Battle of Fort Donelson – Breakout

Confederate attack of Grant's line

Even after their astonishing naval victory the previous day, the commanders at Fort Donelson were still pessimistic about their chances for success against Grant's army. They decided to retry the breakout attempt of the day before. General Pillow launched an early morning attack upon the right flank of the Union line. This flank was “in the air.” For a good defensive position, an army's flank must be anchored on a fixed position so that they can not be flanked. Their left was anchored on Hickman's Creek, but the right did not reach all the way to the Cumberland River. This gave the Confederates the opportunity to strike them on the side, where they would be much more vulnerable. The plan was for Pillow to strike the Union right and open sn escape hatch, and throw the Northerns back on their left. Buckner, who commanded the left half of the Confederate line, would strike them in the flank, and then abandon his position and fall back, while guarded by Pillow.

When the Confederates struck at 5:00 am, Grant was away from his camp. Not expecting to be attacked, he had left to meet on Foote's flagship. He had ordered that no attack be launched, and did not appoint anyone second in command during his absence. The Union troops were not completely surprised by the Confederate attack, as many of the soldiers were awake because of the harsh weather. They were shaken by the high-pitched, rebel yell, but were able to gather and put up a good defense. They “contested the field most stubbornly” in Pillow's words, and it took the Southern troops two hours before they began to make progress against the Union forces. Forrest's dismounted cavalry was instrumental in their flanking attacks. McClernand, the Union commander on the right, requested reinforcements, but the other officers were reluctant to give them because of Grant's orders against an attack. The Federals were beginning to run out of ammunition, but they had not yet broken into a rout.

The fight continued to be hotly contested, and finally by 12:00 the enemy were in the position at which Buckner was to attack them, but Buckner did not. Pillow got Buckner moving, but in the wasted time the Federals had been reinforced from their left. They formed a defensive line on a ridge, and successfully beat back three Confederate attacks. The Federal troops had been driven back two miles, and an escape hatch was opened. But for some reason Pillow and Floyd believed the enemy were being reinforced and decided to fall back to their trenches to reorganize instead of moving forward while they had the opportunity.

By this time Grant had arrived, having galloped seven miles from the gunboats when he received news of the attack. Realizing that an escape was being attempted, he said, “The one who attacks first now will be victorious. The enemy will have to be in a hurry if he gets ahead of me.” Grant moved his troops into the gap left when Floyd fell back, and ordered General C. F. Smith, the commander on the far left, “All has failed on our right – you must take Fort Donelson.”

Afternoon

Smith's two brigades moved out quickly, and reached the outlying Confederate positions before Buckner had reoccupied them. Buckner formed a new defensive line, and repelled two hours of Union attacks. However, the position had been compromised. Floyd had thrown away his opportunity to escape from Donelson, and in the meantime he had his right seized by the Northern troops. The escape hatch had been closed, and it was clear that unless something was done to stop them, in the morning the Federals would use their superior forces to capture Fort Donelson.

Battle of Fort Donelson – Bombardment

Early on the morning of February 14th, a council of war was held by the Confederate command. It was agreed that Fort Donelson was untenable, and that they must attempt to escape the fort. General Pillow was assigned to lead the breakout. As he was preparing to advance, one of his aides was killed by a sharpshooter. Pillow was very unnerved by this. Even though all the troops were gathered and ready to attack, he canceled the breakout because he believed that the Federals knew of the attempt.

Fort Donelson River Battery today

Later in the day the rest of the Union army and navy arrived. Grant convinced Foote to attack at once, even though he had not reconnoitered. Foote agreed, and putting his gunboats in line began to fire on the Confederate position. The Southerns held their fire until the gunboats arrived within 400 yards, and then opened on them. Unlike at Fort Henry where the defensive artillery had little effect, the plunging fire from Fort Donelson was very effective. Foote wounded was in the foot, and the St. Louis, his flagship floated helplessly downstream. The Louisville was disabled and the Pittsburg began to sink. Out of 500 rounds fired by the Confederates, 169 scored hits, a very high number. Eight sailors were killed and 44 wounded. The Confederates had no casualties.

Ironclads firing on Donelson

Foote and Grant had been deceived by the ease of their victory at Fort Henry. The fleet had been severally damaged, and it seemed impossible that they would be able to subdue the fort. But the Confederates were still surrounded by a strong army. If the fort would fall, it would through a siege from Grant's army.

Battle of Roanoke Island

Landing

Burnside's expedition to attack Roanoke Island, North Carolina encountered rough weather on the way. To encourage his men, Burnside took up quarters in the worst ship in the fleet. Three vessels were wrecked and their crews rescued, but Burnside's boat arrived safely. Pamlico Sound was shallower than had been thought, and so significant time was spent either lightening the ship or offloading men and supplies to be transported by a smaller ship. The Confederates received no reinforcements to their 1,400 men as this large invasion force approached. The Confederate commander fell sick, and was unable to supervise the battle directly.

On February 7th, 150 years ago today, the Union fleet began a bombardment to feel out the Confederate positions, which were found to be very weak. The Confederates had a “Mosquito Fleet” of small gunboats, but they were no match for the Union vessels. Of the four Confederate forts, two were not in a position to fire only the Union fleet, and one other was rendered useless when a small Confederate gunboat was hit and ran aground, directly covering the guns of the fort. There were few casualties and little damage done, other than the one Confederate gunboat. Burnside landed 10,000 of his men through the afternoon and night. The 200 Southerners that had been posted at the landing area were driven off by fire from the ships. The Union troops were then in position to move against the Confederate forts by land the next day.

Battle of Fort Henry

Ironclads Attacking the Fort

One Hundred and Fifty years ago today Grant attacked the Confederate held Fort Henry. His 15,000 men and seven ships were much more powerful than the weak Confederate garrison in its badly positioned fort. Fort Henry was mostly flooded, with only nine guns remaining above water. Tilghman, the Confederate commander, realized there was no hope of holding the fort, so he pulled out all but a skeleton garrison.

USS Essex

The assault began on February 6th with Flag Officer Foote's seven gun boats sailing into position to attack the fort. The four new ironclads were positioned in front, followed by three wooden ships. This was the first engagement for the ironclads. Fort Henry's guns were at such low elevation that they were not able to effect any serious damage on the gunboats. Their balls hit the strongest parts of the iron plating. However one 32 pound shell did penetrate the Essex. It hit a boiler, which in steam-powered vessels contained hot steam to propel the ship. The boiler was the most vulnerable part of the ironclads because if it was hit it would not only limit its movement, but also would send scalding steam through the ship. That is exactly what happened on the Essex. It suffered thirty-two casualties, including its commander. Although this was a success for the Confederates, they were discouraged by the explosion of one of their cannons, which killed tree men. Another gun was hit by fire from the gunboats and its crew disabled. A third was rendered useless by its crew because while attempting to load it quickly, the priming wire was broken off.

After 75 minutes realizing the defence was hopeless, Tilghman surrendered the fort. Only two of the fort's cannon were in use, and General Tilghman had been manning one himself to attempt to encourage his men. The water was so high inside the fort that a small boat from the fleet sailed directly in through the salley port to accept the surrender. The Confederates suffered around 15 killed and 20 wounded, with almost 100 surrendering.

Fort Henry Invested

Plant of the fort

Grant, having embarked on February 2nd, arrived near Fort Henry and began disembarking his troops on February 4th and 5th. Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were constructed by the Tennessee state government in 1861.They did not occupy the best sites, because Kentucky had declared itself neutral and so the forts had to be built in Tennessee. They were also primarily designed to stop river traffic, not repell a land attack. Fort Henry was the weaker of the two. Although it had a good view of the river, it was built on swampy ground and was overlooked by nearby hills. Tilghman, the Confederate commander in the area, recorded this in the Official Records:

To understand properly the difficulties of my position it is right that I should explain fully the unfortunate location of Fort Henry.... The entire fort, together with the intrenched camp spoken of, is enfiladed from three or four points on the opposite shore, while three points on the eastern bank completely command them both, all at easy cannon range. ... The history of military engineering records no parallel to this case. Points within a few miles of it, possessing great advantages and few disadvantages, were totally neglected, and a location fixed upon without one redeeming feature.

By the time of Grant's arrival the Confederates had 17 cannosn and over 3,000 men to defend the Fort against Grant's 15,000 men and powerful ironclads. At the time of the Federal attack the water was very high, and because of the swampy ground of the fort, eight of the guns were already under water. Tilghman realized the fort would fall, and pulled out any unnecessary troops and sent them to Fort Donelson.

On February 4th the Union gunboats approached and opened a preliminary bombardment prior to their main attack.

Gunboats approaching the fort

Seige of Lexington

Seige of Lexington

150 years ago today Stirling Price captured Lexington, Missouri after a 8 day seige. After their victory at Wilson's Creek the Missouri State Guard under General Stirling Price advanced into the northern portions of the state. John C. Fremont, commander of the Union Department of the West, decided to defend Lexington. It occupied an important position on the Missouri River, and it was in a very pro-Confederate area. The commander in the town was Col. James Mulligan. He put his 3,500 troops in motion to build entrenchments in preparation for a seige. More reinforcements were on the way, but they were ambushed by the arriving Confederates and forced to retire. The Confederates were aware of their position because they had tapped the telegraph line, allowing them to spy on the Union messages.

Cannon Ball in the Lexington Court House. Credit.

Price arrived in front of the town on September 11th and launched an attack two days later. They found the Federal works to strong to be taken with a direct assault, so they surrounded the town and began shelling the Federal positions with their artillery. On September 18th the Confederates attacked again, and drove the Union forces from their outlying works. By this time the Union forces in the town were in severe lack of water. The wells had gone dry, and Confederate sharpshooters shot anyone who tried to reach a spring between the lines. On September 19th the Missourian forces prepared for their final attack. They brought up hemp bales soaked in water to use as mobile breastworks. These were very effective, and allowed the Confederates to roll them forward, all the time sheltered from Union fire.

Hill up which the Confederate Forces advanced

The Confederate forces advanced to attack on the morning of the 20th of September. The rolled the bales forward, hidden from the rifles of the Union soldiers. The Union attempted to set the bales ablaze by using red-hot cannon balls heated in ovens, but the bales were so wet that they were immune to the tactic. At noon Mulligan, seeing that the Confederate troops had advanced to the point where they could easily take the trenches with a final charge, requested terms of surrender.

The casualties from the battle had been light. The Missouri State Guard had suffered only 25 killed and 72 wounded, while the Federal forces had 39 killed and 120 wounded, with their entire force being taken prisoners. The light casualties of the defenders resulted from the brilliant idea of using the soaked bales as movible defenses. Jefferson Davis later wrote, "The expedient of the bales of hemp was a brilliant conception, not unlike that which made Tarik, the Saracen warrior, immortal, and gave his name to the northern pillar of Hercules."

Much fighting took place over this house. Credit.