The men had been hearing for more than an hour the steady booming of the cannon, and every face was eager.
Colonel Winchester rode straight toward a short, thickset figure on a stout bay horse near the head of one of the columns.

This man, like all the others, was plastered with mud, but Colonel Winchester gave him a salute of deep respect.
"What does the cessation of firing mean, Colonel ?" asked General Grant.
"It means that Fort Henry has surrendered to the fleet.

The Southern force, which was drawn up outside, retreated southward, but the fort, its guns and immediate defenders, are ours." Dick saw the faintest smile of satisfaction pass over the face of the General, who said: "Commodore Foote has done well.

Ride back and tell him that the army is coming up as fast as the nature of the ground will allow." In a short time the army was in the fort which had been taken so gallantly by the navy, and Grant, his generals, and Commodore Foote, were in anxious consultation.

Most of the troops were soon camped on the height, where the Southern force had stood, and there was great exultation, but Dick, who had now seen so much, knew that the high officers considered this only a beginning.
Across the narrow stretch of land on the parallel river, the Cumberland, stood the great fort of Donelson.