The Battle of Fort Donelson and Its Role in the Civil War Research Paper

Introduction

The Battle of Fort Donelson ranks among the most important battles that were fought during the course of the American Civil War that took place from 1861 to 1865 (Hickman). The Fort got its name from its builder Daniel S. Donelson, who was assigned to construct it by Tennessee governor Isham Harris (Gott 16). The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought over a period of 6 days, from February 11 to February 16, 1862 (Hickman).

Background

The Battle of Fort Henry preceded the Battle of Fort Doneson. Fort Henry, situated 10 miles to the west of Fort Donelson (History.com), was perceived to be the weakest point in Confederate Commander in the West General Albert Sidney Johnston’s line (McPherson 396). In the Battle of Fort Henry, Union ground forces under the command of Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant, along with support from the naval gunboats of Flag Officer Andrew Foote attacked Fort Henry and successfully captured it on 6 February 1862 (Hickman). Not only was Fort Henry easy prey because it was located on a flood plain and inundated by high water (Cooling 2), but it was captured after just 2 hours of fighting mainly because the Fort Henry commander Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman lost his nerve. He ordered nearly all his 2,600-strong garrison to retreat by land to Fort Donelson (Hurst), keeping back only 100 men (History.com) to engage in the 2 hour battle with the Union forces in order to cover the retreat of the larger contingent of his forces. The retreat itself was shamefully executed. Instead of doing their assigned job of protecting the rear of the retreating column, the horsemen panicked and rode wildly through the ranks of their infantrymen, effectively turning what was supposed to be an orderly retreat into a chaotic stampede (Hurst). The Union victory in the Battle of Fort Henry was significant as it made River Tennessee safe for Union ships to proceed without danger (Hickman). Moreover, as the river ran from north to south, it was useless as bulwarks of defense but an ideal route for an invading army (Gott 3). Grant next turned his attention to Fort Donelson which lay to the east on River Cumberland (Hickman). This fort was situated on an elevated bluff and had 6,000 troopers of its own to which another 11,000 were added when the retreating Confederate soldiers from Fort Henry reached it. (History.com).

Meanwhile, Confederate commander in the West, General Albert Sidney Johnston summoned his deputies for an urgent war meeting on 7 February 1862. Johnston’s forces, which were spread out along a broad area in Kentucky and Tennessee, were faced by a Union army numbering 45,000 men led by Major General Don Carlos Buell at Louisville, Kentucky, and by Grant’s army of nearly 25,000 men at Fort Henry. Deciding that the Confederate forces in Kentucky faced the danger of a rout by Union forces, Johnston ordered the troops there to withdraw to areas south of River Cumberland. Unsure about what to do next, Johnston held consultations with General P.G.T. Beauregard, and hesitantly agreeing to the latter’s recommendation that Fort Donelson needed to be strengthened, ordered 12,000 of his troopers to move to Fort Donelson (Hickman).

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Opposing forces

The forces of the Union were led by Brigadier General Ulysses S.Grant as commander-in-chief. His deputy was Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote. The total strength of the Union forces was 24,541 men (Hickman). Foote’s gunboats included 2 timber clads each fitted with 9 cannons and 4 ironclads each fitted with 13 cannon {St. Louis was commanded by Leonard Paulding, Louisville commanded by Benjamin M. Dove, the Pittsburg commanded by E. Thomson, and the Carondelet commanded by Henry Walker} (The New York Times). The Confederate forces were led by 3 commanders: Brigadier General John B. Floyd, Brigadier General Gideon Pillow and Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner. The total strength of the Confederate forces was 16,171 men (Hickman).

The battle begins

Grant and his deputies made detailed plans of war at Fort Henry on February 11, 1862. The Union troops numbering 25 regiments (Wallace) began marching along frozen roads towards Fort Donelson on February 12. Their progress was steady except for a brief skirmish with a Confederate cavalry scouting group led by Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest. At the same time, Foote’s naval fleet of 6 vessels began sailing up River Cumberland. The Union land and naval forces arrived simultaneously at the outskirts of Fort Donelson (Hickman). The Confederate leaders in Fort Donelson came to know of the impending arrival of the Union forces when they were alerted by Forrest and his scouting party (Hurst).

February 13, 1862, witnessed many small surgical strikes by Union forces aimed at testing the strength of Fort Donelson (Hickman). The strikes also attempted to capture a Confederate battery situated on the fort’s outer perimeter. Although the attempt failed, it made the Confederate leaders inside the fort convinced that the Union forces were superior to them (History.com). The 3 Confederate Brigadier Generals held consultations among themselves and arrived at the conclusion that the opposing forces were superior to them due to which Fort Donelson could not be defended (Hickman) . The leaders concluded that an attempt should be made to break out of the surrounding Union perimeter under the command of Pillow. While some Confederate troops were being mobilized for the breakout attempt, a Union sharpshooter killed one of them . This threw Pillow into a panic due to which he aborted the breakout attempt. Pillow’s indecisiveness made Floyd very angry, and he was all set to order an all-out attack when he realized it was too late in the evening for such an attack to be carried out effectively (Hickman).

Meanwhile, outside the fort, Grant was engaged in mobilizing the Union forces. He positioned the troops led by Brigadier General Lew Wallace in the center. The division led by Brigadier General John McClernand was placed on the left, and the troops commanded by Brigadier General C. F. Smith were positioned on the right (Hickman). While the land forces were being mobilized, Foote’s gunboats sailed close up to Fort Donelson and opened fire on it (Americancivilwar.com).

His attack formation was: St. Louis and Louisville on the right, with the Pittsburg and the Carondelet on the left (The New York Times). Unlike their accurate bombardment of Fort Henry which was made possible due to its location at river level, Foote’s gunboats could not accurately hit Fort Donelson because it was located 100 feet above river level which necessitated the regular raising of the gunboats’ guns as they came closer to the fort (Hurst). Foote’s fleet itself came under heavy fire from Confederate gunners, who used more than 9 guns based in the main fort (The New York Times) plus 11 huge guns in their water batteries (The Civil War Gazette). Foote’s gunboats were forced to retreat. 54 of Foote’s men were killed. Foote himself was wounded, but not fatally (The New York Times).

The breakout attempt

Grant left in the early hours of February 15 to have a meeting with Foote. Before departing, he directed his commanders not to begin attacking the Fort (Hickman) as he did not expect any fighting that day “unless I brought it on myself” (McPherson 400). Grant, however, forgot to name a second-in-command to make decisions in his absence. This proved to be quite disastrous because, in Grant’s absence, the Confederate breakout attempt was planned to take place that morning (Hickman) by Floyd who realized that if they did not break out, they would starve and be forced to surrender (Americancivilwar.com). The Confederate breakout strategy was to leave behind a small number of troopers in the fort and the trenches, while Buckner’s garrison moved towards the Union center and Pillow’s garrison moved towards the Union right. Pillow’s men were supposed to attack the Union right while Buckner’s troops would join by attacking the center. It was expected that both Confederate garrisons would steamroll the Union formation and create an opening to the highway to Nashville. Then, Buckner’s troopers would keep the road open and bring up the rear as they all moved out and marched to Nashville (Hurst).

Pillow’s division, consisting of 2 batteries and 6 regiments (Wallace) broke out of Fort Donelson that morning attacked the forces of McClernand on the Union right and opened up a gap, while Buckner’s garrison safeguarded their rear (Hickman). Initially, due to the absence of a second-in-command nominated by the absent Grant, the other two Union division commanders did not do much to help McClernand’s men (McPherson 400). McClernand’s division was hard-pressed but fought back fiercely. Just as their position was finally becoming desperate, and the Union right flank was in danger of caving in, reinforcements arrived in the form of a regiment from Wallace’s division. The reinforcement soon caused the Union’s right flank to become stable once again. By 12.30 p.m, the Confederate attack was repulsed by a now-powerful Union position extending across Wynn’s Ferry Road. Finding it impossible to break through the Union lines, the Confederate forces pulled back to a low ridge (Hickman).

As luck would have it, Grant and Foote were meeting at a location barely 5 miles away but where the north wind blew the sound of battle away from them. When Union army couriers finally reached him with news about the Confederate breakout, Grant rushed back to his troops (McPherson 400), reaching them at 1.00 p.m. He sized up the situation quickly and understood that the Confederate forces were trying to escape instead of looking for battlefield success. Grant immediately ordered his troops to counterattack. Seeing the new development, Pillow and Buckner ordered their troops to retreat to Fort Donelson. Grant ordered Wallace and Smith to attack the retreating Confederate soldiers from the right and left respectively. Surging ahead, Smith’s men were soon able to acquire a foothold in the Confederate lines. Wallace’s men were also successful in recapturing a major part of the territory lost in the earlier Confederate attack. The fighting eventually ceased as night set in, although Grant fully intended to continue attacking the next day (Hickman).

Surrender

Inside Fort Donelson, the Confederate leaders held a hurried consultation that night, eventually arriving at the conclusion that there was no way out except to surrender (Hickman). Floyd and Pillow asserted that they could not do the actual surrendering because their important position with the Federals disallowed it. The two men, therefore, handed over total command to Buckner and fled from Fort Donelson. Floyd was accompanied by some of his Virginian soldiers, while Pillow took along a few aides . Nathaniel Forrest, who had vowed to the parents of his men that he would do his best to safeguard them as much as he could (Hurst), did exactly that by leaving the fort along with 700 of his young troopers, wading across an icy stream, and escaping without encountering a single Union soldier (McPherson 402).

Being left with no other option, Buckner made preparations to surrender. He sent Grant a letter on 16 February morning asking for conditions of surrender (Hickman). Due to the fact that Grant and he were friends prior to the war, besides having met at West Point before their graduation a year later (Gott 14), Buckner was optimistic that he would receive adequate conditions from Grant. Grant, however, did not let their former friendship cloud his response. His reply , was short and succinct : “Sir: Yours of this date proposing Armistice, and appointment of Commissioners, to settle terms of Capitulation is just received. No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works” (Hickman).

Although disappointed by Grant’s ungenerous and unchivalrous words , Buckner had no alternative but to do as he was told. Unmindful of the chaos around him as Confederate commissary officers threw open storehouses to the angry, cold and hungry rebels (Cooling 3), Buckner completed the formalities of surrendering Fort Donelson on the evening of February 16, 1862 (Hickman). Along with the prisoners, the famous Confederate ‘Stars and Bars’ 18^th Tennessee Infantry flag was captured by Union Sergeant R. F. Latimer of the 66^th Illinois Infantry. A crude cotton label was later affixed to the beautiful Confederate First National Flag by some of the Union soldiers. It read: “CAPTURED AT FORT DONALDSON [sic], / BY R. F. LATIMER, FEBRUARY 1862” (The Civil War Gazette). The victorious soldiers’ shouts of victory resounded in what Ira Blanchard recalled as “the greatest day of rejoicing I ever saw” (Cooling 3). The Confederate divisions, totaling between 12,000 to 13,000 men (McPherson 402) captured from Fort Donelson went on to become the first of 3 Confederate garrisons to be taken prisoner by Grant during the Civil War (Hickman). When Buckner was about to be sent into captivity, Grant, feeling a twinge of compassion for his old friend besides perhaps recollecting Buckner’s financial help to him when he was down and out, offered Buckner a small purse to assist him in captivity. Buckner refused to accept it, leaving Grant “with tears rolling down his face” as Buckner went off to captivity (Cooling 4).

Aftermath

The Battle of Fort Donelson cost the Confederates 327 killed, 1,127 wounded and 12,392 captured (Hickman). The prisoners were sentenced to months of imprisonment in prison camps spread between the Midwest and New England (Cooling 5). The Battle also resulted in the death of 507 Union soldiers, while 1,976 suffered wounds and 208 were either missing or taken prisoner (Hickman). Soon after the victory, relief organizations, as well as civilians from the North, moved in swiftly to help the Union soldiers. The U.S Sanitary Commission was among the first to assist with food, medicine and hospital ships to move the wounded soldiers for medical treatment. A large number of Northern civilians, including nurses like Mary Bickerdyke, came forward to look after the wounded men (Americancivilwar.com). Brigadier General Ulysses Grant was rewarded for his excellent leadership and his feat of capturing 33% of Johnston’s army by being promoted to Major General, making him second in command only to Halleck in the West (McPherson 402). Confederate Nathaniel Forrest went on to become a celebrated leader in the west, while his achievements over the next 3 years became the source of much exasperation and annoyance to the Union army (History.com).

Battle significance

Victory in the Battle of Fort Donelson was significant to the Union side because of several reasons. First of all, it occurred during the initial stages of the Civil War and was, therefore, a huge confidence booster to Union leaders, soldiers and civilian supporters (Hickman). Secondly, besides ensuring that Kentucky would remain in the Union (Americancivilwar.com), the victory also not only literally opened the gates of Nashville, the capital of Tennessee but also meant that 66% of the State of Tennessee became accessible to Union troops (Hurst) because they could freely use 2 of the 3 mighty inland rivers which were the main means of transportation for goods like cotton, iron, tobacco, food and manufactured goods that were traded between cities of the North and South United States (Gott 2). They could also freely use the rivers and railroads to move forward in subsequent phases of the Civil War (Americancivilwar.com). Lastly, the victory drew lavish praise from far and wide. This is symbolized by the declaration in the New York Times: “The cause of the Union now marches on in every section of the country. The rebels themselves are panic-stricken or despondent. It now requires no very far-reaching prophet to predict the end of the struggle” (McPherson 403).

Defeat in the Battle of Fort Donelson was significant to the Confederation because of several reasons. First of all, it lost Kentucky and most of Tennessee which came under Union control (McPherson 403). Secondly, it exposed the faulty Confederate strategy of defending as much territory as possible – there were just not enough men, ships or cannons to defend it all (Gott 20). The Confederate think-tank also came in for heavy criticism for deciding that the installation of powerful batteries at Columbus, Vicksburg, Memphis and Island No.10 was a sufficient deterrent to Union attack; they never considered the danger of a Federal attack via the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, and therefore did not defend these routes sufficiently (Wallace). Thirdly, the Confederation was portrayed in a very poor light, even from within their own troops as well as from the South, besides becoming a target for harsh criticism. For example, Confederate Major Nathaniel Cheairs termed the surrender of Fort Donelson as “the most disgraceful, unnecessary and uncalled for surrender” of the entire war. His sentiments were echoed by Confederate Huge Gwyn: “In this surrender, we have lost the chivalry and flower of our whole army” (Cooling 1). The Southern newspaper Memphis Avalanche declared: “A little more patience – a little more suffering – would have secured us the most splendid victory” (Cooling 4).

References

1. “Capture of Fort Donelson.” History.com. 2008.
2. “Confederate ‘Stars and Bars’ 18^th Tennessee Infantry Flag.” The Civil War Gazette. 2007. Web.
3. Cooling, Benjamin Franklin. “Fort Donelson’s Legacy: War in Kentucky & Tennessee, 1862 – 1863”. USA: University of Tennessee Press. 1997.
4. “Fort Donelson.” Americancivilwar.com. (N.d). 2009. Web.
5. “The Fort Donelson Battle.” The New York Times. 1862.
6. Gott, Kendall D. “Where the South Lost the War.” USA: Stackpole Books. 2003.
7. Hickman, Kennedy. “American Civil War: Battle of Fort Donelson.” Militaryhistory.about.com. 2009. Web.
8. Hurst, Jack. “Nathan Bedford Forrest at Fort Donelson.” America’s Civil War Magazine. 2008.
9. McPherson, James M. “Battle Cry of Freedom.” USA: Oxford University Press. 1988.
10. Wallace, Lew. “The Capture of Fort Donelson.” The Century Magazine, Vol. XXIX. 1884.