Continuing on to Cerro Gordo, near the Mississippi State line, he captured a river steamer called the _Eastport_, that was already partly converted into a gunboat. Further up two more steamers were captured, and three others were fired by the Confederates. The raid extended to Florence, and was one of the notably brave deeds on Western waters. The _Eastport_ was taken into the government service, and Phelps commanded her until she ran on a torpedo in the Red River two years later and was destroyed. From Fort Henry the gunboats turned to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. This fort, although on another river, was but twelve miles from Fort Henry. It was a much stronger position. As described by Mahan, “the main work was on a bluff about a hundred feet high, at a bend commanding the river below. On the slope of the ridge, looking down stream, were two water batteries, with which alone the fleet had to do. The lower and principal one mounted eight 32-pounders and a X-inch columbiad; in the upper there were two 32-pounder carronades and one gun of the size of a X-inch smooth-bore, but rifled with the bore of a 32-pounder and said to throw a shot of one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. Both batteries were excavated in the hillside, and the lower had traverses between the guns to protect them from an enfilading fire, in case the boats should pass their front and attack them from above. At the time of the fight these batteries were thirty-two feet above the level of the river.” Foote thought the position too strong for the gunboats because the forts could deliver a plunging fire that would strike on top, where the gunboats were not armored, but he consented to join the expedition. Meantime Grant had sent the _Carondelet_, Captain Walke, around in advance of the others, and she arrived within range of Fort Donelson at 11 o’clock A.M. on February 12, 1862. Grant arrived overland an hour later. [Illustration: Upper Battery. Water Battery. Grant’s army attacking, in distance. U. S. Gunboats. Battle of Fort Donelson. _From a painting by Admiral Walke._] To announce her arrival to General Grant the _Carondelet_ threw a few shells at the enemy and then dropped down out of range. Next day, by order of Grant, the _Carondelet_ took a partly sheltered position behind a point, and at a range of a mile and a quarter fired 184 shells into the fort to divert the attention of the Confederates as much as possible from General Grant. She was twice hit by the return fire, and one shot penetrated, wounding a few men with splinters.