Some of the steamers were sheathed in iron also.
Dick's heart throbbed hard when he saw the great equipment.

The fighting ships were under the command of Commodore Foote, an able man, but General Grant and his lieutenants, General McClernand and General Smith, commanded the army aboard the transports.

On the transport next to them Dick saw the Pennsylvanians and he waved his hand to his friends who stood on the deck.

They waved back, and Dick felt powerfully the sense of comradeship.

It warmed his heart for them all to be together again, and it was a source of strength, too.
The steamer that bore his regiment was named the River Queen, and many of her cabins had been torn away to make more room for the troops who would sleep in rows on her decks, as thick as buffaloes in a herd.