This memorable battle of February, 1862, was the first serious blow to the Confederate cause. It was also Grant's first victory of importance, and marks the beginning of his rise to fame. Fifteen thousand prisoners were taken. Grant generously allowed the Confederates to retain their personal baggage, and the officers to keep their side arms. General Buckner expressed his thanks for this chivalrous act, and later in life became Grant's personal friend.] CHAPTER XVI. ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865. WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1862. Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson--Change in the Confederate Line of Defense--Capture of Island No. 10--Battle of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh--Capture of Corinth--Narrow Escape of Louisville--Battle of Perryville--Battle of Murfreesboro' or Stone River--Battle of Pea Ridge--Naval Battle Between the _Monitor_ and _Merrimac_--Fate of the Two Vessels--Capture of New Orleans--The Advance Against Richmond--McClellan's Peninsula Campaign--_The First Confederate Invasion of the North_--_Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg_--_Disastrous Union Repulse at Fredericksburg_--_Summary of the Wars Operations_--_The Confederate Privateers_--_The Emancipation Proclamation_--_Greenbacks and Bond Issues_. CAPTURE OF FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON. The fighting of the second year of the war opened early. General Albert Sidney Johnston, one of the ablest leaders of the Confederacy, was in chief command in the West. The Confederate line ran through southern Kentucky, from Columbus to Mill Spring, through Bowling Green. Two powerful forts had been built in Tennessee, near the northern boundary line. One was Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, and the other Fort Donelson, twelve miles away, on the Cumberland. Opposed to this strong position were two Union armies, the larger, numbering 100,000, under General Don Carlos Buell, in central Kentucky, and the lesser, numbering 15,000, commanded by General U.S. Grant, at Cairo. Under Buell was General George H. Thomas, one of the finest leaders in the Union army. In January, with a division of Buell's army, he attacked the Confederates, routed and drove them into Tennessee. In the battle, General Zollicoffer, the Confederate commander, was killed. Embarking at Cairo, General Grant steamed up the Tennessee River, intending to capture Fort Henry. Before he could do so, Commodore Andrew H. Foote, with his fleet of gunboats, compelled it to surrender, though most of the garrison escaped across the neck of land to Fort Donelson. CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON.