A number of equally fruitless skirmishes followed. On November 7th there was quite a battle at Belmont, on the Missouri side of the river, opposite Columbus, Kentucky. Grant, with between 3,000 and 4,000 men, went down the river in transports convoyed by the gunboats _Taylor_, Captain Walke, and _Lexington_, Captain Phelps. They landed just out of range of the Iron Bluff forts above Columbus, and attacked the Confederates at Belmont with success, while gunboats under Walke shelled the works on the Columbus side. Although each boat might have been penetrated and its boiler exploded by a stray grapeshot, they were repeatedly carried by Walke, who was senior officer afloat, under the Confederate batteries. The reader should understand that taking a frail steamboat under the fire of heavy guns is a much more dangerous affair than going under fire with an old-fashioned ship with sails; for one shot could scarcely disable even a thin-walled sailing ship, but one shot into a steamer’s boiler not only disabled her, but slaughtered her crew with the steam. Walke and Phelps showed great gallantry on this occasion. The Confederate troops were driven to their transports at first, but they rallied and were reinforced from the Columbus side of the river until they numbered about 7,000. Grant then retreated, and his troops were in some disorder, for they were yet undisciplined. When Grant was compelled to retreat, Walke took the _Taylor_ within a few yards of the banks where the Union troops embarked and drove off the victorious Confederates. It is not unlikely that Grant would have been captured but for Walke’s timely aid, for he was the last man to board the transports, and the Confederates were at hand in force with plenty of field-guns to sink the Union transports. [Illustration: The Battle of Belmont: First Attack by the _Taylor_ and the _Lexington_. _From a painting by Admiral Walke._]