Camp Cromwell takes Fort Donelson

Grant's first significant achievement as a commander was to take the riverside forts that prevented the Union using the Tennessee & Cumberland Rivers as routes into Tennessee.  Fort Henry on the Tennessee fell easily as it was poorly sited, not finished & not fully garrisoned.  The Union gunboats silenced the guns & Grant took it without undue difficulty.  Visiting Fort Henry is a bit tricky now as it is under a hydro lake.

He immediately pushed on to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland about 15 miles away across the ridge between the rivers.  This fort was well sited, well constructed & defended by a force that was initially bigger than Grant's.  After the navy arrived with reinforcements Grant ordered a naval attack.  This time the fort won.  It had more & better guns than Fort Henry & they were in better works at a better elevation.  There was also a line of entrenchments around the fort manned by about 20,000 men & at least 2 too many Generals.

The gun boats retired with significant damage.  While Grant was having a conference with his admiral on board ship, the Confederates tried to break out to the east.  He arrived back at the front to find his right wing in chaos.  His reaction was to order an attack on the western side of the defences.  He figured that if they were attacking in such strength in the east, their other flank must weak - typical Grant logic.  The Union took the line of entrenchments on that flank by nightfall & camped in them.

The victorious Confederates on the east side may have been able to break out, but exhausted & short of ammo they rallied back.  Grant reorganised his right to bottle them back up again.

Overnight the Confederate Generals argued about what to do next.  The 2 most senior ones decided to escape on a river boat.  Buckner, left in command, decided to surrender with his men & sent a message to Grant asking for terms.  Grant's reply is famous.  "... no terms but unconditional & immediate surrender. I propose to move immediately upon your works."    Bedford Forest decided to escape down the river bank with his cavalry & got away, 13,000 Confederates were captured along with much equipment the South could not afford to lose. 

We wargamed Fort Donelson about a year ago.  In our game the breakout did not go so well & though Smith's attack on the Union left did not break through, the Rebs failed to break out with none able to escape.  I think we got the terrain pretty right, the Union just did a lot better before Grant showed up.

Much of the battlefield is not built over & a lot of the entrenchments are plain to see, though badly eroded.  The river forts have been partly reconstructed with real cannon barrels on replica mounts.  As with many other places the fields of view are now hidden by trees whereas in 1862 the ground had been cleared by the Rebs. As at Shiloh there is a very informative visitors centre, friendly rangers, a good drive around guide & good info boards.