Battle of Fort Donelson History Battle of Fort Henry Details
Facts Photo Map Cumberland Rivers Tennessee River Maps Photos, General Grant General Simon Buckner, Western Theater Civil
War Battles
Fort Donelson Battle of Fort Donelson
Henry
Other Names: None
Location: Stewart County
Campaign: Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers (1862)
Date(s): February 11-16, 1862
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Flag-Officer A.H. Foote
[US]; Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, Brig. Gen. Gideon Pillow, and Brig. Gen. Simon B. Buckner [CS]
Forces Engaged: Army in the Field [US]; Fort Donelson Garrison [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 17,398 total (US 2,331; CS 15,067)
Description: After capturing Fort Henry on February 6, 1862, Brig. Gen. Ulysses
S. Grant advanced cross-country to invest Fort Donelson. On February 16, 1862, after the failure of their all-out attack aimed
at breaking through Grant’s investment lines, the fort’s 12,000-man garrison surrendered unconditionally. This
was a major victory for Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and a catastrophe for the South. It ensured that Kentucky would stay in
the Union and opened up Tennessee for a Northern advance along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Grant received a promotion
to major general for his victory and attained stature in the Western Theater, earning the nom de guerre “Unconditional
Surrender.” Fort Donelson was part of Gen. Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan.
Result(s): Union victory
Recommended
Reading:
Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil War 1861-65 (New Vanguard). Description: At the start of the American Civil War, neither side had warships on the
Mississippi River. In the first few months, moreover, both sides scrambled to gather a flotilla,
converting existing riverboats for naval use. These ships were transformed into powerful naval weapons despite a lack of resources,
trained manpower and suitable vessels. Continued below...
The creation of a river fleet was a miracle of ingenuity, improvisation and logistics, particularly for
the South. This title describes their design, development and operation throughout the American Civil War.
Battle of Fort Donelson
 |
| The Leaders |
 |
"No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted."
Ulysses S. Grant, February 16, 1862
The morning of February 14 dawned cold and quiet. Early in the afternoon a
furious roar broke the stillness, and the earth began to shake. Andrew H. Foote's Union gunboat fleet, consisting of the ironclads
St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Corondolet, and the timberclads Conestoga and Tyler, had arrived from Fort Henry via
the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers and were exchanging "iron valentines" with the eleven big guns in the Southern water batteries.
During this one and one-half hour duel the Confederates wounded Foote and inflicted such extensive damage upon the gunboats
that they were forced to retreat. The hills and hollows echoed with cheers from the southern soldiers.
The Confederate generals—John Floyd, Gideon Pillow, Simon Buckner and
Bushrod Johnson—also rejoiced; but sober reflection revealed another danger. Grant was receiving reinforcements daily
and had extended his right flank almost to Lick Creek to complete the encirclement of the Southerners. If the Confederates
did not move quickly, they would be starved into submission. Accordingly, they massed their troops against the Union right,
hoping to clear a route to Nashville and safety. The battle on February 15 raged all morning, the Union Army grudgingly retreating
step by step. Just as it seemed the way was clear, the Southern troops were ordered to return to their entrenchments—a
result of confusion and indecision among the Confederate commanders. Grant immediately launched a vigorous counterattack,
retaking most of the lost ground and gaining new positions as well. The way of escape was closed once more.
Floyd and Pillow turned over command of Fort Donelson to Buckner and slipped
away to Nashville with about 2,000 men. Others followed cavalryman Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest across swollen Lick Creek.
That morning, February 16, Buckner asked Grant for terms. Grant's answer was short and direct: "No terms except an unconditional
and immediate surrender can be accepted." Buckner surrendered.
Soon after the surrender, civilians and relief agencies rushed to assist the
Union Army. The U.S. Sanitary Commission was one of the first to provide food, medical supplies, and hospital ships to transport
the wounded. Many civilians came in search of loved ones or to offer support. Although not officially recognized as nurses,
women such as Mary Bickerdyke cared for and comforted sick and wounded soldiers.
With the capture of Fort Donelson and its sister fort, Henry, the North had
not only won its first great victory, it had also gained a new hero—"Unconditional Surrender" Grant, who was promoted
to major general. Subsequent victories at Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga would lead to his appointment as lieutenant general and commander of all Union Armies. Robert
E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox would send Grant to the White House.
After the fall of Fort Donelson, the South was forced to give up southern
Kentucky and much of Middle and West Tennessee. The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, and railroads in the area, became vital
Federal supply lines. Nashville was developed into a huge supply depot for the Union army in the west. The heartland of the
Confederacy was opened, and the Federals would press on until the "Union" became a fact once more.
Sources: National Park Service; Fort Donelson National Battlefield; Library of Congress; National Archives
and Records Administration.
Recommended
Reading:
Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry-Fort Donelson Campaign, February 1862 (The American Civil War) (Hardcover).
Description: This book presents one of the most detailed descriptions of the Fort Henry and Fort
Donelson Campaign. The volume describes the preparation, logistics, and the execution of the campaign. The book details the
futile (and brief) defense of the poorly designed Fort Henry. It demonstrates the willingness of General Ulysses Grant, unlike many of his
general officer brethren in the Union Army at that time, to take immediate action against Fort Donelson. Continued
below...
It shows some of
Grant’s sloppiness in combat situations (as at Shiloh, where he did not bother preparing a stout defense or at Belmont when he lost control
of his troops), for instance, when he left Fort Donelson to meet with the naval commander--leaving his army leaderless at the time when
the Confederates attempted a breakout. But the book also well describes his tenacity. After the near breakout, Grant takes
initiative once again. The description of the dysfunctional Confederate command structure (from Albert Sydney Johnston on
down to the commanders on the ground at Fort Donelson) is excellent, although, perhaps, Simon Bolivar Buckner may not have been quite
as ineffective as depicted… A valuable book that warrants being in the library of Civil War buffs.
Recommended
Reading: Forts Henry and Donelson: The
Key to the Confederate Heartland. Description: The Twin Rivers Campaign,
aka the Union campaign against Fort Henry
and Fort Donelson,
was a direct result of Gen. Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan… But, after the Twin
River forts were captured by a Federal army-navy force and coupled with the fall
of Nashville, the Union enjoyed a fresh and much needed momentum.
The fall of the forts signaled the beginning of the Confederate collapse in the West, which ultimately decided the war. Continued below...
Benjamin Franklin Cooling, author
of several Civil War studies, conveys the actions of both Federal and Confederate authorities before and during the campaign,
and applies the exact words of the frontline soldiers’ to the subject. The campaign is described in good detail,
and with great writing. With little written about this dramatic and pivotal campaign, it is a great joy to read Mr. Cooling's
book. The maps in this book, while not the best, are well above average. They cover the fighting at the forts in very
good detail. The illustrations are helpful as well. I encourage Civil War buffs to read this book and enjoy the history of
this rarely written about pivotal campaign.
Related Studies:
NEW! Recommended Reading: Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest, and the Campaign
That Decided the Civil War. From Publishers Weekly: The bloody February 1862 Union
victory at Fort Donelson on Tennessee's Cumberland River is remembered as the Union's first big success—and as the battle
in which Ulysses S. Grant held firm for Confederate unconditional surrender. Former journalist Hurst (Nathan Bedford Forrest:
A Biography) attempts to make the case that Grant's western theater victory at Donelson indelibly shaped his military career,
as well as that of Confederate Lt. Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, and that the battle turned the tide of the Civil War unalterably
in the North's favor. Writing forcefully and engagingly, Hurst does a thorough job of reconstructing the military aspects
of the battle and never shies away from illuminating the war's horror. Continued below...
His focus is on Grant, the Confederate generals who faced him (John Floyd, Gideon Pillow, Simon Buckner
and Bushrod Johnson) and the ever-aggressive Forrest, best known for his battlefield viciousness and his postwar role in creating
the Ku Klux Klan. It's a stretch, though, to postulate that the 1862 victory at Donelson propelled the Union to victory more
than three years later. Certainly, as Hurst says, western theater action often is overlooked in assessing the Civil War. But
one can't ignore the impact on the war's outcome of the massive battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, Wilderness and Cold Harbor
that came after Donelson. AWARDED 5 STARS by americancivilwarhistory.org
Recommended Reading: Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns (Great Campaigns of the Civil War).
Description: When Vicksburg fell to Union
forces under General Grant in July 1863, the balance turned against the Confederacy in the trans-Appalachian theater. The
Federal success along the river opened the way for advances into central and eastern Tennessee,
which culminated in the bloody battle of Chickamauga and then a struggle for Chattanooga. Chickamauga
is usually counted as a Confederate victory, albeit a costly one.
That battle—indeed the entire campaign—is marked
by muddle and blunders occasionally relieved by strokes of brilliant generalship and high courage. The campaign ended significant
Confederate presence in Tennessee
and left the Union poised to advance upon Atlanta and the
Confederacy on the brink of defeat in the western theater.
Also
Consider: CIVIL
WAR IN WEST SLIP CASES: From Stones River
to Chattanooga [BOX SET], by Peter Cozzens (1528 pages) (University of Illinois Press).
Description: This trilogy very competently fills in much needed analysis
and detail on the critical Civil War battles of Stones River,
Chickamauga and Chattanooga. "Cozzens' comprehensive study of these three great battles has set a new standard in Civil War
studies....the research, detail and accuracy are first-rate."
|