Finding the sentiment prevalent that the Union must fall and feeling
in my soul that it _must not_ fall, I began revolving an escape from
the threatened doom. Just then, while I was in St. Louis, the battle
of Belmont was fought. When I saw the dead and dying as they lay upon
that field and witnessed the sad sight of the ambulance wagons bearing
the wounded to the hospitals, my heart sank within me. The future of
the war with these awful scenes repeated was a picture not to be
endured, and my anxiety as to the result grew still more intense.

In reflecting upon the dangers of the proposed expedition it came upon
me, as by inspiration, that the sailors--the pilots--might offer some
suggestion. I knew that the military leaders would never avail
themselves of this humble source of information. I thought the pilots,
of all others, should know the strategic points. Sending for the
proprietor of the hotel where I was stopping, I asked him how I could
get into contact with any of these men. He told me that the wife of a
pilot named Scott was then in the house. I called on her at once and,
finding her well informed, I questioned her as to the harbors, coast
defenses, etc. Mrs. Scott was just about to leave the city, but she
promised to send her husband to me. I could not wait for this chance,
but wrote to him for the information I desired. He called upon me in
response, and during our conversation he said it would be "death to
every man who attempted to go down the Mississippi." Yet no other
route had been dreamed of. I then asked him, "What about the
Cumberland and Tennessee rivers;" whether they were fordable for
gunboats? He replied, "Yes, the Tennessee especially." Of course, he
did not at first know of any ulterior purpose in the questions which I
was asking, other than the information of an ardent lover of our
country. As he mentioned the Tennessee it flashed upon me with the
certainty of conviction that I had seen my way to the salvation of my
country.

I left the pilot and sent immediately for Judge Evans, of Texas, who
was stopping at the same hotel. I was almost overcome with excitement
and shall never forget the moment that I rushed to him exclaiming,
"What do you think of diverting the army from the Mississippi to the
Tennessee!"[24]

[Footnote 24: Judge Evans himself, describing this
eventful scene, said "that for a moment it seemed
as if a halo of glory