13,000 Prisoners Historical MarkerThirteen thousand dejected Confederate defenders of Fort Donelson huddled here against the cold on February 16, 1862. They had fought long and hard ag... [click for more]
Advance on Fort DonelsonHere was formerly a road following a telegraph line between Dover and Tennessee River. Following Ft. Henry's capture, Grant's Army of the Ohio marched... [click for more]
Bear Springs FurnaceJoseph and Robert Woods and Thomas Yeatman built the first charcoal cold-blast furnace here in 1830. It used brown hematite ore from local deposits. D... [click for more]
Confederate Breakout ~ February 15, 1862A 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 app... [click for more]
Confederate Breakout ~ February 15, 1863The advantage lay with the Confederates. They could press the attack and possibly destroy Grant's army, or follow their original plan to escape. They ... [click for more]
Control the Rivers and RailroadsDuring the Civil War rivers and railroads routinely carried soldiers, material, and food to keep the war effort going. The Tennessee and Cumberland ri... [click for more]
Exchanging Iron ValentinesWe awaited with deep anxiety the result of the attack and severe bombardment of the river batteries by our gunboats. Gloom ... ensued upon the new... [click for more]
Foote’s Gunboat FlotillaThe gunboat flotilla that Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote launched against Forts Henry and Donelson consisted of both timberclad and ironclad vessels. Th... [click for more]
Fort Donelson (2)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 ... [click for more]
Fort Donelson (3)The mounds of earth you see before you are the remains of Fort Donelson, which originally covered 15 acres. Confederate soldiers, and enslaved African... [click for more]
Fort DonelsonC.S.A.
Fort Donelson... [click for more]
Fort Henry ~ Feb. 6, 1862About 4 mi. N. this one of two forts erected to deny Tennessee River to the Federals. Ft. Heiman faced it from the Kentucky side. It was surrendered f... [click for more]
Freedmen’s CampAfter the Union victory at Fort Donelson, slaves escaping from nearby farms and iron foundries flocked to the area seeking freedom and protection. By ... [click for more]
Great Western FurnaceBuilt in 1854 by Brian, Newell & Co., this steam cold-blast charcoal furnace was built of limestone from the surrounding hills. Brown iron-ore came fr... [click for more]
Hallowed GroundFort Donelson National Cemetery was established in 1867 as the final resting place for Union soldiers and sailors who died during the Civil War and we... [click for more]
Holding the Outer LinesThe 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 lin... [click for more]
Life at Fort DonelsonWe lived luxuriously in comfortable tents and log huts, one Fort Donelson soldier wrote in the more tranquil days before cold weather set in ... [click for more]
Planning to EscapeThe 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, Buc... [click for more]
Seizing the InitiativeCome on, you volunteers, .... You volunteered to be killed for love of country and now you can be ....
Brigadier General Charles F. Smit... [click for more]
Site of Fort Henry ~ February 6, 1862This site of the first Union attack on river routes in the West lies below Kentucky Lake. Only the easternmost rifle pits remain above water. Because ... [click for more]
Stankiewicz’s Battery 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 hel... [click for more]
The Stewart County Iron IndustryFor over fifty years during the 19th Century, Stewart County was the center of the iron industry of Tennessee. For instance, in 1854, the county produ... [click for more]
Union CampThe 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... [click for more]
With Admirable PrecisionThis is the smallest of the two river batteries built by Confederates in 1861 to protect the Cumberland River, a strategic transportation and supply r... [click for more]
Withdrawl from Fort DonelsonAbout 300 yds. upstream was a ford over which this road formally crossed. Here, following a council of war in which he had refused to consent to the C... [click for more]
