stated the Yankees had been allowed to advance, 
for the purpose of drawing them into a trap. 
The rebel force on the island is supposed to have 
been a little over 3,000 efficient fighting men. Gen. 
Wise was ill at Nag’s head, aud was not present 
during the engagement. When the situation became 
dangerous, be was removed to Norfolk. All the 
gunboats but one were taken, and that escaped up a 
creek, and was also probably destroyed. 
One report says that 10, and another that only 25 
Confederates escaped from the island. Gen. Huger 
telegraped to Richmond that only 50 on the island 
escaped. 
There appears to be no bright side to this story. 
The Richmond Examiner , in a leading editorial, 
says, the loss of an entire army on Roanoke Island, 
is certainly the most painful event of the war. The 
intelligence first received by telegraph is fully con¬ 
firmed. Twenty-five hundred bravo troops, on an 
island in the sea, were exposed to all the force of 
the Burnside fleet. 
wagons, containing supplies for him, were brought ; 
into Springfield from Forsyth, only a few hours 1 
before his retreat. 
Rebel sympathizers claim that Price will be 1 
re-enforced by twelve or fifteen regiments from Ben- 
tonviile, Arkansas, under Gen. Van Dorn; but * 
Gen. Siegel, who was advancing on the rebel col- < 
irnin by a different route than that pursued by Curtis, 
may strike a blow on their flank, and upset Price's 
calculations. Fonr rebel officers and thirteen pri¬ 
vates fell into our hands on Friday. The officers 
are the notorious Col. Freeman; Maj. Berry, aid-de- 
camp to Gen. McBride; Capt. Dickinson, Chief 
Engineer; and Capt, Bownell. Quartermaster. 
The Pony Express, with relay posts, has been 
established by Capt. Baldwin, between Rolla and 
Springfield. 
The following general order has been issned: 
Omni of tut. Provost Marshal or tiik General? 
tisrAUTMBs-r of Missouri, St. Loris. Feb. IT. s 
To insure the peace and welfare of loyal citizens 
in this department, it is ordered and enjoined upon 
all citizens that, they inform the Provost Marshal 
General, or the nearest Provost Marshal, of the 
names and places of residence of all persons who 
have been in the army against the United States, or 
who have actually aided in the rebellion by word or 
deed, or who have been guilty of any offences 
referred to in the circular issued from the. head¬ 
quarters of the Major-General Commanding this 
Department, dated February the 14th. 
The loyal Provost Marshals will make due inquiry 
into all such ca c os and order the arrest of any such 
as may come within the provisions of said circular. 
Any citizen who may conceal or attempt to shield 
any such disloyal persons referred to in said circu¬ 
lar will be arrested and punished. 
G. Farrar, Pro. Mar. Gen. 
On the 17th inst Gen. nalleck telegraphed to 
Gen. McClellan the gratifying news that General 
Curtis is in pursuit of Price’s flying army, and has 
so far been eminently successful. lie bad up to the 
10th captured one Colonel, one Lieutenant Colonel, 
two Captains, and more pi’ivates than be could pos¬ 
sibly just then take due care of. Tin's means evi¬ 
dently that he has succeeded in breaking up Price’s 
army. _ 
Department of the Ohio. 
The Cincinnati Commercial of the 17th inst 
has the following special dispatch: 
On learning that the rebels were evacuating Bow¬ 
ling Green. General Buell ordered a forced march 
by Gen. Mitchell to save, if possible, the railroad 
and turnpike bridges on Big Barren river. They, 
however, had all been destroyed when Gen. Mitch¬ 
ell reached the bank of the river. 
The Brigades of General Breckinridge and Gen. 
Hindman were, until Thursday evening, at Wood¬ 
land Station. The rebels left nothing at Bowling 
Green, except a few wagons. A part of the town, 
it is reported, is being burned. 
It is believed uow that no rebel forces exist in 
Kentucky east of the direct road from Bowling Green, 
via Franklin, to Nashville. 
Gen. Crittenden is trying to organize another 
army at Carthage, on the south bank ol the Cumber¬ 
land. This is the only rebel force on the line from 
Bowling Green to Nashville. 
Gen. Breckinridge and Hindman’s brigades have 
fallen hack on Russellville, where Gen. Buckner 
and Floyd's brigades have heretofore been stationed 
for some time. 
It is believed (hat aside from the above brigades 
the whole rebel army have been moved toward Fort 
Donelson and Clarksville. What movements may 
have been made by the rebel forces can only he con¬ 
jectured, but the probabilities are that they have 
concentrated their whole force on the Cumberland. 
The aggregate of these re-enforcements is perhaps 
40,000. 
Gen. Buell, we understand, goes with General 
McCook’s division to take command in person on 
the Cumberland, where our forces will be, by to¬ 
morrow night, 80,000 strong. While he presses the 
enemy in the Cumberland with his tremendous 
force, their flank and rear are pressed by Generals 
Nelson and Mitchell. 
Since writing the above we learn that ten regi¬ 
ments, no\y in Ohio camps, are ordered at once to 
the Cumberland. If, however, they have not done 
so. the divisions of Gens. Nelson and Mitchell will 
be ample to cope with all they have between Bowl- 
ling Green and Nashville. 
It is believed that the divisions of Gens. McCook 
and Thomas embarked at the mout h of Salt river on 
. steamers for Cumberland on Saturday night, and 
. that yesterday the troops who had been in the camp 
of instruction at Bardstown were at Louisville 
yesterday, embarking for the Cumberland. 
Later Bowling Green advices say that General 
. Mitchell captured five locomotives at the depot and 
f scattered the last of the rebels, killing and wound- 
t ing some 15 by shells. 
to move forward and renew the attack on the right. 
One of Gen. Wallace’s brigades, the 11th Indiana, 
8th Missouri, and some other regiments, were rapidly 
thrown in position, and company *‘A." of the Chi¬ 
cago Light Artillery, were planted in the road, and 
as the rebels, supposing we were in retreat, came 
yelling out of their works into the road, the Chicago 
boys poured a hailstorm of grape and canister into 
their ranks, stunning and killing dozens of them. 
Simultaneously with this, the infantry commenced 
firing at will, and the balls went well back into 
their works. Our men advancing, took possession 
of the ground lost, and a hill besides. 
Fresh troops, who had not been in.the action, 
were then thrown forward, and as the shade of night 
drew on, were in a strong position, ready to partici¬ 
pate in a simultaneous attack to be made Sunday 
morning. 
Oglesby’s, Wallace's, and McArthur’Bbrigades did 
the hardest fighting, and have suffered terribly. 
They would, undoubtedly, have held their first 
position but for the failure of their ammunition. 
The ammunition wagons were some distance off, the 
hills preventing their being moved rapidly. 
Some of our best officers and men have gone fo 
their long home. Hardly a man went over the field 
alter the battle but discovered some comrade who 
had fallen. 
We lost three Lieutenant-Colonels, and at least 
one-quarter of all the other officers were wounded 
or killed. 
During Saturday night a contraction of all our 
lines was made for a simultaneous assault from every 
point, and orders were given by Gen. Grant to take 
the enemy at the point of the bayonet Every man 
was at his post. The 57th Illinois on the extreme 
right. At daylight the advance was made, and when 
full light of day broke forth, flags were hung in many 
places on the enemy's works, and they had Btacked 
their.anus and surrendered early in the morning, 
the following pithy correspondence having passed 
between their commanders: 
IlEA ityRA r.TKUs, Four DO.VEl.SOR, Feb, 16. 
gm: In consideration of all the circumstances 
governing the present situation of affairs. I propose 
to the commanding officer of the Federal forces the 
appointment ol commissioners to agree upon terms 
of capitulation of the forces at this post under my 
command, and in that view I suggest an armistice 
until 12 o'clock to-day. 
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
S. B. Buckner, Brig. Gen. C. 8. A. 
To Brig. Gen. U. 8 . Grant, Commanding U. S. 
forces. 
HEADQUARTERS OH THE 1'lKLP, 1 
Ft, I1o.nki.son, Feb. 16. J 
To Gen. ,8'. U. Buchner Sue: Yours of this date, 
proposing an armistice and the appointment of com¬ 
missioners to settle terms of capitulation, is just re¬ 
except the Essex. This vessel received one shot in 
her boiler that disabled her. killing and wounding 
some thirty-two men. Captain Porter among the 
wounded. I remain your obedient servant, 
U. S. Grant, Brig. Gen. 
OFFICIAL RF.PORT OF FLAG OFFICER FOOTE AND 
GENERAL GRANT. 
Headquarters Dirt or Missouri, l 
St Locib. February 9,1S62. 5 
To Flag Officer A. If- Ponte, Cairo: I have this 
moment received the official report of your capture 
of Fort Henry, ami hasten to congratulate, you and 
your eommaiid lor your brilliant success. 
J II. W. Hallkck. 
Major-General Commanding Dep't 
gen. grant’s order. 
The following is the order referred to in General 
Grant’s report: 
Headquarters District of Cairo. 1 
Camp in tuk Field, Near Fort Henry, .• 
February {itli, 1862. ) 
[FIELD ORDERS, NO. 1.] 
The first division. Gen. McClomand commanding, 
will move at; 11 o’clock A M. to-morrow, under the 
guidance of Lient-OoJ McPherson, and take a posi- 
lion on the roads from Fort Henry to Donaldson and 
Lover. 
It will be the special duty of this command to 
prevent all re-enforcements jo Fort Henry or escape 
from it Also, to be held in readiness to charge and 
take Fort Henry by storm, promptly on the receipt 
of orders. . . 
Two brigades of the second division, Gen, C. F. 
Smith commanding, will start at the same hour trom 
the west bank of the river, ami take and occupy the 
heights commanding Fort Henry. This point will 
be held by so much artillery as can be made availa¬ 
ble, and such other troops u“. in the opinion ot the 
General commanding the second division, may be 
necessary for its protection. 
The third brigade, second division, will advance 
up the east bank of the Tennessee river, as fast as it 
can be securely done, and be in readiness to charge 
upon the fort, or move to the support of the first di¬ 
vision, as may be necessary. 
All the forces on the west bank of the river not 
required to bold the heights commanding Fort 
Henry, w ill return to their transports, cross to the 
cast bank, and follow the first brigade as last as pos¬ 
sible. , , 
The west bank of the Tennessee river not having 
been rcconnoitored, the commanding officer en¬ 
trusted with taking possession of the enemy’s works 
there, will proceed with great caution, and such in¬ 
formation as can he gathered, and such guides as 
can be found in the tune intervening, before 11 o’- 
millions of dollars worth had been sold up to the 
first of January. Of the last crop, only half a mil¬ 
lion of dollars worth in the same length of time. 
The resources of the South must be great, indeed, 
w hen it can stand such a deprivation as it has stood, 
with far less inconvenience than could have been 
supposed.” 
The Advertiser states that volunteering is going 
on in Mobile with a msh, and adds: j- 
«in two weeks’ time our volunteer array win 
make a show with glittering pikes, streaming pen¬ 
nons, double-barreled guns, and bowie-knife cleav¬ 
ers. So every good and loyal citizen will be able to 
feel the comfortable assurance that, it the negro re¬ 
frain, 1 Picayune Butler’s come to town,’ should be 
realized by the march of the Massachusetts hero upon 
our fair city, every man will be in arms to welcome 
him with ‘bloody hands to hospitable graves’—that 
we have not gone to sleep, depending solely for the 
safety of our homes upon Confederate troops and 
neighbors who may rush to our defense.” 
They resisted with the most 
determined courage, hut when 15,000 Federal troops 
were landed against, them, their retreat being cut 
off by the surrounding element, they were forced to 
surrender. This is a repetition of the Hatteras 
affair on a large scale. 
We have also to record the capture, by the enemy, 
of all our little fleet, except the Fanny or Forrest, 
our informant is not certain which. This vessel 
elnded the enemy and made up Tasquatank river. 
She w r as pursued, however, and fears are enter¬ 
tained that she was captured. It is said that before 
our boats surrendered they were abandoned, and 
that their crews succeeded in making their escape. 
If so, we are at a loss to conjecture why the boats 
were not burned before they were abandoned. 
The editor of the Petersburg Express received a 
letter from Suffolk, dated the 15th, which says that 
Edentou and Hertford have both been captured. 
Five gunboats moved slowly to the wharf at Eden- 
ton yesterday at nine o’clock, and landed their 
troops very soon afterwards. 
In a short time fifteen more gunboats arrived. 
The citizens raised the white flag. Between 3.000 
and 4,000 troops landed at Edenton. The popula¬ 
tion of Edenton is about 2,000, and it is about 50 
miles distant from Suffolk. In the afternoon two 
gunboats went lip Chowan river toward Winton, 
and several others moved toward the mouth of the 
Roanoke. 
We have given such items of the Burnside expe¬ 
dition as our space will admit, but will give the 
Wo refer our readers to the 
Department of Missouri. 
The past week has been one of the busiest as 
far as fighting is concerned. Those who love the 
Union, and who does not in the Rural ranks, can 
not but rejoice at the intelligence conveyed by the 
following official reports: 
REPORT OF COMMANDER FOOTE, U. S. NAVY, OF 
TUB CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY. 
Cairo, February 1. 
Sir:—I have the honor to report, that on the 6th 
inst.; 121 o'clock P. M„ I made an attack.OU Fori 
Henrv, on the Tennessee River, will) the iron-clad 
gunboats Cincinnati, Commander Stem bio. the flag 
ship Essex, Commander Porter, Carondelet. Com¬ 
mander Walker, and St. Louis, Lieutenant Com¬ 
manding Paulding, also taking with me the three 
old gunboats. Conestoga, Lieutenant Commanding 
Given, and the Lexington. Lieutenant Command¬ 
ing Shirk, as a second division in charge of Lieu¬ 
tenant Commanding Phelps, which took position 
astern ami in shore of the armed boats, doing good 
execution there during the action, while the armed 
boats were placed in the first order of storming, 
approaching the fort in a parallel line. 
The fire was opened at seventeen hundred yards 
distance, from the tiug ship, which was followed by 
the other gunboats, and responded to by the tort. 
As we approached the fort under slow steaming, till 
we reached within six hundred yards of the rebel 
batteries, the fire both from the gunboats and fort, 
increased in rapidity and accuracy of range. At 
twenty minutes before the rebel flag was struck, the 
Essex unfortunately received a shot io her boilers, 
which resulted in ‘wounding, by scalding, twenty- 
eight officers and men, including Commander Porter, 
as will bp seen in the inclosed list ol casualties. 
The Essex then necessarily dropped out ot line 
astern, entirely disabled and unable to coutlnuo the 
fight in which she had so gallantly participated 
until the sad catastrophe. The firing continued 
with unabated vapidity and effect upon the three 
gunboats, as they continued still to approach the 
fort with their destructive fire, until the rebel flag 
was hauled down, after a very severe and closely 
contested action of one hour ami fifteen minutes. 
A boat containing the Adjutant-General and Cap¬ 
tain of engineers came alongside after the flag was 
lowered, aud reported that General Lloyd lilgh- 
arn. the commander of the fort, wished to commu¬ 
nicate with the flag officer, when I dispatched com¬ 
mander Stembho and Lieutenant Commanding 
Phelps, with orders to hoist the American Hag where 
the secession ensign had been (lying, and to inform 
General Tilgham that I would set- him on board 
the flag ship. He came on board soon after the 
Union had been substituted for the. rebel flag, by 
Commander Stumble, on the fort and possession 
taken. I received the General, his staff and sixty 
or seventy men as prisoners, and a hospital ship 
containing sixty invalids, together with the fort, and 
its effects, mounting twenty guns, mostly of heavy 
caliber, with barracks and tents capable of accomo¬ 
dating 15,000 men. and sundry articles, of which, as 
I turned the fort and its effects over to General 
Grant, commanding the. army, on his arrival in an 
hour after we had made the capture, lie will be 
enabled to give the government a more correct 
statement than I am enabled to communicate from 
the short time 1 had possession of the fort. The 
plan of attack, so far as the army reaching the rear 
of the fort to make a demonstration simultaneously 
with the navy, was prevented by the excessively 
muddy roads and high stage of water preventing 
the arrival of our troops until some time alter I had 
taken possession of the fort. 
On securing the prisoners and making necessary 
preliminary arrangements. 1 dispatched Lieutenant 
Commanding I’Uclps, with his division, up the 
as 1 had previously directed, and 
details in our next, 
following official correspondence: 
Headquarters, Department ok North Carolina. ? 
Roanoke Island, February 10. j 
To Major-General George. B. McClellan , Com¬ 
mander \J. S. Array, Washington: —General—I 
have the honor to report that the combined 
attack upon this island was commenced on the 
morning ot the 7th, by the naval ami military 
forces Of this expedition, which has resulted in 
the capture of six forts, 40 guns, over 3.000 persons, 
and upwards of 3,000 small arms. We have no 
time to count them, but the number is estimated 
at nearly 3.000. Among the prisoners are Col. 
Shaw, Commandant of the island, and O. Jennings 
Wise, Commander of the Wise Legion. The latter 
was mortiuly wburided, and has since died. 
The whole work was finished on the afternoon of 
the 8th inst., alter a hard day’s fighting, by a bril¬ 
liant charge on the center of the island, and pursuit 
of the enemy to the n’orth end of the island, result¬ 
ing in the capture ol prisoners, the fleet meantime 
engaging and silencing the shore battery opposite 
it. Our forces advancing in the direction of the 
battery in the center of the island, the rebels were 
soon driven behind entrenchments, where they 
reBted. 
Eight mortars were landed from the fleet to serve 
our army as field artillery. About mid-day, Haw¬ 
kins’ Zouaves and the 10th Connecticut regiment, 
under Gen. Foster, made a dashing bayonet charge 
1 am, sir. very respectful lv. your obedient servant, 
U. S. Grant, ling/Gen. Commanding. 
Headquarters. Dover, Twin. 
Brig. Gen. Grant. V. S. A Sm: The distribu¬ 
tion or forces under my command, incident to an 
unexpected change of commanders, and the over¬ 
whelming force under your command, compel me, 
notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Con¬ 
federate arms, to accept the ungen erousjand unchiv- 
alrou terms which you propose. 
1 am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
‘S. B. Buckner, Brig. Gen. C. 8. A. 
Our whole force was soon in the enemy’s works, 
when the rebel officers gave up their swords. The 
bulk of the rebels were in the fort, and they had 
known of the surrender long before our men were 
aware of ite-as Pillow and Floyd had planned and 
executed their escape during the night, taking with 
them Floyd's brigade and a few favorites, occupying 
it came down to the river, mounted nine heavy- 
guns. The rebels wore sure of success. In any 
other cause, and against less brave troops, they 
could easily have held the position against 100,000 
men. 
Thursday A. M. the battle was opened on the pari 
of the Federal forces by the gunboat Carondelet, 
the only vessel of the fleet which had arrived, This 
continued for a short period, when she withdrew to 
await the arrival of such other vessels as had been 
ordered to the attack. Friday P. M. Com. Foote 
renewed the battle with four iron clad gunboats and 
two wooden ones, and after an hour and a quarter 
of severe fighting, the latter part of the day, within 
less than 100 yards of the fort, the wheel of the flag 
Hhip St. Louis, and the tiller of the Louisville were 
shot away, rendering the two boats unmanageable, 
They then drifted clown the river. The two remain¬ 
ing boats were also greatly damaged between wind 
and water. The St. Louis alone received 50 shots, 
and the others about half that number each. There 
were 54 killed and wounded in this attack. Com. 
Foote writes that lie has “reason to believe could 
the action have been continued for fifteen minutes 
longer, it would have resulted in the capture of the 
fort bearing upon us, as the enemy was running 
from his batteries when the two gunboats drifted 
helplessly down the river from disabled steering 
apparatus.” 
The business of getting the different brigades in 
position for attaching the new arrivals to the differ¬ 
ent commands, took up the greater portion of Fri¬ 
day night. At daylight Saturday, the enemy opened 
on the 18th Illinois, when Col. Oglesby’s Brigade 
soon became engaged, and was soon followed by 
Wallace’s and McArthur's brigades, — the latter 
acting under McC tern and, as the position of the 
troops had been changed during the night, and 
upon the battery commanded by young Wise, wading 
kuee deep through mud and water to get at the 
fort, and yelling like so many Indians. Meanwhile 
a detour was made on the right by Gen. Reino, and 
on the left bv Foster. This attack from three sides 
decided the fate of the day. The rebels fled from 
t he array of cold steel brought'to bear against them. 
Hawkins’Zouaves leaned the front defences, bay¬ 
onet in hand, as the rebels fled. Young Wise was 
not wounded here, as reported, but received his 
wounds in endeavoring to escape from the island in 
a boat from Shallowhog Bay. The boat was tired 
on, and he received tour wounds and was made pris¬ 
oner. He died on Sunday morning of his wounds. 
After the reduction of tue battery on the center of 
the island, Generals Reino and Parks took a force of 
men and went down to Fort Bartow, Col. Hill in 
command, and took undisputed possession of it. It 
had been the principle, point of two days bombard¬ 
ment by our navy. At 4:45 P. M. of Saturday, the 
American Hug was displayed. 
Foster then pursued the rebels to the north end of 
the island, where was also encamped a Virginia 
regiment that had been towed down on six schoon- 
ers from the mainland early Saturday morning. 
Foster approached and had an interview with the 
rebel commander, Col. Snow, of North Carolina, 
who asked him what terms lie would. exact. Foster 
replied “ an unconditional surrender,” anil consented 
to give him time to return to his camp to decide. 
The rebel officer had hardly reached his men, when 
the Massachusetts 25tb, burning with impatience, 
sprang forward. In the direction of the enemy, and 
Col. Snow raised a white handkerchief as a signal 
that the rebels had concluded to surrender. 
The rebels had proposed to cut our passage off the 
Croatan Sound by a chevavx de /rise of stakes 
extending from the main land entirely across to the 
head of Roanoke Island, but our gunboats forced 
their wav through, and commenced au impetuous 
pursuit of the enemy’s fleet, drawn up behind this 
Wrier. 
Our men fought bravely, and have endured most 
manfully the hardships incident to fighting through 
swamps and dense thickets. 
It is impossible to give ihe details of the engage¬ 
ment, and to mention meritorious officers and men 
in the short time, allowed tor writing this report. 
The mail vessels carrying it start immediately for 
Hampton Roads, and the reports of Brigadier-Gen¬ 
erals have not yet been Landed in. It is enough to 
say that the officers and men of both arms of ser¬ 
vice have fought gallantly, and the. plans agreed 
upon before leaving Hatteras were carried out. I 
w ill be excused for saying, in reference to the action, 
that I owe everything fo Generals Reino and Foster, 
as more full details will show. 1 am sorry to report 
the loss of 55 killed and 200 wounded, 10" probably 
mortally. Among the. killed are Colonel Russell, ot 
the 10tti Conn., and Lieut-Colonel Victor DeMon- 
teiL of the D’Epinuel Zouaves. Both fought most 
gallantly. 
I regret, exceedingly, not being able to send 
immediately a full report of the dead and wounded, 
but will send in a day or two full returns. 
I beg leave to inclose a copy of a general order 
issued by me on the 9th inst. 
1 am most happy t.o say I have just received a 
message from Commodore Gold shorn ugh. staling 
Tennessee River, as l had previously directed, and 
will lie seen in inclosed order to him, to remove the 
rails, and so render the bridge, incapable of railroad 
transportation and communication between Bowling 
Green and Columbus, and afterwards to pursue the 
rebel gunboats and secure their capture, if possible. 
This being accomplished, aud the army in posses¬ 
sion of the fort, and iny services being indispens¬ 
able at Cairo, I left Fort Henry in the evening of 
the same day. w ith the Cincinnati and St, Louis, uitd 
arrived here this morning. 
The armed gunboats resisted effectually the shot 
of the enemy, when striking the casemate. 
The Cincinnati, flag ship, received thirty-one 
shots, the Essex fifteen, the 8t. Louis seven, and 
Carondelet six,— killing one amt wounding nine in 
the Cincinnati, and killing one in the Essex, while 
the casualties in the latter, from steam, amounted to 
twenty-eight in number. The Carondelet. and St 
Louis met with no casualties. The si earners wore 
admirably handled by their commanders and officers, 
presenting only their bow guns to the enemy, to 
avoid exposure of the vulnerable parts ot the vessels. 
Lieutenant Commanding Phelps, with his divi¬ 
sion. also executed my orders very effeelually, and 
promptly proceeded up the river in their further 
execution, after the capture of the fort. In fact, all 
the officers and men gallantly performed their duty, 
and, considering this little'experience they have 
had*under lire, for more than realized rny expecta¬ 
tions. 
Fort Henry was defended with the most deter¬ 
mined gallant it by General Tilgham, worthy of a 
better cause, who, from his own account, went into 
the aetiou with eleven guns, of heavy caliber, bear¬ 
ing uiion our boats, which he fought until seven ot 
the number were dismounted or otherwise rendered 
useless. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
A. II. Foote, 
Flag Officer, commanding l’. S. Naval Forces, 
Western Department, 
To Major-General H. W. Hallkck. 
Commanding Department of Missouri. 
OFFICIAL REPORT OF GEN. GRANT. 
Heapquautkus, District of Cairo, } 
Fort Hr.vrv. Tcnn.. February ti, 1S62. \ 
Capt. T C. Kelton, A. A. Generaf Department of 
Missouri, tit, Binds , Mo.:— Captain :—Inclosed I 
send you my order for the attack upon Fort Henry. 
Owing to dispatches received from Major-General 
Halleck. and corroborating information here, to the 
effect that the enemy Were rapidly re-enforcing, 1 
thought it imperatively necessary that the Tort 
should be carried to-day. My forces were not up at 
10 o’clock last night when my order was written; 
therefore, 1 did not deem it practicable to set an 
earlier hour than 11 o'clock to-day to commence the 
investment. The gunboats started up at the same 
hour to commence the attack, and engage the enem v 
at not over 60(t yards. In little over one hour all 
the batteries were silenced, and the fort surren¬ 
dered at discretion to Blag Officer Foot,giving us 
all their guns, camp ana garrison equipage. Sec. 
The prisoners taken are Gen. Tilghnian and staff, 
Capt. Taylor and company, and the sick. The gar¬ 
rison, 1 think, must have commenced their retreat 
last night, or at an early hour this morning. 
Uad I not felt it an imperative necessity to attack 
Fort Henry to-day. 1 should have made the invest¬ 
ment complete, and delayed until to-morrow, so as 
to secure the garrison. 1 do not believe, however, 
the result would have been any more satisfactory. 
The gunboats have proven ‘themselves well able 
to resist n severe cannonading. All the iron clad 
boats received more or less shots—the flag ship some 
twenty-eight—without any serious damage to any, 
Dciiartiuent of tlie East. 
In the immediate vicinity of Washington but 
little has been done, and the condition of the roads 
forbids all movements in force. The correspondent 
of the N. Y. Tribune writes:—“ Some of the roads 
within the lines of the army are impassable, from 
the depth of mud, for teams. On the turnpikes it 
is not so bad as in the cross-roads. On the way to 
Porter’s Division, and near Ball's Cross-roads, it is 
deep enough in mud and water to float into the 
floors of the wagons, and at times.it is necessary to 
take the horses out of several wagons to haul one 
out of a hole. The fields are cut into deep ruts in 
all directions, in the attempt to escape the mud. 
Wagons are often tipped over, and occasionally a 
horse drops out of the traces, killed by overwork. 
Hackney carriages get out but a very little way. 
and at times turn back without reaching their desti¬ 
nation. Even the new military roads are almost 
useless. Mounted men take to the fields and woods, 
without regard to roads, fences, or ditches. The 
foot-soldiers have rough times of it, from ankle to 
knee deep in slimy mud in their camps. Still, their 
spirit is unabated, and ihey have learned almost to 
consider it the normal condition of the Sacred Soil. 
In fact, the roads are all so bad that it is invidious 
to say that one is better thau another—filled with 
red mud so liquid that the highways look like 
canals. The traveler gets covered from head to 
foot, and the horses are all of one color—Virginia 
sorrel,” 
By a flag of truce from Norfolk to Fortress Mon¬ 
roe, on the 11th inst., we gather, from rebel sources, 
the following items relative to the Burnside expedi¬ 
tion: 
Roanoke Island is in Federal possession, and 
Commodore Lynch’s fleet completely destroyed. 
Elizabeth City was attacked on Sunday, and 
evacuated by the inhabitants. The city was pre¬ 
viously burned, but whether by our shells or the 
inhabitants, is not certain. 
The first news of the defeat arrived at Norfolk on 
Sunday afternoon, and caused great excitement. 
The previous news was very satisfactory. It was 
I have the honor to he, General, your obedient 
servant, A. E. Burnside. 
Brig.-Gen. Com’d’g Department North Carolina. 
Commodore Goldsborough, who commanded the 
naval portion of the expedition,* reports as follows: 
U. 8. Flag Steamer PmuAnuLPHiA, ? 
Off Roanoke tslani. Feb 9. ) 
To Hon, Gideon Welles , Secretary oj the Bari/: 
Roanoke Island is ours. The military authorities 
struck to ns yesterday. Their means of defense 
were.truly formidable, and they were used with a 
determination worthy a better cause. They con¬ 
sisted of two elaborately constructed works,, rauum- 
ing together 22 heavy guns, 3 of them being lw* 
