The taking of Fort Donelson compelled the Rebels to evacuate Columbus,--the Gibraltar of the Mississippi, as they called it,--and all the work which had been done was of no benefit. Nashville was evacuated on the 27th of February. On the 4th of March Commodore Foote, having seen signs that the Rebels were leaving Columbus, went down the river, with six gunboats, accompanied by several transports, with troops, under General Sherman, to see about it. The Cincinnati, having been repaired, was the flag-ship. Commodore Foote requested me to accompany him, if I desired to. "Perhaps we shall have hot work," he said, as I stepped on board in the evening of the 3d. "We shall move at four o'clock," said Captain Stemble, commanding the ship, "and shall be at Columbus at daybreak." It was a new and strange experience, that first night on a gunboat, with some probability that at daybreak I might be under a hot fire from a hundred Rebel guns. By the dim light of the lamp I could see the great gun within six feet of me, and shining cutlasses and gleaming muskets. Looking out of the ward-room, I could see the men in their hammocks asleep, like orioles in their hanging nests. The sentinels paced the deck above, and all was silent but the sound of the great wheel of the steamer turning lazily in the stream, and the gurgling of the water around the bow. "We are approaching Columbus," said an officer. It was still some time to sunrise, but the men were all astir. Their hammocks were packed away. They were clearing the decks for action, running out the guns, bringing up shot and shell, tugging and pulling at the ropes. Going on deck, I could see in the dim light the outline of the bluff at Columbus. Far up stream were dark clouds of smoke from the other steamers. Commodore Foote was on the upper deck, walking with crutches, still lame from the wound received at Donelson. "I always feel an exhilaration of spirits before going into a fight. I don't like to see men killed; but when I have a duty to perform for my country, like this, all of my energies are engaged," said the Commodore. Right opposite, on the Missouri shore, was the Belmont battle-ground, where General Grant fought his first battle, and where the gunboats saved the army. There was a house riddled with cannon-shot; there was a hole in the roof as big as a bushel-basket, where the shell went in, and in the gable an opening large enough for the passage of a cart and oxen, where it came out. It exploded, and tore the end of the building to pieces. One by one the boats came down. The morning brightened. We could see men on the bluff, and a flag flying. Were the Rebels there? We could not make out the flag. We dropped a little nearer. More men came in sight. "Four companies of cavalry were sent out from Paducah on a reconnoissance day before yesterday. Perhaps the Rebels have all gone, and they are in possession of the place," said General Sherman.