At the Civil War’s beginning, Union and Confederate leaders alike recognized that control of the rivers leading southward from the north were critical to the control of states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Major General Henry Halleck ordered Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant to capture Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. With the support of Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote’s fleet of ironclads and tinclads, Fort Henry quickly fell on February 6, 1862. The next target was Fort Donelson. Foote’s ironclads proved not to be shot-proof and the badly damaged Union squadron retreated. Grant surrounded the fort; however, the Confederates attempted to break out. After making a partial breakthrough, they retreated and their commanders, Major General John Floyd and Major General Gideon Pillow, escaped. This left Grant’s old friend, Major General Simon Buckner, in command of the fort. Buckner asked for surrender terms to which Grant merely said there were no terms, but unconditional surrender. That day, February 16, 1862, the Federals opened a pathway into Middle Tennessee and Grant became a legend.
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Image credit: Bombardment and Capture of Fort Henry, Tenn. Lithograph. Currier & Ives, ca. 1862. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
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