Abraham Lincoln : a history . ofone of Grants detachments occurred at the sametime; and that commander, with military intuition,postponed the continuance of the local operationsin Missouri, and instead prepared an expeditioninto Kentucky, which became the initial step ofhis brilliant and fruitful campaign in that directiona few months later. He saw that Columbus, hisprimary objective point, was lost for the present;but he also perceived that another, of perhaps equalstrategical value, yet lay within his grasp, though,clearly, there was no time to be wasted in seizing-it. The gunboat reconnaiss
Abraham Lincoln : a history . ofone of Grants detachments occurred at the sametime; and that commander, with military intuition,postponed the continuance of the local operationsin Missouri, and instead prepared an expeditioninto Kentucky, which became the initial step ofhis brilliant and fruitful campaign in that directiona few months later. He saw that Columbus, hisprimary objective point, was lost for the present;but he also perceived that another, of perhaps equalstrategical value, yet lay within his grasp, though,clearly, there was no time to be wasted in seizing-it. The gunboat reconnaissance on the MississippiEiver which revealed the rebel occupation of Ken-tucky was begun on September 4th. On the fol-lowing day General Grant, having telegraphed theinformation to Fremont and to the KentuckyLegislature, hurriedly organized an expedition oftwo gunboats, eighteen hundred men, sixteen can-non for batteries, and a supply of provisions andammunition on transports. Taking personal com- I11 - ; ]& -W^W^WWWMfMWi. GENERAL WILLIAM NELSON. THE TENNESSEE LINE 49 mand, he started with the expedition from Cairo, chap. midnight of the 5th, and proceeded up the OhioEiver to the town of Paducah, at the mouth of theTennessee, where he arrived on the morning ofthe 6th. A contraband trade with the rebels, bymeans of small steamboats plying on the Ten-nessee and Cumberland rivers, had called specialattention to the easy communication between thispoint and Central Tennessee. He landed withoutopposition and took possession, making arrange-ments to fortify and permanently hold the place;having done which he returned to Cairo the sameafternoon to report his advance and forward rein-forcements. The importance of the seizure wasappreciated by the rebels, for on the 13th of Sep- to cooper,tember Buckner wrote to Richmond: Our pos- Se&.13session of Columbus is already neutralized by that Paducah. The culmination of affairs in Kentucky had beencarefully watched by the author
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