"That night Butler informed the Admiral that he and Weitzel
were of the opinion that the place could not be carried by
assault .... I shall therefore sail, he said, for Hampton
Roads as soon as the transport fleet can be got in order."*
[Footnote]
* Ibid., p. 317.
[End of Footnote]
"Porter replied that he could fire much faster than he had
been doing, and would keep the enemy from showing himself
until our men were within twenty yards of the fort, and he
begged that Butler would leave some brave fellows like those
who had snatched the flag from the parapet and taken the horse
from the fort."
Butler was unchangeable. He got all his troops aboard, except
Curtis's brigade, and started back. In doing this Butler
made a fearful mistake. "My instructions to the officer who
went in command of the expedition," says General Grant, "were
explicit in the statement that to effect a landing would be
of itself a great victory, and if one should be effected,
the foothold must not be relinquished; on the contrary, a
regular siege of the fort must be commenced and, to guard
against interference by reason of storms, supplies of provisions
must be laid in as soon as they could be got on shore.
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