Fort Donelson Tennessee - February 16, 1862

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Battle of Fort Donelson Historian Page What exactly happened in the battle of Fort Donelson? The battle of Fort Donelson lasted from February 11-16 of 1862, but the actual fighting occurred on the early morning of February 15, 1862 in Stewart County, Tennessee. The Union men arrived at Fort Donelson at approximately 12:00 midnight, convoyed by six gunboats: Louisville, St. Louis, Tyler, Conestoga, Coirondelet, and Pittsburgh. They had a total of 27,000 bluecoats ready to fight while the South had prepared Grant and his troops got settled and one hour before dawn the Confederates attacked out of Fort Donelson, surprising McClernand's division of troops. The fighting continues throughout the day, but one specific incident occurs at 3:00 P.M. At that time the Union troops began to engage, but St. Louis and Louisville got damaged. Flag Officer Andrew Foote also got injured and 54 men were added to the list of deaths. After all the fighting the Rebels got pushed back and by night time the Confederates are totally encircled. The South had no choice but to surrender. So the next morning at 3:00 a.m. General Floyd, Pillow and Buckner met to discuss their next move. Pillow and Floyd didn't want to take responsibility so Buckner took command and sent a note to General Grant asking for terms of surrender. As dawn neared, a white flag over Fort Donelson caught the attention of the Union forces lined up for the final assault. General Grant and General Buckner then had a meeting and Grant told Buckner that he'll keep killing his men unless he surrenders unconditionally, meaning that he would have to give up everything. For the well being of his soldiers lives, General Buckner than agreed and General Grant had won the battle. He captured 13,000 Confederate prisoners along with all their guns and equipment. This victory for the Union broke the South's first line of defense in the Mississippi Valley. It also 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 the nickname of "Unconditional Surrender". Altogether, the Union lost 446 soldiers with over 1700 wounded and 150 missing. The Confederates lost 231 soldiers, over 1000 wounded and nearly 14000 taken prisoner. Who Were The Most Important People On Both Sides In The Battle Of Fort Donelson? North: General Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant was the head General of the entire Union army. He was a modest, dirty, smart, and quiet man. He was a reasonable student, but not the very best. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1843 and was on the bottom part of his class academically. He served in the military for a while and during the Mexican War, moved up to the position of Luitenant. After the war there wasn't much to do so he got into drinking , which made him poor and unsuccessful. He tried teaching, but he didn't last very long because he couldn't handle the kids! The Civil War eventually came around and the military had no choice but to select Grant as a commander because all the good leaders from West Point had gone to the South. Grant was chosen as a commander, but quickly moved up to the position of General because of his actions. He continued to lead the North to many victories and later got the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" because he always made his opponent surrender unconditionally. After winning the Civil War he was offered the office of President. So he retired from the army and took the offer. This was a huge accomplishment because he was the first graduate from West Point to become President. Although he got the oppotunity, he didn't do a very good job of fullfilling his duties. After his first term, he was reelected. He served another four years as President and after his term was over he settled down, lost all his money, but not his stories. Before he died, he wrote an autobiography about himself so he could pay off his debts and give some money to his family who supported him through all his traumas.   South: General Simon B. Buckner: Simon Bolivar Buckner was a Confederate General who also started off at West Point Military Academy. He and Grant were both apart of the graduating class of 1843. The only difference between the two is that Buckner was a much better student academically. He was smart, clean, and he could actually handle students. After graduating and serving in the Mexican War, he returned to his alma mater and taught for four years. Then in 1849 he got tired of teaching and went back to infantry service. After three years he transferred to the commissary branch, but another three years later he resigned to engage in the real estate business. What a confused man! He wasn't too successful in that business so he once again returned to the military and joined the Civil War as a commanding officer, but moved up in rank during the war. He and Grant were friends before the war, but they grew even closer during the war. Buckner was a pallbearer at Grant's funeral. He was a very kind man and he even enjoyed writing poetry. He wasn't allowed to return to Kentucky for three years after the war, so he resided for that period in New Orleans and then resurrected his fortune. During the later years of his life he entered politics, serving a term as governor. In 1896 he ran for the vice presidency on John M. Paimer's Gold Democrats ticket. He later died and at the time of his death he was the only surviving Confederate officer over the rank of brigadier general.     What Other Important Events Were Happening In The World At The Time Of The Battle Of Fort Donelson? Africa: English African explorer John Speke confirmed that Lake Victoria is the source of the Nile River. Australia: M'Duall Stuart succeeded on his third attemt to cross the continent of Australia. Asia: Treaty of Saigon was signed on June 5, 1862 and the Chamber of Commerce was established in Khartoum. Europe: Greece's Otto I was deposed after a 29-year reign that had ignored the Greeks and brought assasanation threats to his wife Amalie. He and his queen decided to take refuge on a British warship and return to Bavaria.

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