in possession, immediately signaled the fleet. They rapidly descended the river, and the whole force rushed eagerly into the works, deep chagrin being blended with their rejoicing. The fortifications extended from the Iron Bluffs above, so called, to the Chalk Bluffs below, a distance of four miles. Every prominent bluff around the place was fortified. A massive iron chain, which they had extended across the Mississippi, was left. Many torpedoes were scattered along the shore. The bluff upon which this fort was reared, projecting slightly into the river, faces the north, commanding the stream for four miles. There were three tiers of batteries; the first about fifteen feet above the water, the second, perhaps, fifty feet above this, and the third on the top of the hill. The fortifications were equally strong on every side. The quarters for the troops were clay cabins, six feet square, and sunk three feet into the earth. There were enough of these to accommodate thirty thousand men. There were two subterranean magazines, admirably constructed so as to be accessible from all parts of the fortifications. The fort was supplied with water from the river, by means of a force pump, driven by a steam engine. The little town of Columbus, in the vicinity, was, until war's desolation nearly blotted it out, a hamlet of about a thousand inhabitants, deriving its only importance from the fact that it was the terminus of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

Thus fell, without the firing of a gun, the Gibraltar of the West. With Donelson and Henry in possession of the National troops, it was manifest that Columbus, however impregnable in itself, could not be maintained. Our troops could now, unobstructed, march across the country, seize the railroads, and plant their batteries on the Mississippi, below Columbus. Thus the rebels would have been cut off from all their sup plies, and starved into surrender. Their only refuge was in precipitate flight. Mere fighting often gains victories. It requires accomplished generalship to avail oneself of the results of victory. Thus far, the National cause has not had much in this line to boast of. Our generals were all inexperienced. Perhaps the future will present more brilliant results. The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson were glorious achievements. But impartial history is constrained to say, that with such soldiers and such victories, Cæsar, Napoleon or Wellington, would have made the traitorous heart of all rebeldom to quake.

CHAPTER XXI.

GENERAL MITCHEL'S CAMPAIGN.

GEN. MITCHEL COMMISSIONED BRIGADIER-GENERAL.-TRANSPARENT CHARACTER OF GEN. MITCHEL CONSEQUENCES OF RIVALRY BETWEEN OFFICERS.-EARNEST DESIRE OF GEN. MITCHEL AND HIS COMMAND TO TAKE THE FIELD. - PRIDE OF THE MEN IN THE THIRD DIVISION. SECRESY AND ENERGY OF MITCHEL'S MOVEMENTS.-POLICY OF GEN. MITCHEL.SUDDEN DESCENT UPON HUNTSVILLE. -CAPTURES EFFECTED BY GEN. MITCHEL AND HIS ARMY.-HON. JUDGE LANE.-REPLY OF GEN. MITCHEL TO MADAME POLK.-COMMAND ASSIGNED. DEATH OF GEN. MITCHEL.

THE brilliant campaign of General Ormsby M. Mitchel* through Tennessee, into Alabama, constitutes an epic of the war, which must ever excite admiration. His movement was almost as sudden and luminous, as the paths of the meteors, which he had so often followed through the skies. On the 28th of September, 1861, he was appointed Brigadier-General, and was assigned a command in the army of the West, under Gen. Buell, near Louisville, Kentucky. Here he became a great favorite with his troops, who, well-informed as to his astronomical and scientific reputation, gave him the pet name of "Old Stars." He reached Cincinnati just at the time that it was manifest to all, that Kentucky must throw off her neutrality, and espouse the one side or the other. It became a matter of the utmost moment, that that important State should be saved to the Union; and yet for a time, it was very uncertain to which side the State would gravitate. Gen. Mitchel was just the man for the place, and the hour. He put forth all his extraordinary energies in the organization of troops, and in dispatching them across the river into Kentucky.

The attention of the Government was attracted by the sagacity he manifested, and the promptness with which his plans were executed. He had soon quite a force collected on the Kentucky shore, and solicited per

* General O. M. Mitchel was born in Union County, Kentucky, Aug. 28, 1810. At twelve years of age, with a good common-school education, he entered a store, as a clerk, in Miami, Ohio. He soon, however, received a cadet's warrant, and in June, 1825, reached West Point, with a knapsack on his back, and twenty-five cents in his pocket. He graduated with distinction in 1829, and was employed Assistant Professor of Mathematics two years. As there was nothing in the army then to interest him, he studied law, and opened an office in Cincinnati. His scientific taste and attainments, drew him from the uncongenial pursuits of the law, to the chair of mathematics, philosophy and astronomy, in the college at Cincinnati. His ability and sleepless energy, rapidly acquired for him distinction, and he was invited to give lectures upon Astronomy in most of the leading cities of the Union. The lectures were attended by crowded audiences, and were received with great enthusiasm. Mainly through his influence an Astronomical Observatory was established at Cincinnati. In 1859, he was appointed director of the Dudley Observatory, at Albany. Upon the breaking out of the rebellion, with all his constitutional enthusiasm, he espoused the cause of his country.

mission to lead them to the field. The Secretary of War, without any intimation of his design, suddenly made his appearance in the camp of Gen. Mitchel, to see for himself, what such activity purported. Gen. Mitchel, after showing the Secretary all that had been done, with that frankness and transparency of character, which made him a most attractive man, looked up, and said:

"Mr. Secretary, I should not have been able to raise these troops, and prepare them for the field, by saying, 'Go, boys.' But I have used the language, 'Come, and I will lead you.' Now, I desire to keep my promise to my troops. And I solicit permission to march at the head of these troops upon Cumberland Gap, and push through, if possible, to Knoxville, and liberate East Tennessee."

It was eminently a wise plan, and could undoubtedly have been executed at that time. The Secretary of War approved, and gave him the command he solicited, and authorized him to march for Cumberland Gap. It was a national calamity that this expedition was not carried out. Those petty jealousies, which disgrace human nature, interposed obstacles, which the President of the United States, ever anxious to harmonize discordant elements, allowed to have too much weight. The fact that a general in one department, was ordered to do duty within the limits of the department of another, gave such offense to the generals there located, that President Lincoln thought it to be his duty to recall Gen. Mitchel. He was accordingly ordered back to his headquarters near Cincinnati, and the rebels in East Tennessee were left undisturbed.

The Department of the Cumberland was, soon after this, united with that of the Ohio, and Gen. Buell was placed in command. Gen. Mitchel was appointed his second in command, and was sent to Louisville to report for duty. He then had a camp of instruction placed under his charge. Never did any man consecrate his energies to any work more zealously than did Gen. Mitchel labor to bring up his division to the most thorough military drill; to create in his men an esprit du corps similar to that which fired the hearts of the Old Guard of Napoleon; to organize this corps as a solid, compact mass, which he could hold in his hand, and could move by his will, and which he could hurl as a solid body, in case of necessity, against the enemy. In this effort he was eminently successful. In the whole army elsewhere there could not be found a more concentrated or united band. The minor military organizations were lost sight of in the general, and, as it were, national pride, of being a member of the Third Division. If you asked any private where he belonged, he would not answer you that he belonged to such a company, or such a regiment, or such a brigade, but uniformly and proudly his response would be, “I belong to the Third Division."

It required comparatively but a short time to attain these results. That point of discipline beyond which soldiers cannot go, except in active service, may be soon reached. It requires but a few weeks to make them familiar with all the drill of the parade-ground. After that, months behind the intrenchments, only demoralize. It is in the field where the thunder of battle is heard, and where peril is encountered, that recruits

become veterans. In six weeks, Gen. Mitchel had accomplished everything which could be achieved in the way of organization and drill. His division was now thoroughly armed, equipped and drilled, for action. Nothing more could be done outside the battle-field. Gen. Mitchel then went to Gen. Buell, and said:

"General, we must now either be permitted to go into the field and meet the foe, or we must degenerate and go backwards. It is utterly. impossible for me to carry my division any farther in my drill of discipline. The men have learned everything they can learn, and from this moment we must commence to decline, unless we are sent into actual service."

After long consultation in Louisville, Gen. Buell decided upon a grand expedition in the direction of Bowling Green, where the rebels were in great force. Gen. Grant, as we have before mentioned, was in possession of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and the Tennessee and the Cumberland Rivers were open to our gun-boats. Gen. Grant moved cautiously upon Nashville, as we have also described, followed by the flotilla, and Gen. Mitchel was sent east to the Green River, in the advance on the way to Bowling Green. Upon crossing the river, he threw out his scouts, ascertained the exact condition of the enemy at Bowling Green, and begged earnestly for permission to advance upon that place. There had been so much of blind and blundering movement in the war, that Gen. Buell very properly urged his moving forward with the utmost caution. He did advance with caution; providing carefully for every contingency, and yet pressing forward so rapidly, that the very first intelligence the enemy had of his approach, was from the bursting of a shell in the midst of a railroad depot, where regiments of the rebels were congregated. Gen. Mitchel, with his heroic, devoted, and thoroughly disciplined band, had succeeded in cutting off all intelligence of his movements, simply by their rapidity. He had sent out his scouts so adroitly in advance, that they seized every solitary one of the enemy's pickets, and no man succeeded in. crossing the river to carry the news of his advance to Bowling Green. A cannon planted upon an eminence, sent the first emphatic warning to the rebels in the form of a shell. The enemy were, however, preparing to evacuate, alarmed by the movement of the army and the gun-boats up the Cumberland. They had destroyed all the bridges across Green River, and with trains of cars loaded with supplies, were preparing to escape through Nashville. The sudden fire from Gen. Mitchel's batteries scattered the foe in such consternation, that they had not even time to fire the trains; and the engines, the cars, and their abundant freight were thus saved. That very night, a rope ferry was constructed across the river, which, by the early dawn, had conveyed over enough of the cavalry and infantry to take possession of the town, the enemy flying before them.

Gen. Mitchel was very anxious to take advantage of the utter demoralization of the rebel army, and to push after them as rapidly as possible. But it was not prudent to do this until boats were constructed, and ferries established, to keep his communications thoroughly open. As the troops were busily engaged in this work, Gen. Mitchel was surprised to see Gen. Buell enter his camp. The commanding general was apparently