Brig. General Simon B. Buckner
Simon Buckner was born in Kentucky, a state that was sharply divided in its loyalties. While its Governor, Beriah Magoffin, was a secessionist, its legislature expressed the divided mind of the people, proclaiming by an overwhelming majority the neutrality of the state.
During this period of indecision, Kentucky had, in reality, two small but hostile armies. The state militia was reorganized under Simon Buckner, a graduate of West Point, and one of the wealthiest people in Kentucky. He and a majority of the State Militia favored the Confederacy. The Unionist element, on the other hand, were formed in the Home Guards, under the leadership of Lovell Rousseau and William Nelson, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, who in the course of the war became a Major General in the Union Army.
When the American Civil War broke out, Buckner, along with about two-thirds of the Kentucky State Militia, joined the Confederate Army.
Perhaps 35,000 Kentuckians fought for the South, while 75,000 joined the Union army. The state itself remained neutral until Confederate General Polk sent General Pillow to capture Columbus, Kentucky, regarded as the key to the Mississippi River. This act prompted the Kentucky legislature to declare its allegiance to the Union and to subject the property of Kentuckians who joined the Confederate Army to confiscation.
By February of 1862, Buckner was a Brig. General in the Confederate Army, recently dispatched to help defend Fort Donelson, on the southwest bank of the Cumberland River near Dover, Tennessee. The superior officer, John B. Floyd, was a civilian general with no useful military experience. Next in command was Gideon Pillow, an egotistic man whom Floyd deferred to. Ranking below these was Simon Buckner, known for his good character and ability.
It was unfortunate for the Confederacy that Pillow made most of the decisions in the defense of Fort Donelson. Besides lacking in good judgment, he carried a grudge against Buckner, who had criticized him in a Tennessee newspaper for his boasting and for his ungenerous attacks on General Winfield Scott.
Moreover, the generals didn’t arrive at the fort until shortly before the Union assault. General Johnston, in overall command of the region, was unsure of the abilities of the South to hold the fort against the combined Union army and a flotilla of gunboats. Almost at the last minute, he had dispatched 15,000 troops and the three generals to reinforce the garrison at Fort Donelson.
The Confederates were able to hold off the ironclads when they strayed too close to the fort, wounding the naval commander, Flag Officer Foote, in the process, and forcing a withdrawal.
The Confederates devised a plan to break through Grant’s right wing, opening the road to Nashville and providing a route of escape. In this, they were successful. Then Pillow gave an order for the Confederate forces to return to their entrenchments. Buckner argued against this, but was unable to persuade Floyd to countermand the order.
Grant ordered Union General Smith to attack the Confederate right, weakened by the removal of some of Buckner’s troops who had aided Pillow’s advance. Smith was able to penetrate the Confederate entrenchments and gain a commanding position.
At midnight on February 15th, the three Confederate generals debated whether to fight or surrender the garrison. Buckner was in favor of surrendering, given their by now hopeless position, but both Pillow and Floyd declared that they would rather die than surrender.
After this scene, however, both Pillow and Floyd escaped with an unknown number of their troops, leaving Buckner in command of the remaining troops.
On the morning of February 16th, Buckner asked Grant for the terms of capitulation, perhaps assuming that his request would be given some consideration. Buckner had been one year behind Grant at West Point, and the two were on good terms. Grant’s answer, however, was a demand for immediate and unconditional surrender. Buckner accepted.
General Buckner was the only Confederate leader who was not disciplined for the action at Fort Donelson. Two generals were chastened and another lost his command.
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