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Special Feature: Well-preserved example of typical Civil War semipermanent fortifications.

FORT DONELSON NATIONAL MILITARY PARK, located on the Cumberland River near Dover, Tenn., was created by act of Congress March 28, 1928, and comprises an area of 97 acres.

The old fort, the earthworks, rifle pits, and water batteries are in a good state of preservation. Although the embrasures seem quite narrow, they were sufficiently wide to defend the position, since the narrow channel of the river restricted the breadth of an attacking fleet. Markers and tablets containing detailed historical information enable the visitor to trace the course of the conflict. Roads and trails lead to all points of interest, following the earthworks throughout the park. Near the line of earthworks on the west stands a beautiful monument erected to the Confederate soldiers by the Tennessee Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The national cemetery, one of the major points of interest, with its heart-shaped arrangement of the Union headstones, is situated on high ground overlooking the Cumberland River and both water batteries.

In his campaign against Fort Donelson, General Grant, for the first time in the war, made successful use of a river independently of roads for large-scale operations. His attack, brilliantly conceived and unfalteringly executed upon this strong defensive position, resulted in the most important victory yet achieved by the North, opening an avenue into the very heart of the Confederacy by way of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, forcing the immediate evacuation of Columbus and Bowling Green, and delivering all of Kentucky and western Tennessee into Federal hands. The battle marked the beginning of a campaign which, after 17 months of bloody fighting, resulted in the complete control of all strategic points in the Mississippi Valley, thus splitting the Confederacy.

It was inevitable that the valley of the great river which divides the continent should become the chief arena of conflict in the West. To open the Mississippi and separate the States of the Confederacy lying west of it from those lying east became the chief aim of all the Federal armies beyond the Alleghenies. For more than 2 years after the beginning of the war every other objective in this vast theater of operations was subordinated to this one purpose. The first effective step toward its accomplishment was taken when Grant forced the Confederates from all their strong positions on the Kentucky side of the Mississippi by his successful flank movement up the Tennessee and the Cumberland—one of the most far sighted strategical maneuvers executed during the war. Carried through at the cost of thousands of lives and millions of dollars in property, the cleavage begun at Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862 was completed at Vicksburg in July 1863.

The Confederate authorities at first sought to rest their line of defense on the Ohio River, although they did not have sufficient troops to hold Kentucky. But in September 1861 Ulysses S. Grant, then a brigadier general, frustrated this design by seizing Paducah and Cairo. In consequence, the Confederate commander in Kentucky, Albert Sidney Johnston, established his left flank at Columbus, on the Mississippi below Cairo, and thence carried his front eastward through Forts Henry and Donelson to Bowling Green and Cumberland Gap.

Late in January 1862, Grant conceived the idea of breaking the Confederate line at Forts Henry and Donelson, which were only 11 miles apart. Upon receiving permission from General Halleck, his department commander, to make the attempt, he moved up the Tennessee River to Fort Henry with 17,000 men on transports escorted by seven gunboats. He could not have made this movement along the country roads, for they were utterly impassable at that season. The garrison of the fort, less than 3,000, was wisely withdrawn before being surrounded by Grant and retreated to Fort Donelson, leaving a small artillery detachment which, after a gallant fight with the gunboats, surrendered the place on February 6.

Grant marched his army with difficulty across the watershed between the Tennessee and the Cumberland, and on February 12 arrived before Fort Donelson with 15,000 men. This force was later increased to about 27,000. The Confederates holding the fort now numbered about 21,000 men commanded by Gen. John B. Floyd, with Gen. Gideon C. Pillow and Gen. Simon B. Buckner as his chief subordinates. While awaiting the arrival of the gunboats which had to steam around from the Tennessee, Grant invested the place on the west and south. On February 13 a Federal assault on a commanding portion of the Confederate center was repulsed when it became entangled in a dense abatis. Next day Commodore Foote arrived with the gunboat flotilla and attacked the Confederate water batteries from the river. After a fight of 2 hours, in which every Federal vessel was more or less seriously injured, Foote was obliged to suspend his attack and retire.

Grant, much disappointed, concluded that he would have to resort to a siege, though ill-prepared to do so. But before he could even make a beginning, the Confederate commanders, unduly alarmed by the mere arrival of the Federal army and fleet, determined to cut their way out and escape to Nashville. Early on the morning of February 15 a furious attack on the Federal right flank drove it back from the river and completely opened the Confederate road of retreat. But they had taken no measures for reaping the fruits of such a success. While the Confederate leaders hesitated and argued, their troops retired to their vacated works, and during the night the Federals reoccupied the position they had formerly held.

Being now in despair at the results of such blundering, Floyd, afraid, for political reasons, to surrender, threw up his command, which fell to Pillow. Equally loath to assume responsibility, Pillow passed it on to Buckner, the best soldier in high command in the fort. Buckner felt surrender to be inevitable, but during the night Floyd and Pillow, with about 1,000 men, and N. B. Forrest, later renowned as a cavalryman, with his entire command, escaped by a river road. The rest of the garrison might perhaps have done the same, but at dawn of the sixteenth Buckner requested a truce. It was in response to this request that Grant sent his famous ultimatum, demanding "Unconditional and immediate surrender." Buckner accepted the hard terms and delivered to Grant between 12,000 and 15,000 officers and men as prisoners of war. The Federal losses were about 5,000 killed and wounded, and 450 missing.

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