Fort Henry, Day 2

*It appears that several months worth of correspondence between James Hamilton and his grandson Fredrick Jameson has been lost. This entry picks up upon the second day of the Federal movement against Fort Henry, located on the banks of the Tennessee River, just south of the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

My dear Fred,

As you should recall from yesterday's narrative, the Yankee's were preparing to attack Fort Henry.

Well, on the 5th of February, they continued unloading troops as the gunboats continued to patrol the river. The plan was to attack Fort Henry the following day. In the meantime, one part of the invading force, under General C.F. Smith, headed toward Fort Heiman. Fort Heiman, as yet unfinished, stood on the opposite side of the river--and in Kentucky. It had already been evacuated by the Confederates, so nothing occurred by way of fighting at that time or location.

Meanwhile, Confederate General Lloyd Tilghman (I have included a photograph I managed to find) and his 3,000 men prepared to meet the foe.

I leave you here, in suspense, to wait the morrow as those brave soldiers did, to see whom would be victorious.

Your loving grandfather,

James Hamilton

P.S. Freddy, the sketch you did of General Jackson was wonderful. I have it pasted to my wall along with the other prints of our generals. 

Fredrick beamed at this last bit of praise. Glancing over the sheet of paper at his friend, he grinned, "Chuck, I think I'll take a go at sketching Gen. Tilghman."

Charles was scrutinizing the picture in question. He nodded absently, "He reminds me of someone..."