![]() Foote, arrived March 15, upstream from Island Number 10. A Union Navy flotilla, under the command of Flag Officer Andrew H. On the 14th, Pope's army discovered that New Madrid was deserted and moved in to occupy it. Since it did not appear possible to defend New Madrid, the Confederate gunboats and troops evacuated to Island Number 10 and Tiptonville, Tennessee. The Confederates bombarded the Yankees to no avail. On the 13th, four 128-pound siege guns arrived and the Union set about in earnest to bombard the forts and the fleet of gunboats. Jeff Thompson, Missouri State Guard, against the besiegers and brought up heavy artillery to bombard them. He launched a sortie, under Brigadier General M. McCown, the garrison commander, defended both New Madrid and Island Number 10 from the fortifications at Fort Thompson and Fort Bankhead, which housed a total of 21 heavy guns. His force of men marched overland through swamps, lugging supplies and artillery, reaching the outskirts of New Madrid on March 3, and laid siege to the city. Brigadier General John Pope, commander of the Union Army of the Mississippi, left from Commerce, Missouri, to attack New Madrid, on February 28, 1862. ![]() Nearby was New Madrid, Missouri, one of the weak points. Beauregard, commander of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi, chose Island Number 10, which stood about 10 feet above the low water mark, had 30 guns and was about 60 river miles below Columbus, to be the strong point for defending the Mississippi River. ![]() With the surrender of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee, and the evacuation of Columbus, Kentucky, General P.G.T.
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