mmand from Fremont, he fought the battle of Belmont, thus preventing
General Polk from reinforcing Price in Missouri. This was neither a
victory nor a defeat, as the purpose was not to hold Belmont.

In February 1862, with an army of twenty thousand men and accompanied by
Commander Foote's flotilla, he took Fort Henry and marched on Fort
Donelson. On the 16th of the same month he had invested Donelson and had
beaten the enemy within their works. General Simon Buckner, his old
classmate and comrade, was in command. He wrote to Grant, asking for
commissioners to agree upon terms. Grant replied: "_No terms except an
unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move
immediately upon your works._" Buckner surrendered, and Grant's sturdy
words flamed over the land, making him "Unconditional Surrender Grant."
The whole nation thrilled with the surprise and joy of this capture, and
the obscure brigadier-general became the hero of the day. He was made
major-general, and given the command of the District of Western
Tennessee.

On the 6th and 7th of April he fought the terrible battle of Shiloh, and
won it, though with great loss, owing to the failure of part of his
reinforcements to arrive. Immediately after this battle, General H. W.
Halleck, who had relieved General Fremont as commander in the West, took
command in person, and by a clever military device deprived Grant of all
command; and for six weeks the army timidly advanced on Corinth. Corinth
was evacuated by the enemy before Halleck dared to attack, and Grant had
no hand in any important command until late in the year.

Halleck went to Washington in July, leaving Grant again in command; but
his forces were so depleted that he could do little but defend his lines
and stores. In January 1863 he began to assemble his troops to attack
Vicksburg, but high water kept him inactive till the following April.
His plan, then fully developed, was to run the battery with gunboats and
transports, march his troops across the peninsula before the city, and
flank the enemy from below. This superbly audacious plan involved
cutting loose from his base of supplies and all communications. He was
obliged to whip two armies in detail,--Johnston at Jackson, Mississippi,
and Pemberton in command at Vicksburg. This marvelous campaign was
executed to the letter, and on the third day of July, Pemberton
surrendered the largest body of troops ever captured on this continent
up