Alexander County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter XVI Cairo During The War 1861-1865 1910 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com September 19, 2007, 9:40 pm Book Title: A History Of The City Of Cairo Illiniois CHAPTER XVI CAIRO DURING THE WAR 1861-1865 IT is quite impossible to say much concerning Cairo during this period of four years without also saying much about the war. Those years, however, were so full of events relating directly to the city as to require a separate if not a somewhat full account. The census of the year 1860, one of the most remarkable years in the country's history, shows the population of Cairo to have been 2,188, of whom 55 were negroes. It had no doubt increased a few hundred and probably had reached 2,500 in the month of April, 1861. Its population in 1870 was but 6,267. At the very opening of the war, it was seen that Cairo was to become one of the most important points on the long line of division between the revolting and the adhering states. The two great arteries of commerce united here and took their course southward through almost the heart of the then hostile country. Charlevoix, Governor Hamilton, of Canada, General George Rogers Clark and many others had spoken of the importance of the position as a means of defense against foreign foes; but few, if any, had ever spoken or thought of its strategic advantages in case of civil or domestic war. It is true, the Mississippi River had now and then been cited as a kind of bond of union between the states, but such references were little more than mere figures of speech, and when it became apparent that we were likely to have a civil war, the country turned at once to a careful study of the geographical features of the border states. Illinois extends far down into the Southern country and Cairo was and is about on a line with the south line of Kansas, the old well-known Missouri compromise line of 36-30, which was-less than forty miles north of the south line of Virginia and Kentucky. The two slave states of Virginia and Missouri extended north of Cairo 200 and 300 miles, respectively, and three-fourths of the state of Kentucky lay north of it. But its chief importance lay in its position at the junction of the two great rivers, from which it was supposed large control might be obtained and exercised over the united streams flowing into the Gulf and almost equally dividing the country in revolt. At the general election November 6, 1860, Lincoln received 76 votes in Cairo, and 106 in the whole county; Douglas 347 in the city and 684 in the county; Bell 91 in the city and 178 in the county, and Breckinridge 73 in the city and 79 in the county. In Union County, Lincoln's vote was 157, Douglas' 996, Bell's 58, and Breckinridge's 819. In Pulaski, Lincoln 220, Douglas 550, Bell 45, and Breckinridge 9. In Johnson, Lincoln 40, Douglas 1,563, Bell 0, and Breckinridge 9. In Pope, Lincoln 127, Douglas 1,202, Bell 83, and Breckinridge 1. In Jackson, Lincoln 315, Douglas 1,556, Bell 147, and Breckinridge 29. In Williamson, Lincoln 173, Douglas 1,835, Bell 166, and Breckinridge 40. In Massac, Lincoln 121, Douglas 873, Bell 84, and Breckinridge o. In Hardin, Lincoln 107, Douglas 499, Bell 62, and Breckinridge 0. In Saline, Lincoln 100, Douglas 1,338, Bell 113, and Breckinridge 15; and in Perry, Lincoln 649, Douglas 1,101, Bell 138, and Breckinridge 1. In the twenty-seven counties lying along the line and south of the railroad from East St. Louis to Vincennes, the whole vote for the four candidates was about 60,000, of which Lincoln received a little less than one-third. The only counties in which he received more votes than any other candidate were Edwards, Madison, and St. Clair. Breckinridge's vote in Union County of 819 was about three times as great as his vote in all the other twenty-six counties. In Edwards, Hamilton, Hardin, Lawrence, Monroe, Massac and Washington, he did not receive even one vote. It is well known that the people generally, or a large majority of them, in the southern and southeastern part of the state, sympathized with the south but not largely to the extent of disunion. They had voted for Douglas, who had in some vital matters broken with the southern leaders, and when he, seeing that war was inevitable, declared that there was but one thing for loyal men to do and that was to support the government, these southern Illinois people laid aside their radical democratic views and with remarkable unanimity rallied to the support of the Union. The Illinois and other troops who first came to Cairo in April and May, 1861, came there with the belief that its residents were, with a very few exceptions, southern sympathizers if not rebels at heart. They had known of the town only as a very hard and a very unhealthy place, and seeing the low site, the unfilled and muddy streets, the poor houses and still poorer sidewalks, their impressions, which they wrote back home, were in substance much like those of Dickens, if not always expressed in the same fine language. For a time the officers and men treated the people as if they were across the Ohio and in Kentucky. The little city government, with Samuel Staats Taylor at its head as mayor, became smaller and smaller and shrank almost into invisibility. It seems all the while, however, to have maintained itself de jure, but as for a de facto existence it had little if any at all in the midst of so many captains, colonels, generals, and armies of soldiers, equipped with muskets and cannon of every description. In the midst of arms the laws were silent. But this unavoidable state of things soon settled down into a condition or type of administration that seemed entirely natural, and to which the people of the little city adjusted themselves with becoming grace and contentment. It was soon seen, because practically demonstrated, that to carry on war much money was needed, and Cairo having become a great military station and depot, money soon began to make its appearance in a way never dreamed of by any one in the town, nor, for that matter, by any of the somewhat visionary founders of the place. Rents went up higher and higher, new but rather temporary buildings rose in great numbers and in every quarter. Prices of all kinds of goods advanced beyond precedent, and it was supposed that the future of Cairo was now well assured. This change in values and advance in prices were seen and felt everywhere in the country, with the fall in the face value of all currency and the constant and unlimited demands by the war for all products and manufactures. Many persons became comparatively wealthy who had never expected to attain unto more than a comfortable competency. It was a time of great prosperity, and very naturally sympathy with the south and opposition to the war became things of the past. The two newspapers here then received from time to time friendly suggestions from the generals commanding the post, who for the most part were treated as editors in chief. The city jail or calaboose now and then: contained a soldier, but the coming morning generally witnessed his transfer to the proper military authorities, which in most cases was regarded as best for all parties, especially the city and its people. Fort Sumter was fired upon April 12, 1861, and was surrendered the next day. On the 15th President Lincoln called for the 75,000 three months' soldiers and on the 23rd, the first soldiers of Illinois arrived in Cairo. This is what is said about their arrival by Mr. A. H. Burley, of Chicago, in his account of "The Cairo Expedition." April 21 (1861), the expedition started from the Illinois Central Railroad station (Chicago) . . . . The military train passed unheralded the length of the State, and rolled into Cairo to the astonishment of all and rage of many of its citizens . . . . Knowing the sentiment of the people, the fear was that they would destroy the long, wooden trestle-work across the Big Muddy River, which they could have rendered impassable, in an hour, by burning it. There was also fear that the rebels would seize Cairo, as being a point of great strategic importance. It was afterwards learned that Cairo would have been seized in forty-eight hours, had its occupation been delayed . . . The first armed force sent out in the West was that sent to Cairo, and it was sent from Chicago. The following three or four pages are from the report of Allen C. Fuller, adjutant general, for 1861-1862, dated January 1st, 1863, and addressed to Governor Richard Yates: On the evening of April 15, 1861, the following dispatch was received: "Washington, April 15, 1861. His Excellency, Richard Yates: Call made on you by to-night's mail for six regiments of militia for immediate service. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War." . . . . Washington, April 19, 1861. Governor Yates: As soon as enough of your troops is mustered into service, send a Brigadier General with four regiments at or near Grand Cairo. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. The importance of taking possession of this point was felt by all, and that, too, without waiting the arrival and organization of a brigade. Accordingly, the following dispatch was sent to Brigadier General Swift, at Chicago: "Springfield, April 19, 1861. General Swift: As quick as possible have as strong a force as you can raise, armed and equipped with ammunition and accoutrements, and a company of artillery, ready to march at a moment's warning. A messenger will start to Chicago to-night. RICHARD YATES, Commander-in-chief." At eleven (11) o'clock on the twenty-first, only forty-eight hours after this dispatch was delivered, General Swift left Chicago with a force of 595 men and four six pounder pieces of artillery. Capt. Houghtaling's battery, of Ottawa; Capt. Hawley's, of Lockport; Capt. McAllister's, of Plainfield, and Capt. Carr's, of Sandwich, did not arrive in Chicago in time to join the expedition, but followed it the next day. The expedition consisted of the following forces: Brig. Gen. Swift and Staff 14 Chicago Light Artillery, Capt. Smith. 150 Ottawa Light Artillery, Capt. Houghtaling 86 Lockport Light Artillery, Capt. Hawley 52 Plainfield Light Artillery, Capt. McAllister 72 Co. A, Chicago Zouaves, Capt. Hayden 89 Co. B, Chicago Zouaves, Capt. Clyborne 83 Capt. Harding's Company 80 Turner Union Cadets, Capt. Kowald 97 Lincoln Rifles, Capt. Mihalotzy 66 Sandwich Company, Capt. Carr 102 Drum Corps 17 Total 908 Captain Campbell's Ottawa Independent Artillery, with about twenty men and two six-pounder cannon, joined the force about the 28th of April." This expedition, indifferently armed with rifles, shot-guns, muskets and carbines, hastily gathered from stores and shops in Chicago, arrived at Big Muddy bridge, on the Illinois Central Railroad, at five o'clock, A. M., April 22d, and detaching Capt. Harding's company at that point, arrived at Cairo at eight o'clock the following morning. The batteries were unprovided with shell or canister, but slugs hurriedly prepared—and some of which were subsequently used at a critical time, and with terrible effect, by one of these batteries at Fort Donelson—answered the purpose of all. This command was reinforced, on the twenty-fourth, by seven companies from Springfield, under the command of Col. Prentiss, who relieved Gen. Swift, except as to that portion—who did not desire to muster into the United States service—commanded by Captains Harding, Hayden and Clyborne, who returned to Springfield on the second of May, to join a regiment organizing here. These last companies, however, arrived too late, and were mustered out of the State service, with allowance of one month's pay, under an act of the Legislature then in session. The importance of an early occupation, by our forces, of Cairo, was not overestimated. Situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and commanding the navigation of these waters, its possession in a strategical point of view, was absolutely necessary to our safety. The state governments of Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky were controlled by disloyal men. Governor Magoffin had, on the 16th of April, said to the President, in reply to his call on that state for troops: "Your dispatch is received. In answer, I say emphatically, Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern states." Governor Harris, of Tennessee, on the 18th, in reply to the call upon his state said: "Tennessee will not furnish a single man for coercion;" and on the same day Governor Jackson, of Missouri, said: "Requisition is illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and cannot be complied with." By taking possession of this point, at so early a date, our forces were enabled to prevent a traffic with the rebellious states in contraband property. This traffic was being actively carried on between Galena and St. Louis, with towns on the Mississippi below Cairo. The execution of the following telegraphic order was the first arrest made to this traffic: "Springfield, April 24, 1861. Col. B. M. Prentiss, Cairo: The steamers C. E. Hillman and John D. Perry are about to leave St. Louis, with arms and munitions. Stop said boats, and seize all the arms and munitions. RICHARD YATES. Commander-in-chief." On the evening of the 24th and morning of the 25th, as these boats, bound for southern ports, neared Cairo, Col. Prentiss directed Captain Smith, of the Chicago Light Artillery, and Captain Scott, of the Chicago Zouaves, to board them and bring them to the wharf. His orders were executed, and large quantities of arms and munitions of war were seized and confiscated. Though this seizure was not expressly authorized by the War Department, the act of seizure and subsequent confiscation was approved. Further shipments were all forbidden soon after, as appears from the following dispatch: "Washington, May 7, 1861. Governor Yates: Circular has been sent to collectors forbidding shipments intended for ports under insurrectionary control. Stop such shipments from Cairo. S. P. CHASE." The Legislature having met on the 23d of April, proceeded at once to provide for the organization of these six regiments, and, on the 25th, an "act to organize six regiments of volunteers from the State of Illinois and provide for the election of regimental officers and a Brigadier General," was approved and became a law. Under the old militia laws of the state a company of infantry consisted of one captain, one first, one second and one third lieutenant, four sergeants, four corporals, one drummer, one fifer, and not less than forty-six nor more than one hundred and sixteen rank and file. A regiment consisted of one Colonel, one, two or three Majors (as the case might be), the senior to be Lieutenant Colonel, with a regimental staff, to be appointed by the Colonel, to consist of one Adjutant, who should act as regimental judge advocate, one Quartermaster, one Paymaster, to rank as Captains, respectively; one Surgeon and Surgeon's Mate, one Sergeant Major, one Quartermaster Sergeant, one Drum Major and one Fife Major. The regulations of the Secretary of War for organizing these regiments required each regiment to consist of one Colonel, one Lieutenant Colonel, one Major, one Adjutant (a Lieutenant), one regimental Quartermaster (a Lieutenant), one Surgeon, one Surgeon's Mate, one Sergeant Major, one Drum Major, one Fife Major, ten Captains, ten Lieutenants, ten Ensigns, forty Sergeants, forty Corporals, ten drummers, ten fifers and six hundred and forty privates. The law provided that "in token of respect to the Illinois regiments in Mexico," these regiments should be numbered seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve; and that when organized they should be known as the "First Brigade Illinois Volunteers." Under the provisions of this law they were organized and mustered into service and ordered to duty as follows: The Seventh, Colonel Cook, was mustered at Springfield, April 25th, and ordered to Alton the 27th. The Eighth, Colonel Oglesby, was mustered the same date, and ordered to Cairo the 27th. The Ninth, Colonel Paine, was mustered at the same place, April 26th, and ordered to Cairo May 1st. The Tenth, Colonel Prentiss, was, with a part of his command, ordered to Cairo, April 22d, and was, on the 29th, mustered at Cairo. The Eleventh, Colonel Wallace, was mustered at Springfield, April 30th, and ordered to Villa Ridge, May 5th. The Twelfth, Colonel McArthur, was mustered at Springfield, May 2d and ordered to Cairo, May 10th. As has already been remarked, Cairo was soon seen to be one of the most important points on the dividing-line between the northern and southern states. It was the most important point in the whole Mississippi valley and in many respects a key to the wide extended country, and both sides, seeing the advantages of its possession, sought to occupy it. The Confederates pushed up into central Kentucky and at the same time occupied Columbus, only twenty miles below us, and they would have been in Cairo and have held it, at least for a time, had not Governor Yates rushed his very first soldiers to its defense against the Confederate approach. As illustrating the view taken of this important position at Cairo, I quote a few lines from General Clark E. Carr's book, "The Illini," on page 357, where he says: "Governor Yates received a telegram from the Secretary of War requesting him, as soon as enough Illinois troops were mustered in, to send a force to occupy Cairo. He did not wait for troops to be mustered in. In less than- forty-eight hours, he had General Swift, of Chicago, flying down, upon a special train of the Illinois Central Railway, with four batteries of artillery and six companies of infantry, and the most important strategic point west of the Alleghanies was safe in our possession. Cairo was from that time forward the central point of all the movements of our armies on the western rivers. The movement for its occupation was not made a day too soon." Major General George B. McClellan was, in April, 1861, assigned to the department of the Ohio, consisting of the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and in his book entitled "McClellan's Own Story," he says, on page 45: "In the course of May and June, I made several tours of inspection through my command. Cairo was visited at an early day and after a thorough inspection, I gave the necessary orders for its defense, as well as that of Bird's Point which I also visited. Cairo was then under the immediate command of Brigadier General Prentiss, and, considering all the circumstances, the troops were in a remarkably satisfactory condition. The artillery, especially, had made very good progress under the instruction of Colonel Wagner, a Hungarian officer, whom I had sent there for that object." In Col. Taylor's lengthy letter of September 6, 1858, to the Trustees of the Cairo City Property, concerning the inundation of June 12, 1858, wherein he states that the break in the levee occurred near where it curves into the cross levee towards the Ohio River, there occurs this passage: "When the levee broke, no one was in sight of it that I can ascertain. Captain McClellan, the Vice-President and General Engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad, and myself, had passed over it on foot within two hours before it occurred, and the watchman whose duty it was to look after it was over it about twenty minutes before, but to none of us was there any appearance of weakness. After leaving the location about twenty minutes and being distant less than one-fourth of a mile, the watchman heard the roaring of the waters running through the crevasse, and when I reached it, three-fourths of an hour afterward, the water was running through to the full width of three hundred feet and in an unbroken stream, as if it was to the full depth of the embankment. The probability is, I think, that, aided by the stumps and roots in the embankment and it is possible some other extraneous substances, the water had found its way through the base of the embankment, and had so far saturated it as to destroy its cohesion with the natural ground below, and then the weight of the water on the outside pushed it away." Less than three years from this time, the great Civil War, the greatest of modern times, had begun, and Captain McClellan was at the head of the Union army as Major General. In saying much about Cairo during the war one would likely say much more about the war than about Cairo. The Cairo of that time could be disposed of in a few pages more than Dickens used in 1842, although its population in April, 1861, was just about ten times what it was in April, 1842. Anthony Trollope was here two or three days in February, 1862, and he wrote much more and much more painfully about the town than did his facile penned countryman. (Trollope's "North America," vol. 2, chapter 6.) This much, however, can be said in palliation of Trollope's description of Cairo, and that is, it must have looked even worse in 1862 than in 1842. Cairo during the war was hardly Cairo at all. It was a great military camp, set down in a low flat plain and surrounded by high levees from which you descended to the town's level by long flights of wooden steps at the intersection of the unimproved and often very muddy streets. Trollope never tired of talking of the mud. The town was, as now, in a basin, whose rim was a high earth embankment, seven or eight miles in circuit, and over which one could not see either river unless upon a building or other elevation. Inside of these levees and along the same were the camps or barracks of the soldiers. At the junction of the rivers they constructed Fort Defiance. It was not of great extent. It was simply a large flat-topped mound, on which the cannons were placed, so as to command effectually the junction of the two great streams. Two or three miles lower down and on the Kentucky side of the Ohio and at a point very near where the waters of the Mississippi first push over to the Kentucky shore, Fort Holt was erected. It was named for the judge advocate general of the United States army, General Joseph Holt, of Kentucky. This point or place was subsequently called Fillmore. Fort Holt commanded not only the mouth of the Mississippi but commanded also the approach from the south on that river. Fort Defiance was also well situated to defend against vessels coming up the Mississippi and entering the Ohio. There was also a fort, for a time, at Bird's Point or rather at the site of Ohio City, somewhat east or further down the river. These three forts were intended to protect Cairo by commanding the adjacent parts of Kentucky and Missouri. During the early part of the war the expression "Border States" meant very much indeed. These border states were slave states. The free states just north of them were scarcely ever spoken of as border states. These border states were a sort of neutral zone or a zone in which the people were pretty equally divided between union and secession. This equality of division led to a desire for neutrality, that is, freedom from invasion by either side. Had this been carried out or been assented to, we would have had no war; but the neutral zone could not be maintained. The Confederates pushed up into Kentucky as a kind of matter of course or of right, she being a slave state; and before the year 1861 closed, they had secured and fortified Columbus twenty miles below us, the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, and Bowling Green, all in that state. They had two forts on the Tennessee, Fort Hieman on the west side and Fort Henry on the east side, just a little below; and just across the narrow space of ten or twelve miles, they had their Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, inclosing one hundred acres of ground, and occupying a high position on that river. At Columbus they had the advantage of the very high bluffs just above the town. With this well-selected line of advance toward the north, it was quite impossible, so long as it was maintained, for the northern forces to proceed a foot southward in this region of country. On their way northward, the Confederates would not have stopped at Columbus but would have occupied and held Cairo with all the advantages the place afforded, had they moved a month sooner or had moved with a stronger force either by land or by river. This early advance into Kentucky had for its main object the drawing of that important state into the Confederacy. Had not General Grant come this way, there is no telling how far the enemy's line would have gone northward, perhaps to the Ohio River. Grant not only stayed its advance but pushed it far southward as we will now proceed to show. Ulysses Grant was born in Ohio April 27, 1822; graduated at West Point in 1843; was for many years in the regular army and was in the Mexican War; was a farmer near St. Louis in the years 1855-57; in the real estate business in St. Louis in 1858; moved to Galena in 1859, and there was a clerk in his father's tannery that year and i860; appointed colonel of the twenty-first regiment of Illinois volunteers in May, 1861; brigadier-general of volunteers at Mexico, Missouri, in July, 1861, and major general of volunteers at Fort Donelson February, 1862; had his headquarters at Cairo from September, 1861, to April, 1862; was appointed major general in the regular army on the capture of Vicksburg July 4, 1863, and lieutenant general in 1864, and general of the army in 1867; and was elected President in November, 1868. Few men at home or abroad, at any time in history, have risen through so many grades and so high as this; from a clerkship in a tannery to the presidency of the United States within less than eight years. Captain Grant was appointed colonel of the twenty-first regiment of Illinois Infantry in May, 1861, and leaving Springfield with his regiment, he entered the state of Missouri in the vicinity of Quincy or Hannibal, and was first stationed at Jefferson City. In a very short time, he was transferred, and given the command of southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. He made his headquarters at Cape Girardeau. At this time, July and August, 1861, Jeff. Thompson and other Confederate officers were operating all over the southern part of Missouri and to them the Federal commanders were giving more or less attention. On the 4th day of September, 1861, Grant came to Cairo, and this place remained his headquarters until the northern line of the Confederate forces had been pushed far southward. Col. Oglesby was in command at Cairo when Grant arrived. On the second or third day after his arrival, he assembled a few vessels and hurried up to Paducah and took possession of the place. Had he delayed as much as eight or ten hours, the Confederates would have had possession of that city. Three to four thousand of their soldiers were on their way from Columbus and were within a few miles of Paducah when Grant entered and took possession. He had sent Oglesby with three thousand men into the state of Missouri, along the line of the present Iron Mountain Railroad, and on the 6th of November he proceeded down the Mississippi, as far as or near Columbus and Belmont, with two or three gun-boats and about three thousand men. This movement, which led to the battle of Belmont November 7, 1861, was intended to detain at Columbus the Confederate forces and thereby protect Oglesby and his troops. Grant says that had not this movement been made Oglesby's forces would no doubt have been captured. The entrance of the Confederates into Kentucky at different points was but an invitation to the Union forces to enter and occupy the state so far as they might be able. To break this central hold of the Confederacy on Kentucky, Grant saw that the rivers afforded him the very best available means. By the close of the year 1861 quite a large number of war vessels suitable for river service had been assembled at Cairo and Mound City, where, under the supervision of Captain William L. Hambleton, the government had built eight or ten gunboats, one of which Commodore Foote named The Cairo. These and many other vessels were ready for service late in 1861. They were first brought into service at Belmont November 7th; then at Fort Henry February 7th; then at Fort Donelson February 16, 1862. The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson led to the evacuation of Bowling Green; and as the vessels proceeded on up the Cumberland to Nashville, the latter was also evacuated by General Albert Sidney Johnson. Then came the evacuation of Columbus. Following these events came the great battle of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh and the retreat of the Confederates to Corinth. Before the end of the month of May, Corinth was given up to the Federals, and this was followed, June 6th, by the evacuation of Memphis. Thus within the short space of four months, Grant had pushed the Confederate line from central Kentucky down to the south line of the state of Tennessee. Following Nashville, Memphis and Corinth, came Knoxville and Chattanooga; and though the progress southward was or seemed slow, yet by the end of another year, namely, July 4, 1863, fifteen months from the battle of Pittsburg Landing, Vicksburg had fallen. This led to the junction of the Union forces from the north and from the south and the full and complete possession of the Mississippi River from its source to its mouth; and along with this came the possession also of all the states on the river south of Cairo, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana on the east, and on the west, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. The Confederacy was thus severed in twain, divided as along the median lines. Although the red line of war moved southward from Cairo, she continued to be the great point of departure for everything bound southward, as she was the point of arrival for everything going northward. The southern armies were pushed backward, but the people within the reclaimed territory were as a general thing no friends of the Union cause, and hence everything south of the Ohio had to be held by arms. Cairo thus continued to be throughout the war the most southern point in the great valley adhering heartily to the Union. Through the city there was almost a constant stream of soldiers bound northward or southward. A few days after the battle of Fort Donelson fifteen thousand Confederates were brought to Cairo and sent northward to the different prison camps. Over thirty thousand came also from Vicksburg. Some of our older citizens remember how the steamboats or other transports seemed covered and alive with them, dressed as they all were in their brown or butternut suits. And so it continued throughout the war. Before closing this chapter I must speak of the gun-boat The Cairo, so named October 29, 1861, by Commodore Foote, who was so long here and held in such high esteem by our citizens. This vessel was one of six or eight built at Mound City, as above stated. Her commander was Lieutenant Nathaniel C. Bryant. He was assigned to the command of this vessel by Commodore Foote. It was badly disabled at Fort Holt by an accident. It was at Fort Henry and also at Fort Donelson and went on up the river to Nashville. It was also at the siege of Vicksburg, and was destroyed while in the mouth of the Yazoo River about the 12th of July, 1863, by a torpedo, which it encountered in moving about in that river. I cannot say much of the town itself during this period of four or five years, for the soldiers were here and passing and repassing far up into the year 1865, and perhaps later. Had we the registers of the old St. Charles Hotel from April 15, 1861, when the war began, to April 15, 1865, when the President was assassinated, how many scores of distinguished names we would see therein written. In number and prominence they would be exceeded only by those at the capital of the Nation for the same period. I cannot devote more space to this subject; nor is it necessary. Cairo's importance during the war was due to her situation at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and perhaps more relating to the city will be found in the records of the navy than of the army. See especially vol. 22, series I, of the records of the Union and Confederate Navies, in our Public Library. Additional Comments: Extracted from: A HISTORY OF THE CITY OF CAIRO ILLINOIS BY JOHN M. LANSDEN WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS CHICAGO R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY 1910 COPYRIGHTED, 1910 BY JOHN M. LANSDEN The Lakeside Press R. R. 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