at the Union gunboats would be blown up by torpedoes, or sent to
the bottom by the batteries or by the Rebel fleet! How often that the
river would never be opened till the Confederacy was recognized as an
independent power! General Butler was in possession of New Orleans,
Memphis was held by Commodore Davis, and the mighty river was all but
open through its entire length to trade and navigation. In one year this
was accomplished. So moves a nation in a career unparalleled in history,
rescuing from the grasp of pirates and plunderers the garnered wealth of
centuries.

In 1861, when Tennessee seceded, the steamer Platte Valley, owned in St.
Louis, belonging to the St. Louis and Memphis Steamboat Company, was the
last boat permitted to leave for the North. All others were stolen by
the secessionists, who repudiated the debts they owed Northern men. The
Platte Valley, commanded by Captain Wilcox, was in Commodore Davis's
fleet of transports. Captain Wilcox recognized some of his old
acquaintances in the crowd, and informed them that in a day or two he
would resume his regular trips between St. Louis and Memphis! They were
ready to send up cargoes of sugar and cotton. So trade accompanies the
flag of our country wherever it goes.

This narrative which I have given you is very tame. Look at the scene
once more,--the early morning, the cloudless sky, the majestic river,
the hostile fleets, the black pall of smoke overhanging the city, the
forest, the stream, the moving of the boats, the terrific cannonade, the
assembled thousands, the glorious advance of the Queen and the Monarch,
the crashing and splintering of timbers, the rifle-shots, the sinking of
vessels, the cries of drowning men, the gallantry of the crews of the
Benton and Carondelet, the weeping and wailing of the multitude, the
burnings, the explosions, the earthquake shock, which shakes the city to
its foundations! These are the events of a single hour. Remember the
circumstances,--that the fight is before the city, before expectant
thousands, who have been invited to the entertainment,--the sinking of
the Union fleet,--that they are to see the prowess of their husbands,
brothers, and friends, that their strength is utter weakness,--that,
after thirteen months of robbery, outrage, and villany, the despised,
insulted flag of the Union rises from its burial, and waves once more
above them in stainless purity and glory! Take all under consideration,
if you would feel