A month of this arduous preparation found his force ready for active
duty and about this time he became convinced that the Confederates
intended to seize Paducah, an important position in Kentucky at
the mouth of the Tennessee River, just beyond the limits of his
command. He, accordingly, telegraphed his superiors for permission
to occupy the place. No reply came to this request and a more
timid man would have hesitated to move without orders. But Grant
saw the danger and, assuming the responsibility, landed his troops
in the town just in time to prevent its capture by the Confederates.
Paducah was in sympathy with the South, and on entering it the Union
commander issued an address to the inhabitants which attracted far
more attention than the occupation of the town, for it contained
nothing of the silly brag and bluster so common then in military
proclamations on both sides. On the contrary, it was so modest
and sensible, and yet so firm, that Lincoln, on reading it, is said
to have remarked: "The man who can write like that is fitted to
command."

Paducah was destined to be the last of Grant's bloodless victories,
for in November, 1861, he was ordered to threaten the Confederates
near Belmont, Missouri, as a feint to keep them from reenforcing
another point where a real assault was planned. The maneuver was
conducted with great energy and promised to be completely successful,
but after Grant's raw troops had made their first onslaught and
had driven their opponents from the field, they became disorderly
and before he could control them the enemy reappeared in overwhelming
numbers and compelled them to fight their way back to the river
steamers which had carried them to the scene of action. This they
succeeded in doing, but such was their haste to escape capture