Abraham Lincoln : a history . ; finally to the command of thegreat military depot and rendezvous at Cairo, Ill-inois, with its several outlying posts and districts,and the supervision of its complicated details abouttroops, arms, and supplies to be collected and for-warded in all directions. Clearly it was not chancewhich brought him to such duties, but his fitness toperform them. It was from the vantage-ground ofthis enlarged command that he had checkmatedthe rebel occupation of Columbus by seizing Padu-cah and Smithland. And from Cairo he also or-ganized and led his first command in field fi
Abraham Lincoln : a history . ; finally to the command of thegreat military depot and rendezvous at Cairo, Ill-inois, with its several outlying posts and districts,and the supervision of its complicated details abouttroops, arms, and supplies to be collected and for-warded in all directions. Clearly it was not chancewhich brought him to such duties, but his fitness toperform them. It was from the vantage-ground ofthis enlarged command that he had checkmatedthe rebel occupation of Columbus by seizing Padu-cah and Smithland. And from Cairo he also or-ganized and led his first command in field fighting,at what is known as the battle of Belmont. Just before Fremont was relieved, and while hewas in the field in nominal pursuit of Price, hehad ordered Grant to clear Southeastern Missouriof guerrillas, with the double view of restoringlocal authority and preventing reinforcements toPrice. Movements were progressing to this endwhen it became apparent that the rebel strongholdat Columbus was preparing to send out a BEAR-ADMIRAL ANDREW IIULL FOOTE. GKANT AND THOMAS IN KENTUCKY 113 Grant organized an expedition to counteract this , and on the evening of November 6 left with about 3000 men, on transports, underconvoy of two gunboats, and steamed down theriver. Upon information gained while on his routehe determined to break up a rebel camp at Bel-mont Landing, on the Missouri shore oppositeColumbus, as the best means of making his ex-pedition effective. On the morning of the 7th helanded his troops at Hunters Point, three milesabove Belmont, and marched to a favorable placefor attack back of the rebel encampment, whichwas situated in a large open field and was pro-tected on the land side by a line of abatis. Bythe time Grant reached his position the rebel camp,originally consisting of a single regiment, had beenreenforced by five regiments from Columbus underGeneral Pillow. A deliberate battle with aboutequal forces ensued. Though the Confederat
Size: 1285px × 1944px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthornicolayj, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookyear1890
