• The legendary battle between Confederate guns and US ironclads at Fort Donelson, February 14, 1862.

    Fort Donelson

    National Battlefield Tennessee

Log Huts

Confederate built Log Huts

Log Hut

James P. Bagsby

Soldiers and slaves built more than 400 log huts for winter quarters. For the garrisoned soldiers working on the fort, time passed pleasantly enough. "We lived luxuriously in comfortable tents and log huts," stated one soldier. In addition to the government rations of flour, fresh and cured meats, sugar, and coffee, boats brought boxes from home.
 
Inside View Log Hut

Inside View Log Hut

James P. Bagsby

Off-duty soldiers from the local area hunted and fished in the same locations they frequented not six months before as civilians. Sometime after the surrender, Federals burned the huts because of a measles outbreak.

Did You Know?

Gunboat

Andrew Foote, commander of the Navy flotilla at Fort Donelson, insisted on total abstinence for the crews, mandatory religious services and observance of the Sabbath, and he himself rarely swore. It was said that he could preach, fight, or pray with equal facility. More...