re-enforcements, made it difficult for him to report its exact condition; for this, fault was found with him. He was also blamed for letting C. F. Smith go to Nashville with his division. And to his utter astonishment, he was, on March 4th, ordered to turn over the command of his forces moving up the Tennessee to C. F. Smith, while he was to remain at Fort Henry. A correspondence took place between himself and Halleck, in which he asked to be relieved entirely from duty-taking especial umbrage at an anonymous letter which had been sent vilifying him. But he was restored to duty and full command, and General Halleck wrote a letter to the headquarters of the army removing all misconceptions. He assumes general command March 14th.

4*

CHAPTER IX.

GRANT'S NEW CAMPAIGN.

PITTSBURG LANDING.-THE LANDING.-GRANT'S DISPOSITIONS.-THE REBEL ADVANCE.— JOHNSTON'S PROCLAMATION. THE ATTACK ON PRENTISS.-ON SHERMAN, HURLBut, MOCLERNAND, AND WALLACE. THE SITUATION AT TEN O'CLOCK.-REBEL LOSSES.— THE GUNBOATS.-WEBSTER'S ARTILLERY.-SURGEON CORNYN.-THE FINAL ATTACK ON SUNDAY.-LEWIS WALLACE ARRIVES.-HIS DELAY.-MONDAY MORNING.-1 -BUELL ON THE FIELD.-BATTLE ON THE LEFT-ON THE RIGHT.-BEAUREGARD RETIRES.— COMMENTS.

THE field of Pittsburg Landing had been selected by General C. F. Smith,* who had immediate command of the troops in the field, and who soon acquired information of the rebel designs. It was on the west bank of the Tennessee, and for the most part densely wooded with tall trees, and but little undergrowth. The landing is immediately flanked on the left by a short but precipitous ravine, along which runs the road to Corinth. On the right and left, forming a good natural flanking arrangement, were Snake and Lick creeks, which would compel the attack of the enemy to be made in front. The distance between the mouths of these creeks is about two` and a half miles. The locality was well chosen. The landing was protected by the gunboats Tyler and Lexington. Buell's Army of the Ohio was coming up to re-enforce Grant; and although the river lay in our rear, that was the direction of advance. Just at that time it was the best possible thing for our army to fight a battle, and the moral effect of a victory would be invaluable to our cause.

Grant, who arrived at Savannah on the 17th of March, a point from which he could best oversee his whole force, keep ac

* Sherman's letter to the editor of the United States Service Magazine, January, 1865.