The Rebels take courage. They spring to their guns, and fire rapidly and wildly, hoping and expecting to disable the rest of the fleet. But the Commodore does not falter; he keeps straight on as if nothing had happened. An eighty-pound shell from the Cincinnati dismounts a gun, killing or wounding every gunner. The boats are so near that every shot is sure to do its work. The fire of the boats increases while the fire of the fort diminishes. Coolness, determination, energy, perseverance, and power win the day. The Rebel flag comes down, and the white flag goes up. They surrender. Cheers ring through the fleet. A boat puts out from the St. Louis. An officer jumps ashore, climbs the torn embankment, stands upon the parapet and waves the Stars and Stripes. "Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" You hear it echoing from shore to shore. General Lloyd Tilghman commanded in the fort. He went on board the flag-ship. "What terms do you grant me?" he asked. "Your surrender must be unconditional, sir. I can grant you no other terms." "Well, sir, if I must surrender, it gives me pleasure to surrender to so brave an officer as you." "You do perfectly right to surrender, sir; but I should not have done it on any condition." "Why so? I do not understand you." "Because I was fully determined to capture the fort or go to the bottom." "I thought I had you, Commodore, but you were too much for me." "How could you fight against the old flag, General?" "Well, it did come hard at first; but if the North had only let us alone, there would have been no trouble. They would not abide by the Constitution." "You are mistaken, General, and the whole South is mistaken. The North have always been willing that the South should have all her rights, under the Constitution. The South began the war, and she will be responsible for the blood which has been shed to-day." Thus, in an hour and twelve minutes, the fort which the Rebels confidently expected would prevent the gunboats from ascending the river was forced to surrender, and there was unobstructed water communication to the very heart of the Southern Confederacy. Their line of defence was broken. There was but little loss of life in this engagement,--twenty to thirty killed and wounded on each side. If the Rebel army had not fled almost at the first fire, there would have been terrible slaughter. When Commodore Foote was informed that there were several thousand troops in the fortifications, said he, "I am sorry for it, because if they stand their ground there will be great destruction of life from the heavy shells; for I shall take the fort or sink with the ships."