Grant's rise started at Fort Donelson

By Bill Wagner

Auspicious is not the definition for the North’s initial efforts at the outset of the Civil War in 1861 into 1862.

President Abraham Lincoln quickly discovered to his dismay that leadership was lacking. As the Union forces suffered setbacks at the hands of the Rebels, Lincoln tried to find a leader to stem the tide.

Winfield Scott, George McClellan, Don Carlos Buell and Henry Halleck all came up short.

One of Fort Donelsopn's "big" guns overlooks the Cumberland River

The outlook was bleak when an unknown general out in the West (Tennessee in those days) started winning battles, making a name for himself, and in the process changed the history of the United States.

Ulysses Grant (the S came later) proved to be the man Lincoln needed to lead the Union army.

Grant began his ascent along the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers at the then little-known sites of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.

“The soldiers and sailors who fought here, on both sides, were volunteers who did so because they were fighting for what they believed in, and those reasons are numerous,” said Doug Richardson, chief of resource education and visitor services at Fort Donelson.

“Soldiers walked, slept, fought, suffered, and died on this land, a major battle in this most important war that created who we are as Americans today,” he said.

Fort Henry on the Tennessee River fell to a Union Gunboat attack on Feb. 6, 1862, but 2,500 rebel soldiers scrambled away 12 miles to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River before Grant’s troops could slog their way to the action.

Militarily, Fort Donelson was a much better spot for the Confederates. They had eight 32-pound seacoast artillery pieces and several other big guns to control river access. They fortified an outer defense line and waited.

Grant was slow to leave Fort Henry, and then his 15,000 troops were hampered by the weather and soggy ground as they plodded toward Donelson.

Thanks to the Confederates concentrated efforts to fortify their position, Grant’s troops were able to advance unopposed and encircle the fort.  The battle began on Valentine’s Day 1862. This time the Confederates held their own against Union gunboats, but were no match for Grant’s force that grew as reinforcements continued to arrive.

Fearing a total defeat and capture, Rebel generals John Floyd, Gideon Pillow and Simon Buckner, the southerners massed their troops on the Union’s right flank in an attempt to break out and escape to Nashville.

The rebels were actually in the process of making this all work when they were inexplicably ordered back to their original defensive positions.

Pillow and Floyd turned over command to Buckner, took a couple thousand troops and high-tailed it for Nashville. Other Rebels went with Lt. Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest.

However the bulk of the southern forces 5,000 men, were left in an untenable position. Buckner asked Grant for terms of surrender.

The Answer:  “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.” Buckner was none too happy, but in the end, he had no choice but to give up.

The capture of the two forts was the first major victory for the North. A new – and much needed – hero materialized — Ulysses “Unconditional Surrender” Grant.

“Our visitor center receives over 40,000 visitors per year. When you include those folks, plus those who come to walk trails, run, nature-watch, picnic, visit the National Cemetery, it adds into the hundreds of thousands,” said Richardson.

Richardson is in his 23rd year with the NPS, arriving at Fort Donelson in September 2010 as part of a career goal to work at a national park where he could further study and understand Ulysses S. Grant.

For more information on Fort Donelson, visit www.nps.gov\fodo