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THE CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON.

W. H. L. Wallace from Ms position looked off to his right and saw but oneregiment of Oglesby’s in place, maintaining the fight, and that was John A.Logan’s 31st Illinois. Through the smoke he could see Logan riding in a gal-lop behind his line; through the roar in his front and the rising yell in hisrear, he could hear Logan ’s voice in fierce entreaty to his “boys.” Near the31st stood W. H. L. Wallace’s regiment, the 11th Illinois , under Lieutenant-Colonel Ransom. The gaps in the ranks of the two were closed up alwaystoward the colors. The ground at their feet was strewn with their dead andwounded; at length the common misfortune overtook Logan . To keep menwithout cartridges under fire sweeping them front and flank would be cruel,if not impossible; and seeing it, he too gave the order to retire, and followedhis decimated companies to the rear. The 11th then became the right of thebrigade, and had to go in turn. Nevertheless, Ransom changed front to rearcoolly, as if on parade, and joined in the general retirement. Forrest chargedthem and threw them into a brief confusion. The greater portion clung totheir colors, and made good their retreat. By 11 o’clock Pillow held the road

to Charlotte and thewhole of the positionoccupied at dawn bythe First Division, andwith it the dead andall the wounded whocould not get away.

Pillow’s part of theprogramme, arrangedin the council of thenight before, was ac-complished. The coun-try was once moreopen to Floyd. Whydid he not avail him-self of the dearlybought opportunity,and march his armyout!

Without pausing toconsider whether theConfederate generalcould now have es-caped with his troops,it must be evident thathe should have made the effort. Pillow had discharged his duty well. Withthe disappearance of W. H. L. Wallace’s brigade, it only remained for thevictor to deploy his regiments into column and march into the country.The road was his. Buckner was in position to protect Colonel Head’s with-drawal from the trenches opposite General Smith on the right; that done,

BRANCH OF HICKMAN’S CREEK NEAR JAMES CRISP’S HOUSE—THE LEFTOF GENERAL C. F. SMITH’S LINE. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN 1884.

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