He intimated to General Grant that he must not linger if he wished to cut off the retreat of the enemy.

Grant assured him he would be on time to put his army in motion.
Fort Henry stood on a bend in the river, which it commanded for a long distance up and down stream.

Foote placed his boats behind an island a mile below the fort, with a view of avoiding the long range rifles of the Confederates, which were liable to cripple the gunboats before they could get into close action.

The wooden vessels halted upon coming in view of the fort, and the ironclads, as they were called, moved slowly up stream abreast of one another, firing their bow guns in answer to the shots of the rebels.

The latter had had the time to practice to acquire the exact range, while the boats had yet to find it.