Johnson. Floyd, who had proved himself a thief and a perjurer, was here to prove himself a poltroon. This fort, so strong by nature and art, General Grant and Commodore Foote determined to reduce; that entrenched force they meant to destroy or capture. On the 12th of February, Gen. Grant began his march from Fort Henry to Fort Donelson, twelve miles, and at noon his troops were in the rear of the rebel batteries. Selecting a position about two miles from the outworks, they extended their lines in a semi-circle, enclosing the fort. This of course brought him into contact with rebel pickets and they moved forward with almost a constant skirmish. Through Wednesday and Thursday the two divisions awaited the coming of the gunboats and transports with the troops to form the third division, and on Friday, the 14th, they arrived. There were now three divisions, commanded by Generals McClernand, C. F. Smith and Lew. Wallace. The Carondelet arrived on Thursday, and at once engaged the water batteries, receiving one shot through a port-hole, wounding eight men, and throwing one hundred and two shells into the enemy's works. The next day Commodore Foote moved his seven gunboats within range, the four iron-clads leading, the wooden ones following. Gradually they brought on the contest. They showered shell as hail-stones are sifted from the clouds. They came within one hundred and fifty yards of the waterbatteries and were silencing them, and here, as at Fort Henry, it seemed the navy was destined to the honor of the capture, when a shot disabled the Louisville, by destroying its steering apparatus. Another shot disabled the flag-ship St. Louis, and both boats rolled in drifting helplessness. The fleet, almost victorious, was compelled to draw off. The Commodore, or Admiral, as we may now term him, was struck in the foot and wounded, and from that wound he never fully recovered. Senator Grimes, of Iowa, in a speech in the U. S. Senate, said: "Though wounded himself, and his gunboats crippled, yet with the glory of the gallant combat on his brow, he indulged in no repinings, for his personal misfortunes or laudation of his successes; but like a true hero, he thought only of his men. In a letter written the morning after the battle, to a friend, he said: 'While I hope ever to rely on Him who controls all things, and to say from the heart, Not unto us but unto thee, O Lord, belongs the glory, yet I feel sadly at the result of our attack upon Fort Donelson. To see the brave officers and men, who say they will go wherever I will lead them, fall by my side, makes me feel sad to lead them almost to certain death." " The General Commanding now determined to invest the fort and reduce it by regular seige, or await the repair and co-operation of the gunboats, and accordingly made a change in the disposition of his men. But on the morning of the 15th, a sortie was made by the garrison, falling upon his extreme right in overpowering numbers, causing the Union troops to give way, and capturing two batteries. Reinforcements were brought up, and a terrible and bloody struggle followed resulting in recapturing the lost guns, with three exceptions. Reinforcements swarmed out of the fort, and again the wearied beseigers gave way, while their foe came on with wildest yells, flanking the Union forces, seeming to have victory within their grasp. Other loyal troops came up, but in the confusion friends fired on each other, and still they were pressed back. The reports were handed to General Grant at his head-quarters, and, comparing them he is said to have remarked to one of his staff, "Good: we have them now exactly where we want them." He ordered General C. F. Smith to make an assault on the left of the line, and carry it, no matter at what sacrifice, and made dispositions on the right to recover the lost ground and gain a position in front from which his men could not be forced. Smith led his men to the charge. They moved in grim silence, with no roll of fire-arms, and carried the position at the point of the bayonet, and the Stars and Stripes waved from the works, and through the smoke of the battle gleamed the triumphant stars of the Republic! On the right General Wallace was pressing forward to regain what had been lost earlier in the day, and as the column advanced word was brought that Smith was within the intrenchments! The announcement was greeted with a ringing cheer, and up the hill went those men, with the Zouave regiments, 8th Missouri and 11th Indiana in advance. No earthly power could stay them. The sullen, angry, beaten foemen were driven within their works; the day went down with our men in better position than before. Success had been won at fearful cost, but it was won. That night Floyd, true to his antecedents, stole away-the most worthless theft he ever made. He whiningly insisted that, in view of his relations to the Federal government, it would not do for him to be captured, and he surrendered the command to Pillow. This hero decided to accompany his compatriot, and turned over his authority to Buckner, who, with Bushrod Johnson, refused to desert his men. The two seniors, with a few chosen troops, made their way to a steamer and escaped. Our brave men, with stiffening wounds, slept on their arms meaning, when daylight came, to enter the fort, but daylight found a flag of truce floating from the works. The following correspondence passed between the commanders: GENERAL BUCKNER TO GENERAL GRANT. "HEAD-QUARTERS, FORT DONELSON,) "February 16, 1862. "SIR:-In consideration of all the circumstances governing the present situation of affairs at this station, I propose to the commanding officer of the Federal forces the appointment of commissioners to agree upon terms of capitulation of the forces and fort under my command, and in that view suggest an armistice until twelve o'clock to-day. "I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, “S. B. BUCKNER, Brig.-Gen. C. S. A. “To Brigadier-General Grant, commanding the United States forces near Fort Donelson. To the bearer of this dispatch General Buckner gave the following orders: “HEAD-QUARTERS, Fort Donelson. "Major Cashy will take or send by an officer, to the nearest picket of the enemy the accompanying communication to General Grant, and request information of the point where future communication may reach him; also inform him that my headquarters will be, for the present, in Dover. "S. B. BUCKNER, Brigadier-General. "Have the white flag hoisted on Fort Donelson, not on the battery. "S. B. BUCKNER, Brigadier-General. The answer of General Grant was made at once, and has passed into immortality with the memorable sayings of brave and patriotic men. "HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY IN THE FIELD, Camp near Donelson, Feb. 16, 1862. "To General S. B. Buckner, Confederate Army: "Yours of this date, proposing an armistice and appointment of commissioners to settle terms of capitulation, is just received. No terms, other than an unconditional and immediate surrender, can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works. "I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "U. S. GRANT, Brig.-Gen. U. S. A., Commanding." General Buckner was not pleased, but he saw no escape. The Federal troops were not to be disloged from their positions, and a few hours must bring the carnage of a resistless storming assault. He therefore wrote as follows: "To Brig.-Gen. U. S. Grant, U. S. A.: "HEAD-QUARTERS, DOVER, TENNESSEE, "SIR:-The distribution of the forces under my command, incident to an unexpected change of commanders, and the overwhelming force under your command, compel me, notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Confederate arms yesterday, to accept the ungenerous and unchivalrous terms which you propose. "I am, sir, your very obedient servant, "S. B. BUCKNER, Brig.-Gen. C. S. A." It was a magnificent victory. It gave the Union army nearly 15,000 prisoners of war; it gave it one hundred and forty-six guns, some of the largest caliber; it gave it a fort of almost fabulous strength; it broke the line of rebel defence; compelled the evacuation of Columbus and placed Nashville at the mercy of Federal bayonets. Grant and Foote desired immediately to "move upon its works," but General Halleck refused permission. As the telegraph flashed the news of the surrender the country was wild with excitement. Bells rang, bonfires blazed; strong men embraced each other on the streets and wept and shouted. Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, said: "We may well rejoice at the recent victories, for they teach us that battles are to be now won, and by us, in the same and only manner that they were ever won by any people, or in any age, since the days of Joshua, by boldly pursuing and striking the foe. What, by the blessing of Providence, I conceive to be the true organization of victory and military combination, to end this war, was declared in a few words by Gen. Grant to Gen. Buckner, 'I propose to move immediately on your works." There were critics who "smelt the battle from afar," and piled condemnation on its chief, or "damned him with faint praise," but their criticisms little harmed the General who presented 15,000 prisoners of war and a hundred and forty-six cannon as the defence of his strategy. The following are a few among the many incidents recited of the battle. On Saturday, a desperate charge was made on one of the guns of Taylor's battery, served, among others, by Lieut. Heartt, of Chicago, and it was temporarily captured. Heartt seized a rope and sprang in among the captors and made it fast to the piece and all hands laid hold and drew off their "speaking trumpet” in triumph. Another of the battery, who had received a wound in the leg, walked more than a mile to the hospital, had the ball extracted, and desired to go back, but was, of course, refused by the surgeon. "Come," said the artillerist, "put on some of your glue and let me go back." zer; One of McAllister's howitzer battery met a rebel cannonier, and said to him, "Halloo! where was your battery stationed ?” The rebel pointed out the situation. "What! over there," said howit"then you must have been the fellows who were popping us so yesterday. Did you see any little 24-pound shells over your way?" "Well, I guess we did, and plenty of them," and the two stood within the captured works and discussed the comparative merits of six-pound shot and twenty-four-pound shell, from a professional stand-point. A youth from John A. Logan's Regiment (31st) received a musket-shot wound in the right thigh, passing through the intervening flesh and lodging in the left thigh. He went to the rear, and asked a surgeon to dress his wound at once, and say nothing about it to The Doctor reothers, for he was going right back into the fight. monstrated, but the boy told him he had fired twenty-two rounds after receiving his wound, and could fire as many more after it was |