Posted: 3/24/2013 12:41:21 PM EDT
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Gathering up my trusty Nikon, yesterday I made the trek up to Ft. Donelson in Stewart Co., near Dover. I've been meaning to hit this park as it was relatively close but just hadn't yet done so. Admission is free, so it makes a nice day trip for the family on a budget, IMO.
I've asked David Lewis to chime in with his perspective on the battle & anything else as he's our go-to guy on all things history. This battle intrigues me as (I thinnk) it was the only major TN battle held on water as well as land. David can correct me there or anywhere else. 
Required pics as follows. I'll begin with the visitor's center & museum & go into the actual fort remains from there. 
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View towards the river from the top, where the parking lot is.
View from the river's edge, looking up towards the fort. 
There's a monument from the Daughter's of the Confederacy to the Confederate soldiers who died there. It seems they weren't allowed to be buried in the proper cemetery with the Union dead as they were "fighting the Union". Once I read that, I didn't bother to visit the cemetery. 
Time for some commentary by David now. 
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Thanks for the pics Bob! Ft Donelson is on my list to visit with my son this spring/summer. My son is 7, & he gets upset that he can't bring his metal detector with him.
IIRC, the Confederate general tried escaping the fort by fighting through the union lines, but lost his nerve & retreated back to the trenches & eventually surrendered somewhere around 12,000 troops. Troops that were irreplaceable to the Confederacy. Same thing happened north of me in Lake County at Island No. 10. ETA: Bob, I showed your pics to my 7 year old son, & he said," daddy, if we had so many cannons, how did we lose to the Yankees?" Out of the mouths of babes! Lol |
At least Forrest said screw surrender, and got out what he could. They had a paralysis of command. Had the Confederates whipped Grant at Donelson like they very well could, you would not have heard more of the man. I have read of snipers using the Henry repeater at Donelson. The Grandson of the Confederate who surrendered the fort was the Commander of US troops at Okinawa. He was killed by artillery. Gen Nathan Bedford Forrest III was killed over Germany in WWII. I fired my first cannon at Ft Donelson during a living history. Good times. 
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| Nice pics. I ride down there once in a while on the bike from Clarksville. The eagles are pretty cool to watch. I got lucky this summer and showed up one morning after an adult eagle brought a fish up for one of the youngsters to eat. I guess the young eagle had fledged (left the nest) not long before this and was still a little clumsy. It was eating the fish right next to the road. While we were sitting there watching momma eagle showed up to keep an eye on things. Pretty neat experience. |
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Very nice! If you get the chance, you need to check out Ft. Defiance in Clarksville. My brother works there. Never heard of that one & I've been to Clarksville many times. Is it as big as Ft. Donelson? What's it like? And where is it? Here is the website for Ft. Defiance. It is much smaller than Ft. Donelson. http://ftdefianceclarksville.com/ |
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At least Forrest said screw surrender, and got out what he could. They had a paralysis of command. Had the Confederates whipped Grant at Donelson like they very well could, you would not have heard more of the man. I have read of snipers using the Henry repeater at Donelson. The Grandson of the Confederate who surrendered the fort was the Commander of US troops at Okinawa. He was killed by artillery. Gen Nathan Bedford Forrest III was killed over Germany in WWII. I fired my first cannon at Ft Donelson during a living history. Good times. Yes, the surrender was TOTALLY unnecessary. The union boys were whipped and actually thought it was a trap. Poor leadership cost greatly that day. I just finished an excellent book that covered the battle along with the whole war in that area. I highly recommend it. "Jack Hinson's ONE-MAN WAR, A Civil War Sniper" Jack Hinson actually testified to a military commission about the conditions on the ground when the surrender took place. Written by Lt. Col. Tom C. McKenney USMC |