What has been most fascinating about writing about the Civil War month by month is that I never knew some of the campaigns that went on in the western theater.  Also, it has almost been 50 years since I studied the Civil War in history class.  We all know the names Gettysburg, Antietam, Manassas (1^st and 2^nd), Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.  But the names of the earlier battles like Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Roanoke were the battles that changed the tide of the war.

Last month in 1862, the Federals attacked the Confederates at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and defeated them.  The Federals continued their march and broke the strength of the Confederates in eastern Kentucky.  From these victories, the Federals carried the war into Tennessee.

Siege of Fort Henry, Feb. 6, 1862

Fort Henry was an important part of the Confederate defensive line in Northern Tennessee in the first year of the Civil War. The fort was to block the Tennessee River and thus preventing Union forces from using the river to enter the heart of the state.  Unfortunately, the forts design was a poor design as it was built on low lying ground and thus prone to flood whenever the river were to rise…such as what happened to New Orleans during hurricane Katrina.  The fort was also overlooked by high ground, which made it very venerable to attack.  The Confederate garrison of only 2,500 soldiers was nowhere near enough to withstand a determined attack.  

Union general Ulysses S. Grant, the commander of the Federal forces at Cairo, where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet, saw that he could use the Ohio River to attack Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River.  Grant moved 15,000 men along the rivers to Fort Henry, supported by a flotilla of the river navy under Andrew Foote.

Unfortunately, the attack did not go as planned.  Grant landed his men several miles downstream from Fort Henry with the intention of attacking the fort from the rear while the gunboats bombarded it from the river.  Heavy rain meant that Grant’s men made slow progress.  The same rain folded the lower levels of Fort Henry.  On the morning of February 6^th, Foote’s gunboats found themselves attacking the fort without infantry support.  With the poor design of the fort, only nine Confederate guns could effectively fire on the fleet.  The commander of the fort realized that his position was hopeless, so he ordered his men to embark on the short journey to Fort Donelson, leaving an artillery company to defend the fort from the gunboats.  Within two hours the artillerymen were overwhelmed and surrendered to the fleet.  The loss of Fort Henry shattered the Confederate position in Tennessee.  Three of the gunboats continued south along the Tennessee River, reaching as far as Alabama, capturing nine Confederate ships and destroying a key railroad bridge.  Meanwhile, Grant was turning his attention towards Fort Donelson.

Siege of Fort Donelson, Feb. 12-16, 1862

With the arrival of the 2,500 strong garrison from Fort Henry, the garrison at Fort Donelson rose to 5,000.  Even though Donelson was a much stronger garrison than Fort Henry, the enhanced garrison would still be out numbered 3 to 1 by Grant’s 15,000 union soldiers.  The Confederate commander in the west, General A.S. Johnston, was faced with two alternatives.  He could either removed his troops from Fort Donelson and then reform a powerful field army which could then launch a counterattack, or he could move his entire force t Fort Donelson, defeat Grant’s army and then turn on a second Union army under General Buell that was threatening from the northeast.  At first Johnston decided to pull back and prepare for a counterattack, but he eventually decided to combine both options.  He sent 12,000 men to reinforce Fort Donelson bringing their number to 17,000 and thus outnumbering Grant’s force.  What the rebels didn’t know, however, was that Grant was expecting 10,000 reinforcements.  Johnson had weakened his army by breaking it up and the garrison at Fort Donelson did not have a realistic chance to defeat Grant.

On February 13, Grant attacked the fort and was repulsed.  The next day Grant’s reinforcements arrived, as did Foote’s gunboats.  Grant prepared to settle down for a conventional siege.  Thinking that he had everything under control, Grant traveled 5 miles for a meeting with Foote.  Thinking that their best chance of escape was to break through the Union lines, the confederates attack the morning of the 15^th.  The Union forces were close to breaking when the Confederate offices, thinking that their men were too tired, ordered them back to their trenches.  It was at this point that Grant arrived at the battlefield.  Despite the Confederate lapses, his siege lines were broken, and it was surely only a matter of time before the confederates recovered their nerve and escaped.  Grant did not give them time to recover. Instead he managed to organize a strong enough force to launch a counterattack, and with some aid from the gunboats, recaptured the ground lost while he had been absent.  The following day the fort surrendered.

Battle of Elizabeth City, Feb. 10, 1862

On February 7-8 an expedition led by Ambrose Burnside had captured Roanoke Island.  On the first day of that battle his fleet of sixteen gunboats had chased off a small Confederate force of seven gunboats, one of which was destroyed.  The six survivors retreated to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where they sheltered behind the dubious protection of a four-gun battery.  Early on February 10^th, the Federal fleet caught up with them.  The militiamen in the gun batter fled, forcing the confederate commander, William F. Lynch to dispatch some of his men to man the guns.  The Federal fleet, under Commander Stephen rowan, swept past that fort and fell on the tiny Confederate fleet.  Only one ship escaped.  Their own crew destroyed three, one was sunk, and another captured. The Federal fleet went on to briefly occupy Elizabeth City.  On February 12, they also took Edenton. Roanoke Island fell to the Federals on February 7-8. The number of ports available to Confederate blockade runners was rapidly diminishing.

Now that the Civil War Sesquicentennial commemoration is underway, here is your chance to get involved firsthand!  Learn more about portraying the lives of persons who experienced the Civil War at Fort Ward’s “Recruiting Day.”  On Saturday, February 25^th between 1 and 4p.m., soldiers and civilians of the 3^rd U.S. Regular Infantry, Company K, will be on had to talk about a soldier’s uniform and equipment, demonstrate drills, and explain the roles of military and civilian reenactors.  Visitors can also inquire about how to join local reenactment units and learn what kind of clothing and equipment a novice reenactor requires. Admission is free and the snow date is March 3^rd. For more information visit www.fortward.org or call 703-746-4848.