ce
expressed by Southern sympathizers in the southwest, that the
Mississippi could not be opened before the recognition of Southern
independence. I determined to inform myself what the pilots thought of
the gunboat expedition then preparing to descend the river. On inquiry
I was directed to Mrs. Scott, then in the hotel, whose husband was a
pilot, and learned from her that he was then with the expedition that
had moved against Belmont; and the important facts she gave me
increased my wish to see Mr. Scott. On his arrival in St. Louis I sent
for him. He said that it was his opinion, and that of all the pilots
on these waters, that the Mississippi could not be opened by the
gunboats. I inquired as to the navigability of the Cumberland and the
Tennessee. He said at favorable stages of water the gunboats could go
up the former as high Nashville, and the latter, at all stages, as
high as the Muscle Shoals in Alabama. The moment he said the Tennessee
was navigable for gunboats the thought flashed upon me that the
strongholds of the enemy might be turned at once by diverting the
expedition in course of preparation to open the Mississippi up the
Tennessee; and having had frequent conversations with Judge Evans on
the military situation, I left the room to communicate this
thought--as he had just then called at the hotel--and asked him if it
would not have that effect. He concurred that it would, and that it
was the move if it was a fact that the Tennessee afforded the
navigation; and he accompanied me to interrogate Mr. Scott, to be
satisfied as to the feasibility of the Tennessee. The interview was
prolonged some time. At the close I told Mr. Scott it was my purpose
to try and induce the Government to divert the Mississippi expedition
up the Tennessee, and asked him to give me a memorandum of the most
important facts elicited in the conversation, as I wished them for
this object. I further stated my intention to pen the history of the
war, and requested him to write from time to time all the valuable
information he might be able, and I would remember him in my work. The
same day I wrote again to Assistant Secretary of War Thomas A.
Scott,[23] to whom I had promised to communicate the result of my
observations while in the West, and also to Attorney General Bates; to
both of whom I urged the importance of a change of campaign."

[Footnote 23: Thomas A. Scott was the great
railroad magnate,