Here the Union won its first major victory of the Civil War. The surrender of Fort Donelson, along with the capture of Forts Henry and Heiman, forced the Confederacy to abandon Nashville and give up southern Kentucky and much of middle and west . . . — — Map (db m173008) HM
The 6-pounder was the prime artillery piece of the Mexican War and the smallest regulation gun of the Civil War. The Confederacy and the Union armies in the west used it extensively, but it was replaced in the Union armies in the east by the . . . — — Map (db m82869) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner's Division Colonel John C. Brown's Brigade Porter's BatteryThis battery of 6 guns occupied the salient sweeping all approaches to the front and flanking the trenches to the right and left. On February . . . — — Map (db m38078) HM
This shaft is dedicated as an altar of remembrance to the Confederate soldiers who fought at Fort Donelson February, 1862 by the Daughters of the Confederacy of Tennessee "There is no holier spot of ground than where defeated valor lies" . . . — — Map (db m38085) HM
To stop the Confederate break-out attempt on February 15, Grant sent his reorganized troops against the Confederate left. At the same time, to take advantage of the weakened enemy line, he sent C.F. Smith's Division against the Confederate right. . . . — — Map (db m38145) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner's DivisionOn February 15, 1862, about 1 p.m. this division in compliance with General Floyd's orders withdrew to its original position within the trenches covered by the 2d Kentucky and 41st Tennessee. . . . — — Map (db m38146) HM
The mounds of earth you see before you are the remains of Fort Donelson, which originally covered 15 acres. Confederate soldiers and enslaved African Americans built the fort over a period of seven months. The walls, made of logs and earth, stood 10 . . . — — Map (db m82934) HM
C.S.A. Fort DonelsonThe Confederate defenses consisted of this fort, two water batteries and the line of rifle pits enclosing these and the town of Dover. The garrison of the fort proper consisted of the30th Tennessee, Colonel John W. Head . . . — — Map (db m21342) HM
In February 1862 Capt. Peter K. Stankiewicz commanded a battery of one 8-inch howitzer and two 9-pounder iron guns at this location. This battery helped defend against Union Gen. C.F. Smith's attack on Confederate Gen. Simon Buckner's position about . . . — — Map (db m38225) HM
"We lived luxuriously in comfortable tents and log huts," one Fort Donelson soldier wrote in the more tranquil days before cold weather set in and the armies clashed. Besides rations of flour, fresh and cured meats, sugar, and coffee, every . . . — — Map (db m38181) HM
On the hillside before you, inside the fort walls, stood some 100 log huts, part of 400 built in the area to house the Confederate garrison. The activity of hundreds of men probably created acres of mud during the winter snows and spring rains. . . . — — Map (db m173018) HM
These earthworks are the remains of the powder magazine for the Upper River Battery. Accounts of the period contain no information about its size, shape, or manner of construction. — — Map (db m38239) HM
This is the smallest of the two river batteries built by Confederates in 1861 to protect the Cumberland River, a strategic transportation and supply route to Clarksville and Nashville. Semicircular in design and set some 30 feet above the river, the . . . — — Map (db m38251) HM
C.S.A. The Upper Water Battery Captain Reuben R. Ross CommanderLocated on this position, this battery mounted one 6 1-2-inch rifled gun and two 32-pounder Carronades. The guns were manned by a detachment of Ross Battery of Maury Artillery which . . . — — Map (db m21344) HM
The original magazine was a one room, double-wall building constructed of logs. It was made bombproof by a thick earth covering. The inner space was about 11 feet square. It held 1000 rounds for the guns of the Lower River Battery. An earthen-wall . . . — — Map (db m38259) HM
C.S.A. The River Batteries Captain Joseph Dixon (Killed) Captain Jacob Culbertson CommanderThe lower water battery established at this point mounted eight 32-pounder guns and one 10-inch columbiad. Company A, 50th Tennessee, under Captain T.W. . . . — — Map (db m38260) HM
We awaited with deep anxiety the result of the attack and severe bombardment of the river batteries by our gunboats. Gloom ... ensued upon the news reaching us of their failure and withdrawal from the contest. H.W. Dudley, Taylor's Battery, . . . — — Map (db m38376) HM
The gunboat flotilla that Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote launched against Forts Henry and Donelson consisted of both timberclad and ironclad vessels. The timberclads - Conestoga, Lexington, and Tyler - were commercial river steamers . . . — — Map (db m38349) HM
During the Civil War rivers and railroads routinely carried soldiers, material, and food to keep the war effort going. The Tennessee and Cumberland rivers were the main arteries that carried the economic lifeblood to the heart of middle Tennessee. . . . — — Map (db m38382) HM
The four mounds in this section of the water batteries are some of the first structures built to defend the river. The Confederates mounted three 32-pounder cannon here but moved them before the gunboat attack. From this position they could not be . . . — — Map (db m38383) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner's Division Jackson's Virginia BatteryThis battery of four pieces occupied this position on the night of February 13, 1862. On February 15, it proceeded with the division to the left of the intrenchments . . . — — Map (db m38398) HM
Come on, you volunteers, .... You volunteered to be killed for love of country and now you can be .... Brigadier General Charles F. Smith When the Confederates attacked the Union right flank with such force on February 15 in an attempt to . . . — — Map (db m38399) HM
U.S.A. Brigadier General Charles F. Smith's Division Colonel Jacob G. Lauman's Brigade2d Iowa, Colonel James M. Tuttle 7th Iowa, Lieut. Colonel James C. Parrott 14th Iowa, Colonel William T. Shaw 16th Missouri, Lieut. Colonel Benjamin S. Compton . . . — — Map (db m82952) HM
The weather was bitterly cold and, as the soldiers of General Smith's division lay tentless and fireless along this ridgeline the night of February 15, 1862, an icy wind made sleep impossible. They occupied trenches that only that morning formed the . . . — — Map (db m38406) HM
The Confederate outer defenses, in February 1862, formed a 3-mile broken line around Fort Donelson and Dover. The Confederates cut trees in front of the entrenchments to construct an abatis, a formidable obstacle to the enemy. Field artillery . . . — — Map (db m82949) HM
The remains of the trenches you see here are part of the outer line of defenses that protected Fort Donelson against land attack. This part of the line was initially occupied by Capt. Rice E. Graves' six-gun Kentucky Battery with instructions to . . . — — Map (db m63405) HM
C.S.A. Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest's CavalryOn February 12, 1862, Forrest's Cavalry engaged in maneuvers to delay the advance of the Federal force on Fort Donelson. Observing the change of direction made by McClernand's Division after the . . . — — Map (db m38451) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Bushrod R. Johnson's Division Colonel Adolphus Heiman's BrigadeOn February 13, 1862, about noon, a Federal force under Colonel William R. Morrison, deployed in the woods opposite the right and center of this brigade and . . . — — Map (db m38452) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Bushrod R. Johnson's Division Colonel Adolphus Heiman's Brigade Maney's BatteryThis battery of four pieces occupied this position throughout the operations around Fort Donelson, engaging the Federal artillery at various . . . — — Map (db m38475) HM
U.S.A. Brigadier General John A. McClernand's Division Colonel William R. Morrison's Brigade17th Illinois, Major Francis M. Smith 49th Illinois, Lieut. Colonel Phineas Pease On February 13, 1862, about 10 a.m., this brigade crossed Indian Creek . . . — — Map (db m38476) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Bushrod R. Johnson's Division Colonel Joseph Drake's Brigade French's BatteryThis battery of four pieces went into position between the 4th Mississippi and 15th Arkansas regiments and supported the brigade effectively in . . . — — Map (db m38478) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow's Division Colonel Gabriel C. Wharton's Brigade51st Virginia, Lieut. Colonel James W. Massie 56th Virginia, Captain George W. Davis Arrived at Fort Donelson on February 7 and 8, 1862. First assigned to . . . — — Map (db m38590) HM
"A great shouting was heard behind me, whereupon I sent an orderly to ascertain the cause. The man reported the road and woods full of soldiers apparently in rout. An officer then rode by at full speed, shouting 'All's lost! Save . . . — — Map (db m38591) HM
"Fill your cartridge boxes, quick, and get into line; the enemy is trying to escape and he must not be permitted to do so." Col. J.D. Webster, USA The advantage lay with the Confederates. They could press the attack and possibly destroy . . . — — Map (db m38593) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow's Division Colonel William E. Baldwin's Brigade26th Tennessee, Colonel John M. Lillard 26th Mississippi, Colonel Arthur E. Reynolds Baldwin's command, being part of the 2d Brigade of General Buckner's . . . — — Map (db m38688) HM
C.S.A. Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest's CavalryOn February 15, 1862, during the attack Forrest's Cavalry covered the extreme left of the Confederate line. The backwater in lick creek and the swampy condition of the flats along the creek . . . — — Map (db m38755) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow's Division Colonel John McCausland's Brigade36th Virginia, Lieut. Colonel L. Wilber Reid 50th Virginia, Major Charles E. Thorburn 20th Mississippi, Major William N. Brown Proceeding from Cumberland City . . . — — Map (db m38759) HM
The road heading down the ravine (to your left) is Main street. In 1862, it was Forge Road and key to plans to remedy what Generals Floyd, Pillow, Buckner, and Forrest considered a deteriorating situation. The plan took shape at a late-night council . . . — — Map (db m38761) HM
Remembers the valor and devotion of her sons who served at Fort Donelson and other engagements of this theater of the Civil War. During the battle at Fort Donelson February 12-16, 1862 Col. John Gregg's 7th Texas Infantry of Davidson's Brigade, . . . — — Map (db m38261) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Bushrod R. Johnson's Division Colonel Thomas J. Davidson's Brigade Greene's BatteryThe 2nd Division of this battery, consisting of three guns, occupied this position astride the Old Forge Road. The guns covered the road . . . — — Map (db m38762) HM
C.S.A. Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner's Division Colonel John C. Brown's BrigadeEarly on February 15, 1862 General Buckner's Division relieved by the 30th Tennessee, left the line of trenches west of Indian Creek and, headed by the 3d . . . — — Map (db m38764) HM
Here, following a council of war with Brig. Gens. Floyd and Pillow, Brig. Gen. Simon B. Buckner surrendered the Confederate defenders of Fort Donelson to Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant, USA. The two senior Confederate generals, having abandoned command, . . . — — Map (db m21312) HM
Built between 1851 and 1853, this hotel accommodated riverboat travelers before and after the Civil War. Confederate General Buckner and his staff used the hotel as their headquarters during the battle. After Buckner accepted what he called Grant's . . . — — Map (db m38766) HM
Thirteen thousand dejected Confederate defenders of Fort Donelson huddled here against the cold on February 16, 1862. They had fought long and hard against Grant's forces and did not consider themselves defeated. They had been surrendered against . . . — — Map (db m38800) HM
At 1:30 a.m., February 16, 1862, at a final council of war in the Rice house (originally located in front of you at the corner of Pillow and Petty streets) Confederate Generals Floyd, Pillow, and Buckner decided that their failed breakout attempt . . . — — Map (db m38811) HM
Fort Donelson National Cemetery was established in 1867 as the final resting place for Union soldiers and sailors who died during the Civil War and were buried in this area. The cemetery occupies the site of the second Fort Donelson built in 1863 by . . . — — Map (db m38813) HM
This 1877 house served as office and quarters for the cemetery keeper until 1931. The design of the building is Second Empire (French), from the reign of Napoleon III (1852-1870). This architectural style is characterized by gables and a roof . . . — — Map (db m38815) HM
After the Union victory at Fort Donelson, slaves escaping from nearby farms and iron foundries flocked to the area seeking freedom and protection. By March 1863 some 300 refugees lived here at the freedmen's camp that came to be known as "Free . . . — — Map (db m82948) HM
