After the
occupation of Columbus, under these circumstances of full justification,
a small Confederate force, Colonel Tappan's Arkansas regiment, and
Beltzhoover's battery, were thrown across the Mississippi to occupy and
hold the village, in the State of Missouri, then an ally, and soon to
become a member, of the Confederacy. On the 6th of November General
Grant left his headquarters at Cairo with a land and naval force, and
encamped on the Kentucky shore. This act and a demonstration made by
detachments from his force at Paducah were probably intended to induce
the belief that he contemplated an attack on Columbus, thus concealing
his real purpose to surprise the small garrison at Belmont. General Polk
on the morning of the 7th discovered the landing of the Federal forces
on the Missouri shore, some seven miles above Columbus, and, divining
the real purpose of the enemy, detached General Pillow with four
regiments of his division, say two thousand men, to reenforce the
garrison at Belmont. Very soon after his arrival, the enemy commenced an
assault which was sternly resisted, and with varying fortune, for
several hours. The enemy's front so far exceeded the length of our line
as to enable him to attack on both flanks, and our troops were finally
driven back to the bank of the river with the loss of their battery,
which had been gallantly and efficiently served until nearly all its
horses had been killed, and its ammunition had been expended.
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