The _Cairo’s_ first captain was 39-year-old Lt. Nathaniel Bryant, member of a Maine shipbuilding family and formerly assigned to the steam sloop _Richmond_. The commissioning of the new vessel took place on January 16. She was newly painted and her decks had been holystoned (scrubbed) until, as one member of the crew recorded, they were as white as linen sheets. Everything was snug and clean from top to bottom. On board were 14 guns, ranging from rifled 42-pounders to a 12-pounder howitzer. In the beginning, the _Cairo’s_ engines failed to function properly, and she was taken to an anchorage near Cairo for repairs. While lying there with a skeleton crew, news was received of the Union victory scored by ironclads at Fort Henry. The story was different at Fort Donelson, where Foote’s gunboats were mauled by Confederate shore batteries, but the _Cairo_ men complained because they had been unable to take part in either affair. On February 16, a month after her commissioning, Foote ordered the _Cairo_ to the Cumberland River. As she moved up the Ohio, she met a steamboat bringing news that Fort Donelson had surrendered. Her crew did more grumbling, fearing the war would end before they had a chance to fire at the enemy. Following a conference between Foote and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, commanding at Fort Donelson, the _Cairo_, with the _Conestoga_, was ordered on a reconnaissance to Clarksville, Tenn. Along the way they passed Forts Defiance and Clark, both of them abandoned and flying white flags of surrender. At Clarksville they found the Confederates had also evacuated that point. The _Cairo_ remained at Clarksville on a standby basis for several days and then was ordered to Nashville, where she arrived on February 25, again to find that the Confederates had gone. She lay idle in the Cumberland for several weeks; then she was ordered to the Tennessee River, reaching Savannah, Tenn., where Grant had his headquarters, on the evening of March 31. [Illustration: _Only known photograph of the U.S.S. _Cairo_, taken early in 1862 while she was being outfitted at Cairo, Ill._ Library of Congress] [Illustration: U.S.S. _CAIRO_] _Hammock berthing (port and starboard)_ _Three 8″ Navy smoothbores (forward ports)_ _Load waterline_ _Chain locker_ _Commissary stores_ _Coal_ _Fireroom_ _Launch (port) Cutter (starboard)_ _Cutter (port and starboard)_ _32-pounder Navy smoothbores_ _Engineroom_ _Shell rooms (port and starboard)_ _Magazine (port)_ _Stores (port and starboard)_