His aged grandfather was in the city
at the moment, having come on a visit from Fairview. Baton Rouge must
fall at once. There was nothing to prevent Farragut's fleet from
steaming up the river now for hundreds of miles. The old Colonel was
furious when informed that he could not return to Fairview. But there
was no help for it.
"Don't worry, Grandfather," the judge pleaded; "you can depend on it,
Senator Barton will save Fairview if it's within human power--"
"But your grandmother is there, sir!" thundered the old man, "helpless
on her back. There's no one to protect her from the damned Yankees--"
The Judge smiled.
"Maybe the Yankees will not be so bad after all, grandfather. Anyhow
there's no help for it. I've got you here with me safe and sound and I'm
going to keep you--"
The fall of New Orleans sent a dagger into the heart of the South. Ft.
Donelson had broken the center. The fall of New Orleans had smashed the
left wing of the far-flung battle line. The power of the Confederacy was
crushed in the rich and powerful State of Louisiana at a single stroke.
The route to Texas was cut. The United States Navy had established a
base from which to send their fleets into the interior by the great
rivers and by the gulf from the Rio Grande to the Keys of Florida.
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