Description:

Only days after he captured Paducah Kentucky Grant orders a riverboat to be used as a hospital ship for Fort Holt

ULYSSES S. GRANT (1822-1885) War-date Autograph letter Signed, "U.S. Grant Brig Gen Com.," 1 page 8 x 9.75 Cairo [Illinois] September 10 1861 to Major Hatch the brigade quartermaster ordering him to engage a riverboat for use as a hospital ship. Usual folds with very minor separations at margins light soiling else fine. Grant writes in full:, "You will please engage the steamer Swallow as a Hospital for the use of troops at Fort Holt and have her towed there at once. I understand the steamer can be had for twenty-five dollars pr. day. More should not be paid," Fort Holt was located opposite Grant's headquarters at Cairo Illinois protecting the mouth of the Ohio River. Only four days earlier on September 6 1861 Grant led the successful and bloodless capture of Paducah Kentucky which solidified Union control of the mouth of the Tennessee river cutting off an important route into the Confederate interior. He would use the Tennessee River in early 1862 to capture the important forts of Fort Henry and Donelson (the latter commanding the nearby Cumberland River). The steamer Swallow had already seen some federal service. In April 1861 the riverboat was used to capture the steamer C.E. Hillman bound from St. Louis for Nashville laden with 1000 pounds of gunpowder.

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June 21, 2016 10:30 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

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