Page 50 - NS-2 Textbook

THE CIVIL WAR 43

federate coast. TI,ese would be captured by amphibious recogruZlng the Confederacy. Naval events, however,
assault, garrisoned strongly, and then used to support caused both nations to hold off.
the blockade. By the end of 1862, amphibious actions had
secured Port Royal, South Carolina; Hatteras Inlet, North
Carolina; and Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Pensacola, RIVER CAMPAIGNS
Florida. Once these bases were established and the block-
ade was tightened arOlmd Florida, that state was practi- Bull Rtm had temporarily stopped military activity in the
cally put out of the war because its inland transportation east, but not in the upper Tennessee and Mississippi
was so poor. The loss of Florida deprived the South of its River Valleys. Events were about to take place that
salt nlills, ,vhich ,vere essential for the preservation of would foretell the defeat of the Confederacy.
ham and bacon for Southern troops. The Confederates In February 1862 a joint force of Navy gunboats and
were never able to get rid of these naval bases deep in Union Army voltmteers under the command of a little-
their territory. These coastal actions, though not as well known brigadier general, Ulysses S. Grant, caphued Fort
known as several of the major land battles, were ulti- Henry in north-central Tennessee. The river Navy ,\-vas a
mately significant factors in the Union victory. development of the times, adjusting to the circumstances
One of the key lessons learned by the Navy in its suc- of the war. The Union river gunboats became the first
cessful amphibious actions was that even the finest forts ironclads in the Uruted States. Grant conceived of them
ashore vvere vulnerable to accurate naval gunfire. The as mobile artillery. Under Commodore Andrew Foote,
man largely responsible for the improvement of naval the Navy's river squadron demolished Fort Henry and
ordnance at this time was Commander John Dahlgren. had already accepted its surrender when Grant's army
He developed larger smoothbore guns that fired rOlmd arrived.
shot with heavy charges. These shells were excellent for Grant then marched overland for an attack on Fort
destroying gtm emplacements and fortified sites along Donelson some 12 miles mvay on the Cumberland Rivel~
the shore. 'ivhile four ironclads and two '\-vooden gunboats moved
against the river face of the fort. Here the Navy
fotmdered because the twelve large guns comprising the
DEFEATS AND DIPLOMACY fort's battery were on high bluffs overlooking the river.
TI,e Confederate shots fell on the unarmored upper
The First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 had ended in a decks of the ships, putting them out of action. Grant took
Northern defeat just a few miles from Washington, D.C. the fort from the land side after attacking its fortifications
The battle put an end to any ideas of a quick victory over for several days.
the Confederacy. Lincoln extended enlistments from the Grant next moved up the TelUlessee River to Pitts-
original three months to three years. The battered North- burg Landing and was attacked at Shiloh in April. But for
ern Army of the Potomac dug in arOlmd the capital, ex- the covering gunfire from hvo g>mboats, Grant's left
pecting a Confederate attack that never came. flank would have been destroyed and the battle lost. The
By October the South was anxiously hoping that gunboats fired into the Confederate positions allrught,
British and French ships would run the blockade in order one shell per minute. The next morning when Grant at-
to pick up the cotton crop that had just been harvested. tacked, it was this section of the Confederate line that
In order for this to happen, the South needed the Con- broke, giving Grant his costly victory.
federacy to be recognized as an independent nation. To The Confederates now had to abandon their big
try to accomplish this, Davis sent hvo ambassadors to fortress at Columbus, Kentucky, since all river transport
Europe on a British steamship, the Trent, sailing from the to the place had been stopped. While Grant rested from
West Indies. James Mason was en route to England, Jolm Shiloh, the Union general John Pope kept up the pressure
Slidell to France. They were, howevel; intercepted on 8 and moved on down the Mississippi River to Island No.
November by Captain Charles Wilkes and his Union la, where the river swings in an S-curve at the Kentucky-
sloop Sail Jacinto. Wilkes overhauled the British ship, Tennessee line. There ,vas a major Confederate fortress
stopped her on the high seas with shots across the bow, guarding the route south on the river.
and removed Mason and Slidell by force, an action in di- On 4 April the Union gtmboat Carolldelet succeeded
rect violation of international law. in running the Confederate batteries, placing herself in
As a result of iliis affair there were inunediate cries position to destroy the enemy guns on the Tennessee
for war in England, and the English fleet was mobilized. side. Pope's men could now cross behind hel; and Island
However, the matter was settled by diplomacy by having No. 10 surrendered on 7 April with 7,000 prisoners. All of
the prisoners released to British custody. France, which 'ivestern Kenhlcky and much of 'ivestern Tennessee were
was plamung to take advantage of the Civil War by send- now tmder federal control. The Union forces consoli-
ing an expeditionary force to Mexico, also canle near to dated and made preparations to move on Memplus.