The Battle that lost the South
Following the fall of Fort Sumter
and early Confederate victories in Virginia, then-President
Lincoln started to focus his efforts on the western theater
of the war in Tennessee in hopes of gaining a few victories
that would boost morale in the Union as many were still very
opposed to the North’s war efforts.
President Lincoln knew he didn’t have much to work with
in the west. He had appointed an officer with a questionable
record to command.
Hiram Grant had questionably gained admittance to the West Point
Military Academy, where his name was accidentally entered into
the record by his congressman as Ulysses Simpson Grant, and
had graduated 21 out of a class of 39. He served well in the
Mexican War, however, and achieved the battlefield rank of Captain
in the conflict for his bravery under fire.
Following a number of postings in the East where he and his
newlywed wife were able to be together, he was suddenly transferred
out West to California. The loneliness of the posts and the
fact he was forced to leave his wife behind began posing problems
for the officer. He started drinking heavily and developing
a reputation that led to him becoming known somewhat as a drunkard.
It led to numerous conflicts with his superiors and he eventually
resigned his commission over it. Grant returned to Missouri
where he barely survived doing odd jobs and selling firewood
at 50 cents a cord. He was eventually forced to move back to
his family’s home in Illinois and was working in his father’s
leather shop when the war began.
The 39-year-old former soldier jumped at the opportunity it
offered and he raised a volunteer force in Galena, IL. to serve
in the Union Army. In June 1861, Illinois made him a Colonel
of the new 21st Illinois Infantry and Grant rigorously trained
the volunteers until he got them into fighting shape. Although
untested in battle, President Lincoln accepted them, made Grant
a Brigadier General of the Illinois volunteers, and sent him
and the men
to Paducah, Ky.
After a promising start, Gen. Grant’s first offensive against
the Confederates near Belmont, MO. ended badly when reinforcements
arrived and forced his army into retreat.
The defeat had shocked Northern command and was a serious blow
to the Illinois general, but in February 1862, his commanding
officer General Henry Halleck authorized Grant to move against
Forts Henry and Donelson in upper middle Tennessee.
The Confederate forces under command of the popular General
Albert Sydney Johnston. General Johnston knew the Cumberland
and Tennessee Rivers were vital to the South and offered a possible
highway of destruction if Union forces gained access to them.
While so much attention had been focused on the protection of
the Mississippi River, little thought had been given to the
Tennessee rivers until Gen. Johnston decided to make his headquarters
at Nashville. At that point, the General turned his attention
to Fort Donelson near the Kentucky border and decided it and
the neighboring Fort Henry would be where the defense of Nashville
would take place. The Confederates poured their resources into
developing it into a first class defensive position.
Fort Donelson sat 63 miles northwest of Nashville in Stewart
County. It rested on a ridge 120 feet above the Cumberland River
with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. To fortify
it, the Confederates had laid in a rifle pit two and a half
miles in length and three heavy artillery batteries on the closest
banks of the Cumberland guarding the river. Fort Henry, which
sat 12 miles away on the Tennessee River, was less fortified.
It did have 17 heavy guns and a similar rifle pit held by 3,000
men under command of Gen. Lloyd Tilghman.
Word soon came to Gen. Johnston in late January 1862 that Union
forces around the City of Cairo, Illinois were mobilizing and
moving south. The Confederate leader decided to split his 30,000-man-force
and dispatched 16,000 to Fort Donelson to defend Nashville,
while he kept the rest in observation of the Union at Louisville,
Ky. Gen. Johnston entrusted command of the Fort Donelson forces
to three respected chiefs of brigade – Generals John Floyd,
Gideon Pillow, and Simon Buckner. Of the three, Simon Buckner
was the most feared and General Floyd, who was the ranking officer,
was considered a prize to be captured by Union Army. Pillow
was thought of as a good officer, but given to infighting, which
could pose problems in command decisions. He was under indictment
by a grand jury in Washington, D.C. for his actions while serving
as the Secretary of War under President Buchanan.
On February 2, Commodore Andrew Foote left Cairo in the lead
of four ironclad ships to engage Fort Henry. He arrived two
days later and saw an unbelievable opportunity. The winter rains
had flooded Fort Henry and, while it was heavily guarded, the
water allowed his ironclads to steam right up to the fort. Confederate
sentinels had seen the ironclads steaming towards the fort and,
as they came into range on Feb. 6, opened fire on the approaching
fleet. The battle was short-lived, however, and Confederate
General Tilghman was soon forced to surrender the fort to Foote
– marking the first time in history a naval fleet had taken
a fort without ever stepping foot on the soil. Tilghman surrendered
with 78 men and reported 16 killed in the battle, but had bought
enough time for the remaining 3,000 men in the rifle pits under
command of Colonel Heiman to retreat to Fort Donelson. Soldiers
stationed at Donelson heard the battle raging 12 miles away
and began digging in for the battle and waiting for reports.
The Union suffered some slight damage on the ships and reported
29 killed or wounded. Gen. Grant arrived to late at Fort Henry
to take part in the battle and started making plans to take
Fort Donelson.
From Feb. 6 - 12, General Grant spent the time surveying the
countryside and finding roads to transport the troops and equipment
to the heavily guarded Donelson. During this time, Confederate
forces were also moving towards the fort. On Feb. 9, General
Pillow arrived at Donelson followed by General Buckner on the
11th and Commanding General Floyd on the 13th. The false spring
day of Feb. 13 saw 28 Confederate Regiments in defense of the
Fort. Thirteen were from Tennessee, two from Kentucky, six from
Mississippi, one from Texas, two from Alabama, and four from
Virginia.
Grant and his men marched from Fort Henry towards Donelson and
the Union officer arrived at a clearing two miles from the City
of Dover and seized the Crisp Home as his headquarters while
his men moved into the region. On the evening of February 12,
General U.S. Grant and his army of 20 thousand men looked upon
Fort Donelson. Commodore Foote and six ironclads had passed
into the Cumberland River and were drawing near the fort. The
Union ironclad Carondelet under command of Commander Walke had
slipped ahead of the flotilla and was lying in wait below the
fort awaiting the arrival of the fleet.
Grant dispatched his generals to their respective positions
opposite their Confederate counterparts and waited for orders.
Snipers and small units were sent out to skirmish with Confederate
forces in hopes of unmasking their positions and showing where
heavy artillery could be brought up and put in place.
Confederate soldiers laid in wait for orders as well and listened
as axes tore through the surrounding forest to make way for
the advancing troops. As the sun rose on the morning of Feb.
13, the Union cannons opened fire, which was returned in force
by the Confederates. General Grant then engaged the Confederate
Infantry lying in the rifle pits around the fort. Three Union
regiments charged at the rifle pit crashing through the undergrowth.
Confederate Colonel Heiman saw the approaching force and had
the batteries start shelling before the Union soldiers had cleared
the forest. As they cleared the woods, Confederate infantrymen
opened fire. The Union kept coming and, as they approached the
pits, the breastworks were set on fire and the smoke offered
a screen that prevented them from gaining ground against Confederate
fire. Twice more the Union rallied and charged and twice more
they were repulsed by the Confederates and sent into retreat
towards the rear area.
Around 11 a.m., Commander Walke was joined by flag-officer Foote
at his position and, with the victory at Fort Henry still fresh
on Foote’s mind, he directed his ships dangerously close
to the water batteries defending the position. The Confederate
batteries tore into Foote’s fleet – sinking two ironclads,
disabled two others and forced Foote to withdraw with 54 men
killed or wounded. The Confederate gunners had each picked a
ship to target and stayed with her throughout the naval assault
firing.
Grant, in the throes of trying to control the battle operations,
ordered Foote to retire to Cairo for repairs and to gather reinforcements.
Union General Lew Wallace, who had been left with a small force
at Fort Henry, was now ordered to join the assault on Donelson.
As night fell, winter returned to the region with a vengeance.
The armies were so close to each other that none dare start
a fire and it added to the miserable feeling that was gripping
the Union Army. Snow began to fall and temperatures hovered
well below freezing.
Councils were held in Fort Donelson and offensive plans made
for the following morning to push the Union off of the to Nashville.
Preparations were made for the ensuing charge. The Confederate
soldiers were taken out of the rifle pits and massed to the
left side. The ground was covered with ice and snow, but the
soldiers moved quietly into position. The hard winds prevented
Union sentries from noting the movements of the forces. As dawn
broke, buglers started sounding reveille for the Union soldiers
when all hell broke loose on the right side of the lines. The
Union soldiers fell back to their regiments and regrouped quickly.
Union commanders quickly gained control of their men and returned
fire with a vengeance, which prevented a massacre in their ranks.
The Confederate soldiers, under command of Gen. Pillow, kept
charging the position and driving the Union back. The "rebel
yells" of the Confederates told the Northern command they
were losing real estate fast. Gen. Grant, who was meeting with
Commodore Foote on the ironclad St. Louis, and was away from
the battlefield. Both Confederate Generals Pillow and Buckner
had accomplished their mission and regained the roads leading
to Nashville. At that point, Gen. Pillow, without consulting
commanding General Floyd, ordered Gen. Buckner to go after the
retreating troops. General Grant returned and ordered his generals
to retake their position. With the Confederate troops strung
out after the retreating soldiers, a Union counter-offensive
managed once again take control of the road leading to Nashville.
By nightfall, the dead and wounded were being removed from the
fields and forest around Fort Donelson.
During the night of Feb. 15, the Confederate commanders and
field officers met at headquarters. An up and coming officer,
Col. Nathan B. Forrest, had done reconnaissance on the region
and discovered the Union had reoccupied the grounds surrounding
the fort, but that he felt the Confederates could cut their
way out of it. General Simon Buckner, however, disagreed and
proposed that, since they had accomplished their mission and
bought time for General Johnston to move his army from Bowling
Green to Nashville, the fort should be surrendered with the
best possible terms for his men. Generals Floyd and Pillow agreed,
which infuriated Forrest. Floyd, fearing capture, somehow managed
to acquire two steamboats to aid in removing he, General Pillow,
and 2,500 men from the field.
Col. N.B. Forrest, who was disgusted with the unnecessary surrender
of the fort, gathered his men and told them what was happening.
With 500 cavalry and some smaller units, Col. Forrest quietly
and under cover of darkness, led his men through the icy Cumberland
River to the opposite shore and started them towards Nashville.
On the morning of Feb. 16, 1862, General Simon Buckner opened
communications and sent word to Union General Grant that he
wanted to discuss terms of surrender.
General Grant and his officers were preparing at that moment
to make an all out assault on Fort Donelson. Their supplies
were dangerously expended and all they could hope to do, it
was thought, was to make a final assault on the fort with the
Union forces. As they were bracing themselves for heavy casualties,
Gen. Grant surprisingly received word that Gen. Buckner wanted
to meet and discuss terms, to which Grant responded:
"No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender
can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works."
General Simon Buckner surrendered 14,500 men, 57 guns, and a
large amount of ammunition and stores to General Grant. The
Confederate casualties during the week-long siege amounted to
around 2,000 men. The Union casualty rate was 510 killed, 2,152
wounded, and 224 missing. Word of the Confederate surrender
spread across America like wildfire and earned Brigadier General
Grant wide acclaim. The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson
broke the first line of defense in the Mississippi Valley and
caused the abandonment of Columbus, Bowling Green, and Nashville
– effectively splitting the South into two parts and forcing
the Confederacy to deal with a war on two fronts.
ooooooooo
Through the years, historians and military tacticians have concluded
that the unnecessary surrender of Fort Donelson by Generals
Buckner, Floyd, and Pillow, was the key defeat that led to the
Union gaining the edge it needed to win the War Between the
States.
The battle has been endlessly written about and studied, but
few people are aware today of the impact it had on the War because
of the intense focus being placed on the Virginia campaigns.
While many facts for this story were gathered from original
Confederate accounts of the battle, I was also able to acquire
a detailed report from the writings of Union General Lew Wallace,
who would go on to a brilliant post-war career as a politican
and writer. It appears to all who study the American conflict
that the Battle of Fort Donelson should have gone down in the
books as a major Confederate victory and the surrender is still
regarded as one of the greater mysteries of the War Between
the States.
"The Confederates had the Union defeated," said Tennessee
Wars Commissioner Jerry Lessenberry. "Even though they
outnumbered the Confederates, they had expended their supplies
and were really out fought on the battlefield. The surrender
was one of, if not THE, biggest surprises of the war. Forrest
could’t believe it when he came in on the generals discussing
surrender and told them so. He also told them he would never
surrender the men who had been entrusted to him. The surrender
just became one of those strange occurrences that happen in
wartime. I think if they had listened to Forrest things would
have turned out a lot differently."
Because of the victories at Forts Henry and Donelson, Gen. Grant
gained the favor of then-President Lincoln and would eventually
rise to become the Commanding General of the Union Army. Grant’s
commanding officer, General Halleck, became immediately jealous
of Grant’s success and back-stabbed him at every corner
over his drinking problem. Lincoln eventually told them he didn’t
care about Grant’s problems because the crumpled old general
wasn’t afraid to fight.
Grant’s ability as a military leader and a warrior would
also gain the respect of numerous Southern commanders, who later
befriended him following the War Between the States. When he
was elected President, Grant led the way in ensuring true amnesty
was granted to those Americans who had supported the Southern
cause and he supported the Confederate veterans organizations
efforts in honoring those who had fallen on the battlefield.
Following the war, Grant was interviewed by numerous journalists
on his sentiments towards the South and the victory that launched
his career. He was once asked by a U.S. Senator what he thought
about the Southern fighting spirit and the flag still prominently
displayed by the former soldiers. Grant spoke highly of his
former enemies and said "they were tattered, ill-shod,
and usually suffering from hunger, but they fought like demons
for their cause. When we saw the flag coming, we knew it was
the sacred soul of the Southern warrior".
Following Grant’s death, many former Southern leaders who
had fought Grant in battle attended the general’s funeral.
Former Confederate General Simon Buckner would even go on to
serve as a pallbearer at Grant’s funeral.
Following the surrender of Fort Donelson, General Simon Buckner
was released in a Prisoner exchange in August 1862 and led a
division in the Confederate Army of Tennessee – seeing
service at Murfreesboro and Chickamauga. He would go on to attain
the rank of Lt. General and surrender at Baton Rouge, LA in
1865, He went on to serve as Governor of Kentucky and was eventually
Democratic nominee for Vice President in the 1896 elections.
Both Generals Floyd and Pillow would go on to serve in the Confederate
Army and distinguish themselves in battle. It still remains
a question among historians as to where General Floyd was able
to acquire the small steamboats he, Pillow, and 2,500 men used
to escape from Fort Donelson.
Fort Donelson and the surrounding battlefield were eventually
developed into The Fort Donelson National Battlefield Park.
The 536-acre facility includes the Fort Donelson National Cemetery,
which was established in 1867, the Dover Hotel, where the surrender
took place, visitor center, and Fort Donelson with all of its
associated rifle pits and cannon batteries.
Approximately 20 percent of the core battlefield is preserved
within the park and it is one of the leading tourist attractions
in upper middle Tennessee. There are numerous trails and activities
available at the Park. In addition, guided tours are available
by request and officials say you should set aside at least two
hours to visit Fort Donelson. During the summer, the park hosts
daily living history and costume demonstrations. A cassette
tour is also available for those wishing to take the self-guided
auto tour of the battlefield. For more information about visiting
the Park or arranging tours, you can contact them at (931) 232-5348.
Admission is free to the Park.
Nearby Fort Henry is also a site worth visiting. In the 1970s,
the Tennessee Valley Authority, college students, historians,
Scout Troops, and the National Park Service set about creating
a national recreational trail that follows the route taken by
Grant’s Army from Fort Henry to Fort Donelson. The actual
Fort Henry site was flooded over by TVA in the creation of Kentucky
Lake.
The Fort Henry Trail System offers a score of hikes for all
ages and even allows for overnight hiking trips as well. Trail
maps are available at the South Welcome Station and Piney Flats
campground.
