History: Fort Donelson & Shiloh
Forts Heiman, Henry, and Donelson

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The Confederate attack seemed to stall and there was a lull on the battlefield. Buckner ordered additional infantry regiments and artillery forward to strengthen his position. He intended to press the attack or hold his position so that the rest of the Confederate Army could escape while his division served as a rear guard. Pillow sent a telegram to Johnston, in Nashville, announcing, “…The day is ours,” and sent orders directing Buckner and all Confederate forces to withdraw inside the earthworks. Buckner questioned the order. He did not see the reason to simply give up all the area they had fought for and won that day. Pillow reiterated his original order and Buckner reluctantly began to comply. General Floyd arrived and asked why Buckner was moving back inside the earthworks. Buckner expressed his disagreement with Pillow’s order and Floyd went to confer with Pillow. Ultimately, the Confederate command decided to pull back inside the earthworks.

While the Confederate generals were arguing and debating about what actions they should be taking, Grant arrived on the battlefield. He found confusion among some of the Union forces; men wandering around with empty cartridge boxes while wagons of ammunition stood nearby. Captured Confederate soldiers with knapsacks and bedrolls had caused fear that the Confederates were prepared to fight the Union army back to Fort Henry. Grant realized that the Confederates in Fort Donelson were trying to escape and he began issuing orders to get these regiments back into line and properly equipped with ammunition. He ordered Wallace and McClernand to retake the area lost during the morning attack. He also believed that, for the Confederates to have hit him so hard in one place, they must have weakened their line somewhere else. He rode off to order General Smith to attack the Confederate right wing. As he was riding along, he yelled to the men to rally, not to let the enemy escape, and the men responded well.

Upon receiving orders to attack the works in front of his division, General Smith moved his forces down the ridge and formed for battle at the bottom of the Confederate-occupied hill. He gave his men an inspiring talk, saying that they had volunteered to die and that now was their chance. He placed his hat on his saber and, while mounted on a white horse, led the advance up the hill. There were very few Confederate forces at the top of the hill to greet them and Smith’s Division easily captured the right wing of the earthworks. The Confederates fell back to the next ridge to regroup. Buckner’s Division arrived in time to hold this ridge against the attacking Union soldiers. The Union forces fell back and the lateness of the hour prevented any further attacks. The long, bloody day closed with the Confederates back inside the works on their left and with the works on their right firmly held by the Union army. Through indecision and debate the Confederate generals had missed their opportunity to evacuate, while the decisiveness and leadership of General Grant had preserved the Union position.

During the night of February 15, the Confederate commanders met to decide their next move. There was no improvement in cooperation between these generals. Pillow wanted to leave the sick and wounded behind and force their way out. Buckner believed they had lost the element of surprise and had no options left. The generals received varying reports as to the position of the Union army and how much of the area opened by the Confederates had been reoccupied. They did receive one accurate report that River Road was open, but the mud was knee-deep and the water was up to the saddle skirts. The surgeons believed that men forced to wade the water in the cold February weather would die of exposure. As the long night wore on, surrender seemed to be the best option. John B. Floyd declared that, due to personal reasons, he would not be part of the surrender. He asked General Buckner if Buckner would agree to take command so that he could draw out his personal brigade before the capitulation. Buckner replied that Floyd and his brigade could leave, as long as they did so before General Grant had time to reply to his communication. And so, General Floyd turned over his command (which General Pillow passed) leaving Buckner to accept the command and begin communication with Grant about terms for surrender.

Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest, in command of Confederate cavalry, was aware that the generals were contemplating surrender. Forrest had been providing scouting reports to the generals, but had had little, if any, influence on their decisions. When it was confirmed that the Confederate command planned to surrender, Forrest vowed to take the cavalry out even if he saved only one man. Generals Floyd and Pillow were also making plans to leave when an unexpected boat appeared at the landing with 400 reinforcements. Floyd had the boat unloaded and placed a guard around it. He ordered his personal brigade onboard and ferried most of them across the Cumberland River where they marched to Clarksville, Tennessee accompanied by General Pillow. Floyd and the last load of soldiers left Clarksville by water on their way to Nashville.
As the sun rose in the eastern sky on February 16, 1862, both Union and Confederate soldiers were surprised to see white flags flying over the Confederate works. Buckner sent a message to Grant proposing an armistice while terms of surrender could be discussed. U.S. Grant sent back the ultimatum that would make him famous: “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.” General Buckner accepted what he named “ungenerous and unchivalrous terms.” Now the Cumberland River was also open to the Union army. The battle count for both sides was 4,332 casualties.

Grant and Buckner met at the Dover Hotel, site of Buckner’s headquarters, to formalize the surrender. During the next few days, approximately 13,500 Confederate prisoners began their trips to prison camp and an uncertain future. Northern newspapers reporting the events dubbed the Union commander, “Unconditional Surrender” Grant. All of the Union generals were promoted to Major Generals and Washington began to take notice of Grant’s abilities. The Confederacy abandoned southern Kentucky and most of middle and west Tennessee. The Union army had control of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and occupied Nashville. This provided the Union a base with a river and rail network that allowed a huge influx of the men and materials necessary to conquer the South.

The war would continue three more years. Larger battles would be fought and many more men would lose their lives before the war ended. When Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston was told that Fort Donelson had surrendered, he deemed the loss “disastrous and almost without remedy.” The next three years would prove him right.

Today, Fort Donelson National Battlefield, a unit of the National Park Service, owns approximately twenty percent of the 1862 battlefield. The main work at Fort Henry is under the Kentucky Lake, but much of the outer works remain and is part of Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, operated by the National Forest Service. The high ground on which Fort Heiman was built saved it from a watery grave, but it is privately owned and is for sale as lake front property.

Jim Jobe began his National Park Service career at Fort Donelson National Battlefield in April of 1970. He has participated in all phases of interpretive work and serves today as the historian.

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