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Fort Donelson National Battlefield Tennessee Fort Donelson National Park Service U.S Fort Donelson National Battlefield Tennessee Fort Donelson National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Official Map and Guide General Grant at Fort Donelson. From the painting by Paul Phihppoteaux. Courtesy Chicago Historical Society. "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." From Henry to Donelson Bells rang jubilantly throughout the North at the On February 6, 1862, while Grant's men marched little town of Dover. Within the fort Confederate news, but they were silent in Dixie. The cause: the overland from their camp downstream, Foote's gun­ infantry and artillerymen huddled in log cabins against fall of Fort Donelson in February 1862. It was the boats slowly approached Fort Henry and opened a the winter. Aside from a measles epidemic, they North's first major victory of the Civil War, opening hot fire that quickly convinced Lloyd Tilghman, the lived "quite comfortably,'' cooking their own meals, the way into the very heart of the Confederacy. Confederate commander, that he could not hold out fighting snowball battles, working on the fortifica­ Just a month before, the Confederates had seemed for long. The plan called for the gunboats to engage tions, drilling, and talking about home—until the invincible. A stalemate had existed since the South­ the fort until the army could surround it. The bom­ grim reality of war descended upon them. ern victories at First Manassas and Wilson's Creek bardment raged for more than an hour, with the iron­ in the summer of 1861. Attempts to break the Con­ clads taking heavy blows and suffering many casu­ It took Grant longer than expected to start his men federate defense line, which in the west extended alties. But the fort was no match for the gunboats. toward Donelson. Several days passed before Fort from southwest Missouri and the Indian Territory to To the army's chagrin, the ironclads pounded the Henry was secure and his troops ready. He finally the Appalachian Mountains, had achieved little suc­ fort into submission before the soldiers, plodding got underway on February 11, and as his soldiers cess. A reconnaissance in January convinced the over muddy roads, could reach the vicinity. Less stepped out briskly over the rolling terrain, the Union command that the most vulnerable places in than a hundred of the Confederate garrison sur­ weather had turned unseasonably warm. Believing the Confederacy's western line were Forts Henry rendered, including Tilghman; the rest, almost 2,500 that the temperature was typical of the South in and Donelson, earthen works guarding the Tennes­ men, escaped to Fort Donelson, Grant's next objec­ February, many of the soldiers cast aside their heavy see and Cumberland Rivers. tive, a dozen miles away on the Cumberland. winter gear—an act they would soon regret. By February 13 some 15,000 Union troops nearly A joint navy/army attack upon Fort Henry had been At Donelson the Confederates had a far stronger encircled the outerworks of Fort Donelson. Spo­ agreed to by Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote and an position. Two river batteries, mounting some 12 radic clashes broke out that day without either side obscure brigadier general named Ulysses S. Grant. heavy guns, effectively controlled the Cumberland. gaining ground. Nightfall brought bitter weather- It was to take place in early February, using the An outer defense line, built largely by reinforcements lashing sleet and snow that caused great suffering. Tennessee River for transport and supply. It would sent in after the tall of Fort Henry, stretched along be the first test of Foote's ironclad gunboats. high ground from Hickman Creek on the right to the Plan of Fort Donelson and Its Outworks, from Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Brig. Gen. Simon B. Grant commanded the Buckner initially came Military District of South­ to Fort Donelson early east Missouri at the time in 1862 with reinforce­ of the Fort Henry and ments from Kentucky. Fort Donelson cam­ When Grant laid siege, paign. Until January the fort's ranking offi­ 1862, however, when cers, Gens. John B. his plan to attack the Floyd and Gideon J. Pil­ Confederate river forts low, saw the hopeless­ was approved, he had ness of the situation and fought only one battle, left Buckner in charge a brief and inconclusive to face the inevitable. engagement at Belmont, Mo., in November 1861. The Battle of Fort Donelson The morning of February 14 dawned cold and quiet. the Confederates did not move quickly, they would Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest across swollen Lick Early in the afternoon the stillness was broken by a be starved into submission. Accordingly, they massed Creek. That morning, February 16, Buckner asked furious roar, and the earth began to shake. The their troops against the Union right, hoping to clear Grant for terms. Grant answered, "No terms except Union gunboats were exchanging "iron valentines'' a route to Nashville and safety. The battle on Febru­ an unconditional and immediate surrender can be with the 11 big guns in the Southern water batter­ ary 15 raged all morning, the Union army grudgingly accepted.'' Buckner surrendered. ies. During this one and one-half hour duel the retreating step by step. Just as it seemed the way Confederate guns inflicted such extensive damage was clear, the Southern troops were ordered to With the capture of Fort Donelson and her sister upon the gunboats that they were forced to retreat. return to their entrenchments—a result of confu­ fort, Henry, the North had won its first great victory The hills and hollows echoed with cheers from the sion and indecision among the Confederate com­ and gained a new hero—"Unconditional Surren­ Southern soldiers. manders. Grant immediately launched a vigorous der" Grant. The South was forced to give up south­ counterattack, retaking most of the lost ground and ern Kentucky and much of Middle and West Ten­ The Confederate generals—John Floyd, Gideon Pil­ gaining new positions as well. The way of escape nessee. The heartland of the Confederacy was open, low, Simon Buckner, and Bushrod Johnson—also was closed once more. and the Federals would press on until the "Union" rejoiced; but sober reflection revealed another dan­ became a fact once more. ger. Grant was receiving reinforcements daily and Floyd and Pillow turned over command of Fort had extended his right flank almost to Lick Creek to Donelson to Buckner and slipped away to Nashville complete the encirclement of the Southerners. If with about 2,000 men. Others followed cavalryman Fort Donelson is a unit of the National Park System, which consists of more than 340 parks represent­ Fort Donelson ing important examples of our country's natural and cultural inheritance. A Guide to the Park Fort Donelson is one mile west of Dover, Tenn., and 10 Dover Hotel (Surrender House). Before the Donelson National Battlefield) and the National Park three miles east of Land Between the Lakes on U.S. Civil War, the small town of Dover, county seat of Service, the hotel (sometimes called the Surrender 79. The visitor center is normally open from 8 a.m. Stewart County, Tennessee, had showed much prom­ House) was restored in the late 1970s. The exterior to 4:30 p.m. daily. The following guide, keyed to ise. The surrounding region was prosperous in pro­ looks much the same as it did when the surrender the map above, highlights major sites within the ducing iron ore. With almost 800 inhabitants in the took place. park. 1860s, Dover was an important port on the Cumber­ land River. After the fall of Fort Donelson, Dover During February 1862 flooding had forced the wa­ 1 Confederate Monument. Erected by the Ten­ was occupied by a Union garrison for the duration ters of the Cumberland River into low, wooded areas nessee Division of the United Daughters of the Con­ of the war. On two occasions, once in mid-1862 and adjacent to the river. The view of Lake Barkley federacy in 1933, this monument commemorates again early in 1863, Confederate cavalry tried to (Cumberland River) from the Dover Hotel today the Southern soldiers who fought and died at Fort drive the Federal troops from the area. Both attempts resembles the river's appearance on February 16, Donelson. failed; the second, led by Gen. Joseph Wheeler, 1862. also cost the town its future. That skirmish, known 2 Fort Donelson. Soldiers and slaves built this as the Battle of Dover, resulted in the destruction of 11 National Cemetery. In 1863, after the Battle 15-acre fort over a period of seven months, using all but four of the town's buildings. of Dover, the Union garrison built a fortification axes and shovels to make a wall of logs and earth 10 which became the center of activity for black freemen feet high. The fort's purpose was to protect the One of those that survived was the Dover Hotel. in the area. A small community grew up around the Cumberland River batteries from land attack. This structure, built between 1851 and 1853, had fort as freemen and their families sought the pro­ served during the Battle of Fort Donelson as Gen. tection offered by the Union garrison. Four years 3 Log Huts. Some 100 huts stood within Fort Simon B. Buckner's headquarters. It was here on later this same site was selected for the establish­ Donelson at the time of the battle. Confederates the morning of February 16,1862, that Buckner ment of the Fort Donelson National Cemetery and constructed them for winter quarters. Sometime surrendered his army to Union Gen.
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