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| Map of the operations of Pope and Foote.2 |
April 7, 1862. |
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| Confederate Headquarters, Island number10.3 |
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along the Kentucky and Tennessee shores; many hundred horses and mules with wagons, et cetera, and four steamers afloat.
Never was a victory more complete and decisive, for very few men escaped and very little property was destroyed.1 During the whole of his
operations in the siege, Pope did not lose a man, nor meet with an accident; and the casualties in the fleet were very few. There did not seem to be evidence of much loss of life on the part of the Confederates; but everywhere, from Beauregard's and McCall's Headquarters on the island to the smallest tent, there were proofs of the greatest haste in leaving.
Among other things found at Headquarters was a bundle of important official papers, one of them containing a drawing of Fort Pillow on the river below.
The victory at Island Number10 produced the most profound sensation throughout the entire republic.
Its importance to each party in the conflict could scarcely be estimated.
The announcement of it went over the land simultaneously with that of the hard-won triumph at Shiloh on the Tennessee River,
which we shall consider presently, and was followed, a few days afterward, by that of the capture of Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the Savannah River.
Every loyal heart was filled with joy and
hope, and Government securities, which were at two and a half and three per cent. below par, immediately commanded a premium.
The Confederates o almost despaired.
It was probable that Memphis, one of their strongholds on the Mississippi, where they had immense workshops and armories, would soon share the fate of Columbus.
It was probable that the great river would speedily be patrolled from Cairo to New Orleans by the almost invincible armored vessels of the Government, and the rich supply-country west of that stream be separated from the rest of the confederacy.
They also apprehended that the great line of railway running almost parallel with the Mississippi, between Southwestern Tennessee and New Orleans, would be seized
1 The value of the captured property was estimated at over a million of dollars. The steamers that were sunk were easily raised.
2 the figures on this map refer to the numbers of the islands.
3 in this little picture is seen a representation of one of the “plantation bells” that Beauregard called for
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