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Fort Donelson
With Fort Henry in the hands of the Union, General Johnston decided that the Southern position was untenable. He sent half of his troops south, out of Tennessee, while the others were sent to reinforce Fort Donelson, which was now defended by 16,000 Confederate troops under the commands of Generals John Floyd, Gideon Pillow, and Simon Buckner. Of these, the former was ranking officer.
Fort Donelson was far more defensible than was Fort Henry, and its garrison had the advantage of forewarning. In preparation for the anticipated Union attack, Buckner’s division constituting the right wing, was posted to cover the land approach to the water batteries. A left wing was organized into six brigades, with four batteries posted between them. Dover was converted into a supply depot and ordnance store.
Fort Donelson was ready for battle.
On February 10, 1862, only five days after the capture of Fort Henry, the assault on Fort Donelson began with an attack by four ironclads, even as Grant’s forces, numbering as many as 20,000 troops by some estimates, were marching from the captured Fort Henry.
The ironclads got too close to the fort, and were repulsed by Confederate gunners, who wounded Commander Foote. The ironclads withdrew to await the arrival of ground troops.
The Confederate defense of Fort Donelson was characterized by a series of blunders, made worse by a lack of unity of command.
The commanding officer, John Floyd, was a civilian general who had served as Secretary of War under Buchanan, and who had performed poorly in the Confederate campaign in western Virginia.
Under him was the boastful Gideon Pillow, then regarded as Tennessee’s ablest general, but one who held a grudge against Buckner, who had criticized him in a Tennessee newspaper.
Simon Buckner, a West Point graduate who was known to be a capable officer, ranked under both Floyd and Pillow.
Grant divided his forces to surround the fort. While he was on a gunboat conferring with Foote, the Confederates led a sortie to open a path for the beleaguered army to retreat to Nashville. Under the command of Pillow, the Confederates were at first successful against Grant’s right wing, driving it back two miles and opening the road to Nashville.
Then, perhaps due to bad weather or to exhaustion, Pillow ordered the troops to return to the fort. When Buckner, who had joined the attack, received word of it, he tried to persuade Floyd to countermand the order. Floyd refused.
Meanwhile, Grant ordered an attack on the Confederate right, weakened by the removal of part of Buckner’s troops. The Union forces were able to penetrate the Confederate entrenchments, gaining a commanding position. It was this victory, in Buckner’s absence, that determined the Confederate surrender.
Debating whether to surrender the fort and garrison, Buckner advocated facing the military realities and surrendering, while Floyd and Pillow vowed to die first.
In the end, however, it was Floyd and Pillow who elected to escape by the river, leaving the command to General Buckner.
Buckner sent word to Grant, asking for the terms of surrender. Grant’s answer was a demand for immediate and unconditional surrender. Buckner had no choice but to accept.
The losses at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, within days of one another, were the first major losses for the Confederacy.
The capitulation of Fort Donelson was a severe blow for the Confederacy, involving, as it did, the surrender of approximately 12,000 soldiers, and compelling withdrawal from Kentucky.
While the battle at Donelson was still being fought, Johnston began the evacuation of Bowling Green. He later said that he elected not to come to the aid of the besieged fort because it would have left to road to Nashville unprotected.
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