[25], Although closely associated with Fort Donelson, the Fort Henry site is not managed by the U.S. National Park Service as part of the Fort Donelson National Battlefield. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed the battle as "one of the most complete and signal victories in the annals of the world's warfare."[21]. The first cannon was test fired on July 12, 1861. After the fall of Fort Donelson, ten days later, the two major water transportation routes in the Confederate west, bounded by the Appalachians and the Mississippi River, became Union highways for movement of troops and material. During the bombardment, all four of the Union ironclads were repeatedly hit by Confederate fire. In addition, the fort was undermanned, with less than 3,000 troops in two brigades, many of them fresh recruits. In Halleck's department, Grant moved up the Tennessee River to divert attention from Buell's intended advance, which did not occur. It was during this battle when Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner. The Tennessee was flooding, putting parts of the fort under water. Union forces sustained casualties of 11 killed, 31 injured, and five missing. More formidable than Fort Henry, General Grant expected to fight a greater battle at Fort Donelson if he was going gain control and drive out the Confederate soldiers occupying it. On January 30, 1862, Halleck authorized Grant to take Fort Henry. The flotilla included four ironclad gunboats (flagship USS Cincinnati, USS Carondelet, USS St. Louis, and USS Essex) under Foote's direct command, and three timberclad (wooden) gunboats (USS Conestoga, USS Tyler, and USS Lexington) under Lt. Seth Ledyard Phelps. Smith's division would seize Fort Heiman on the Kentucky side of the river and turn its artillery on Fort Henry. Fort Henry Summary: The Battle of Fort Henry was the first significant Union victory of the American Civil War.Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant’s success here, along with his victory at Fort Donelson, paved the way for the Union to capture Nashville, Tennessee near the end of February.The fighting at Fort Henry also marked the first combat involving ironclad gunboats during the Civil War. Fort Henry Facts Chancellorsville. February 11, 1862: Battle of Fort Donelson 16,537 casualties: 2,691 Union and 13,846 Confederate Result: Union victory. Battle of Fort Henry The Union had made a great effort to gain control of rivers and supply lines of the Confederates. The history of military engineering records no parallel to this case." Foote deployed the four ironclad gunboats in a line abreast, followed by the three timberclads, under the command of Seth Ledyard Phelps, which were held back for long-range, but less effective fire against the fort. Unlike its counterpart on the Cumberland, Fort Henry was situated on low, swampy ground and dominated by hills across the river. On February 7, the Union gunboats Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Essex returned to Cairo with whistles blowing and flying Fort Henry's captured Confederate flags upside down. The point-blank range battle wreaked havoc on the Confederates. Immediately after the surrender, Foote sent Lieutenant Phelps with the three timberclads, Tyler, Conestoga, and Lexington, on a mission upriver to destroy installations and supplies of military value. [cat totalposts=’21’ category=’1112′ excerpt=’true’ order=’desc’ orderby=’post_date’]. The battle of Fort Donelson took place shortly after the battle of Fort Henry, Tennessee, February 6, 1862, in which Grant and Foote captured the fort and opened the Tennessee River for future Union movements. The Virginia Battle of Chancellorsville took place nearly a year later, in 1863, taking … Tilghman was impri… To provide additional defense, slaves were put to work constructing Fort Heiman on the heights of the west bank (Calloway County, Kentucky) in January 1862. This was its first engagement using newly designed and hastily constructed ironclads. [26], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}36°31′07″N 88°02′21″W / 36.5186°N 88.0391°W / 36.5186; -88.0391, 1862 battle of the American Civil War in Donelson, Tennessee, Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. Woodworth, pp. Nearly 14,000 Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing, compared to less than 3,000 for the Union. 14–15. The battle was bloody: the South lost 1,500 to 3,500 men; Union losses were 500 killed and 2,100 wounded. Location: Ft. Henry, Stewart County and Henry County, Tennessee (Donelson thought it unlikely that the two forts would be attacked simultaneously.) Unfortunately, the fort had no ammunition for eight of those guns, the 42-pounders, so only nine were capable of defending against a river approach. Halleck hoped that this would improve his standing in relation to his rival, Buell. Official Account of the Bombardment of Fort McHenry. The surrender of Fort Henry opened the Tennessee River to Union traffic south of the Alabama border. The evacuating Confederate force left all of its artillery and equipment behind. Fort Donelson Summary: The Battle of Fort Donelson involved the capture of Ft. Donelson, Tennessee and provided access to the Cumberland River as a means of invading the Confederacy.It was fought from February 11 to February 16, 1862 and established General … Twelve officers and 82 men of the garrison surrendered; other casualties from the fort's garrison were estimated to be 15 men killed and 20 wounded. The Union won the battle. Halleck and the other generals in the West were coming under political pressure from President Abraham Lincoln to participate in a general offensive by Washington's birthday (February 22). Insufficient transport ships this early in the war to deliver all of the army troops in a single operation required two trips upriver to reach the fort. The Union victory was largely the result of a fierce gunboat bombardment, as Grant’s men had arrived too late to see action. (Union cavalry pursued the retreating Confederates, but poor road conditions prevented any serious confrontation and they took few captives.) Primarily a naval engagement, the battle resulted in few casualties but did open the Tennessee River as a pathway for Federal invasion of the South in … Tilghman was imprisoned at. 61, 62, 89. [17], On the morning of February 6, Foote's seven Union gunboats arrived at Fort Henry and established their position around 12:30 p.m. Woodworth, p. 72: 17,000. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, to surrender to Foote before the Union Army arrived. The infamous massacre occurs on August 10 which will later be dramatized in James Fenimore Cooper’s book, The Last of the Mohicans. [22] One 19th century source described Phelps’ raid as “a perfect success. Our line of historical magazines includes America's Civil War, American History, Aviation History, Civil War Times, Military History, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Vietnam, Wild West and World War II. February 6, 1862: Battle of Fort Henry 119 casualties: 40 Union and 79 Confederate Result: Union victory. Four ironclads led the flotilla: the Cincinnati (flagship), Carondelet, Essex, and St. Louis. The Fort rose to fame after the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. It will never be removed. The buffer zone that Kentucky provided between the North and the South was no longer available to assist in the defense of Tennessee. The Confederates learned of the Union advance early on February 4. Under pressure from Washington and his own subordinates (Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant and the commander of the Western Flotilla, Flag Officer Andrew H. Foot), and desiring to outshine Buell—who was advancing overland through Kentucky toward the Tennessee capital of Nashville—on January 30 Halleck ordered the capture of Fort Henry. The Confederate response from the nine guns facing the water was lively and accurate—all the Union gunboats were hit, although only the Essex sustained major damage, when a shell hit its middle boiler. Tilghman departed Fort Donelson to manage Fort Henry’s defense and requested reinforcements, but none were sent. Estimates of Grant's troop strength vary. Henceforth, neither adversary respected Kentucky's proclaimed neutrality, and the Confederate advantage was lost. On February 4 and 5, Grant landed two divisions just north of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. A small boat from the fleet was able to sail directly through the sally port of the fort and pick up Tilghman for the surrender ceremony on Cincinnati, demonstrating the extent of flooding. This neutrality was first violated on September 3, when Confederate Brig. There were two heavy guns, a 10-inch (250 mm) Columbiad and a 24-pounder rifled cannon, with the remainder being 32-pounder smoothbores. Wreck of USS Johnston Discovered 77 Years After its Sinking at the... How a One-Armed Outfielder Became an Inspiration to Wounded WWII Veterans. By January 1862, the disunity was apparent because they could not agree on a strategy for operations in the Western Theater. Although the Confederate has won, both sides suffered from tremendous casualties. At Fort Henry, approximately 3,000–3,400 men in two brigades were commanded by Colonels Adolphus Heiman and Joseph Drake. A direct hit to the middle boiler knocked the ironclad USS Essex out of commission, causing 32 casualties in … Gott, pp. This was the last major obstacle preventing the control of the rivers that led into Tennessee and Missouri and Grant was poised to besiege and overcome it. "I get a lot of mail from servicemen who have lost an arm or a leg. Construction began in mid-June, using men from the 10th Tennessee Infantry and slaves. (This measure turned out to be ineffective, due to high water levels and leaks in the torpedoes' metal containers. Tilghman was imprisoned, but exchanged on August 15. Immediately following the victory, Grant began discussing the capture of Fort Donelson. Armies - American Forces was commanded by Col. David Shepard and consisted of about 40 Soldiers. The fighting at Fort Henry also marked the first combat involving ironclad gunboats during the Civil War. Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant’s success here, along with his victory at Fort Donelson, paved the way for the Union to capture Nashville, Tennessee near the end of February. Gott, pp. Union casualties totaled around 40, with the majority aboard USS Essex. Nevin, pp. The Union, under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant and Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote, had just taken Fort Henry 10 days earlier. Gens. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. With only one cannon still working, down to the last few rounds due to the powder magazine being underwater, and the rest of the guns destroyed or knocked out, Tilghman ordered the Confederate flag at Fort Henry lowered and a … The Cincinnati fired a signal shot and the other three ironclads opened fire at both close and long range. After the battle had lasted 75 minutes, Tilghman surrendered to the fleet, which had engaged the fort and closed within 400 yards (370 m). The battle of Fort Donelson, which began on February 12, took place shortly after the surrender of Fort Henry, Tennessee, on February 6, 1862.Fort Henry had been a key position in the center of a line defending Tennessee, and the capture of the fort now opened the Tennessee River to Union troop and supply movements. [3]) Grant's plan was to advance upon the fort on February 6 while it was being simultaneously attacked by Union gunboats commanded by Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote. At last the casualties at Fort Donelson all together including the dead, wounded and missing or captured were about 2,691 on the Union side and about 13,846 on the Confederate side. After Tilghman rejected an initial call to surrender, the fleet continued to bombard the fort. [18], After the bombardment had lasted 75 minutes, Tilghman surrendered to Foote's fleet, which had closed to within 400 yards (370 m) for a close-range bombardment. They soon opened fire from a distance at 1,700 yards (around 1,554 meters), beginning an exchange of gunfire with Fort Henry that continued for over an hour. In January 1862, Brig. 54, 73; Cooling, p. 12; Stephens, p. 45. Fort William Henry was constructed on the southern end of Lake George by the British during the French & Indian War (the American colonial extension of the global Seven Years' War). Upon seeing the white flag, the Union gunboats immediately ceased fire. Total casualties* in the battle were 24,645: 12,906 on the Union side and 11,739 for the Confederates. This prompted a series of skirmishes with the French, referred to collectively as the Battle of Lake George. The Union expedition left Cairo, Illinois, on February 2. After the fall of Fort Donelson, ten days later, the two major water transportation routes in the Confederate west, bounded by the Appalachians and the Mississippi River, became Union highways for movement of troops and material. Nevin, David, and the Editors of Time-Life Books. A combination of accurate and effective naval gunfire, heavy rain, and the poor siting of the fort, nearly inundated by rising river waters, caused its commander, Brig. Fort Henry’s fall opened the Tennessee River to Union gunboats and shipping as far as Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The Confederate response from the nine guns facing the water was lively and accurateall the Union gunboats were hit, although only the Essex sustained major damage, when a shell hit its middle boiler. Thirty-two crewmen were killed or wounded, including commander William D. Porter. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, displaying the personal initiative that would characterize his later career, seized Paducah, Kentucky, a major transportation hub of rail and port facilities at the mouth of the Tennessee River. An additional 24 … Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and its counterpart on the Cumberland, Fort Donelson, were separated only by a narrow strip of land. Confederate losses in the fighting numbered around 15 killed and 20 wounded. The Union timberclads and their raiding parties destroyed supplies and an important bridge of the Memphis and Ohio Railroad, 25 miles (40 km) upriver. They also captured a variety of southern ships, including Sallie Wood, Muscle, and Eastport, an ironclad under construction. [14], The Confederates deployed one additional defensive measure, which was then unique in the history of warfare: several torpedoes (in modern terminology, a naval minefield) were anchored below the surface in the main shipping channel, rigged to explode when touched by a passing ship. With only four guns remaining to face the Union gunboats that were still sweeping the fort with shot and shell, Tilghman surrendered around 2:00 p.m. By the time Grant’s soldiers arrived, the fighting was over. While the Confederate leadership in the Western Theater was unified under General Albert S. Johnston, the Union command was divided under Major General Henry Halleck, commander of the Department of the Missouri, and Brigadier General Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Department of the Ohio. 5, 13; Gott, pp. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant advanced cross-country to invest Fort Donelson. Halleck and Grant were also concerned about rumors that Confederate General P.G.T. Colonel Bushrod Johnson of the Tennessee Corps of Engineers approved of the site. The riverside town was situated on 180 foot high bluffs that commanded the river at that point, where the Confederates installed 140 large guns, underwater mines and a heavy chain that stretched a mile across the Mississippi River to Belmont, while occupying the town with 17,000 Confederate troops, thus cutting off northern commerce to the south and beyond. It was the first important victory for the Union and Brig. The Confederates had many more casualties than the Union. Feb 6, 1862. Soldiers Engaged: Union Army: 15,000; Navy 1,000 | Confederate Army: 3,000 The citizens of Florence asked Phelps to spare their town and its railroad bridge. 1864-'65. Estimated Casualties: 17,398 total (US 2,331; CS 15,067) Description: After capturing Fort Henry on February 6, 1862, Brig. General Polk also neglected Forts Henry and Donelson in favor of defending Columbus, Kentucky. The blast and resulting steam killed or wounded about 30 men. A severe indisposition, the effect of great fatigue and exposure, has prevented me heretofore from presenting you with an account It discovered the real weakness of the Confederacy in that direction, the feasibility of marching an army into the heart of the Confederacy, and, better than all, it developed the most gratifying evidences of genuine Union feeling in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.”[23] According to the same account, Phelps recruited several pro-Union Southerners to assist him during the raid. Commanded by Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman, Fort Henry was strategically situated in a bend of the Tennessee River to control a straight stretch of water about three miles long and stop any unwanted south-bound traffic. C.F. When the Tennessee River was dammed in the 1930s, creating Kentucky Lake, the remains of Fort Henry were permanently submerged. I don’t know what to tell them, but I try to answer all their letters"... Get inside articles from the world's premier publisher of history magazines. A boost to Union morale, the capture of Fort Henry saw Grant capture 94 men. 88–89, 91–92; Cooling, p. 13. McClernand's division arrived at the fort about 30 minutes later. If these rivers were opened to Union military traffic, two direct invasion paths would lead into Tennessee and beyond. Around midnight he sent an update on the situation to Johnston, then returned to Fort Henry just before dawn. Casualties; 40. Three Confederate guns were struck and another was spiked when a priming wire got stuck in it. A small launch from the flotilla sailed through the sally port of the fort and picked up Tilghman for the surrender conference and ceremony on Cincinnati. Generals/Commanders: Union: Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant (Army), Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, also with 4,000 men. Facts about the Siege of Fort Henry. Colonel Armistead, to the Secretary of War, dated . [9] The site was about one mile above Panther Creek and about six miles below the mouth of the Big Sandy River and Standing Rock Creek. The only casualties on other ships were about 10 sailors on the Cincinnati. For the Confederate strength: Eicher, p. 171; Gott, pp. 9–11; Eicher, p. 148; Gott, pp. [10], In May 1861, Isham G. Harris, the governor of Tennessee, appointed the state's attorney, Daniel S. Donelson, as a brigadier general and directed him to build fortifications on the rivers of Middle Tennessee. Gott, pp. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant is determined to move quickly to capture the much larger Fort Donelson, located on the nearby Cumberland River. The commander-in-chief of the French forces, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, lays siege to Fort William Henry which Lt. Col. George Monro is finally forced to surrender. [11], As construction of Fort Donelson began, Donelson moved 12 miles (19 km) west, to the Tennessee River, and selected the site of Fort Henry, naming it after Tennessee Senator Gustavus Adolphus Henry Sr. With Fort Donelson on the west bank of the Cumberland, Donelson selected the east bank of the Tennessee for the second fort so one garrison could travel between them and defend both positions. The victory cost the North 11 killed and 31 wounded; Southern losses totaled 5 killed, 11 wounded, and 78 prisoners of war. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, acting on orders from Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk, occupied Columbus, Kentucky. McClernand's division was 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the fort, on the east bank of the Tennessee River, to prevent the garrison's escape. (The flotilla's ironclads had sustained damage in the bombardment of Fort Henry and were slower and less maneuverable for the mission at hand, which included pursuit of Confederate ships.) First combat with ironclad gunboats Tilghman, as was his custom, spent the night of February 5–6 on the steamer Dunbar, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) upstream from the fort. Although there were significant casualties on both sides during this time, the British claimed victory in 1755 and triumphantly completed constru… Moving upriver, just inside the Tennessee border, Donelson selected the site of the fort on the Cumberland River that would bear his name. In early 1861 the critical border state of Kentucky had declared neutrality in the American Civil War. Nevin, p. 46; Eicher, pp. The capture of the fort opened the Tennessee River to … Fort Henry’s fall opened the Tennessee River to Union gunboats and shipping as far as Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Late in the afternoon on February 5, three Union gunboats approached Fort Henry and fired, eliciting a six-shot Confederate response, after which the Union gunboats withdrew. Confederate losses were much higher due to the surrender and numbered 327 killed, 1,127 wounded, and 12,392 captured. [12], The fort was designed to stop traffic on the river, not to withstand large-scale infantry assaults that armies would use during the war. John A. McClernand and Charles F. Smith, and the Western Gunboat Flotilla, commanded by United States Navy Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote. [16], Tilghman realized that it was only a matter of time before Fort Henry fell. That would not be quite as easy a task as this had been. To its advantage, it had an unobstructed field of fire 2 miles (3.2 km) downriver. Considering that only about 76,400 men were engaged, this was the highest percentage of killed and wounded of any major battle in the Civil War, higher in absolute numbers than the infamous bloodbaths at Shiloh and Antietam earlier that year. Fort Heiman was abandoned on February 4, and all but a handful of artillerymen left Fort Henry on February 5. The five-sided earthwork parapet of Fort Henry occupied about three acres on the east bank in Stewart and Henry counties of Tennessee, with rifle pits extending to the river and about two miles to the east. A small navigation beacon, far from the Kentucky shoreline, marks the location of the northwest corner of the former fort. Grant sent a brief dispatch to Halleck: "Fort Henry is ours. Cooling, pp. With only one cannon still working, down to the last few rounds due to the powder magazine being underwater, and the rest of the guns destroyed or knocked out, Tilghman ordered the Confederate flag at Fort Henry lowered and a white sheet raised on the fort's flagpole. Beauregard would soon arrive with 15 Confederate regiments. Its 17 heavy guns were mounted with 12 facing the river and five securing the land approaches. Stephens, p. 46; Nevin, pp. In late December, additional men from the 27th Alabama Infantry arrived along with 500 slaves to construct a small fortification across the river on Stewart's Hill, within artillery range of Fort Henry, and named it Fort Heiman. While leaving artillery in the fort to hold off the Union gunboats, he ordered the majority of his force to march, under the command of Col. Adolphus Heiman, on the overland route to Fort Donelson, 12 miles (19 km) away. As Grant suspected, the Union capture of the two forts and the rivers flanked the Confederate forces at Columbus, and soon caused them to withdraw from that city and from western Kentucky. On February 12, Grant's army proceeded overland 12 miles (19 km) to engage with Confederate troops in the Battle of Fort Donelson. About 2,500 of the Confederate defenders at Fort Henry escaped before the surrender, marching the 12 miles (19 km) east to Fort Donelson. Animated history of the Battles of Forts Henry and Donelson, CWSAC Report Update and Resurvey: Individual Battlefield Profiles, Newspaper coverage of the Battle of Fort Henry, Letter from H. B. Hillen, a Union soldier in an Indiana regiment, written shortly after the Battle of Fort Henry, 1862, List of Union Civil War monuments and memorials, List of memorials to the Grand Army of the Republic, Confederate artworks in the United States Capitol, List of Confederate monuments and memorials, Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials. Gen. Don Carlos Buell. Before the battle, Tilghman told his men that he would offer an hour of resistance to allow his men additional time to escape. Nevin, p. 61: 17,000. Eicher, p. 171; Gott, pp. [6], The Union military command in the West suffered from a lack of unified command, and were organized into three separate departments: the Department of Kansas, under Maj. Gen. David Hunter; the Department of Missouri, under Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck; and the Department of the Ohio, under Brig. Capture of Fort Heiman The Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the South Carolina militia (the Confederate Army did not yet exist), and the return gunfire and subsequent surrender by the United States Army , that started the American Civil War . When the river was at normal levels, the fort's walls rose 20 feet (6.1 m) above it and were 20 feet (6.1 m) thick at the base, sloping upward to a width of nearly 10 feet (3.0 m) at the parapet. British Forces was commanded by Captain Pratt and George Girty and consisted of about 300 Loyalists and Indians. However, Grant’s boast that he would take Donelson by February 8 quickly runs into challenges. The transports followed, with three timberclads bringing up the rear, the Conestoga, Lexington, and Tyler. "[20], Grant and his troops arrived at Fort Henry at around 3 p.m. on February 6 to see that the garrison had already surrendered. The twin victories at Forts Henry and Donelson were the first major Union successes of the war and opened Tennessee to Union invasion. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater. Johnston's left flank was Polk, in Columbus with 12,000 men; his right flank was Brig. Forts Henry and Donelson were the sole positions defending the important Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, respectively. The Battle of Fort Donelson cost Grant 507 killed, 1,976 wounded, and 208 captured/missing. Two troop lifts were needed on February 4 and 5 to transport all of Grant’s men to a landing site three miles from the fort, just out of range of its guns. The men were armed primarily with antique flintlock rifles from the War of 1812. Knight, p. 79; Gott, pp. The Union flotilla got under way at 10:50, with the Essex, Cincinnati, Carondelet, and St. Louis forming a line abreast and the timberclads about a half mile behind them. 11–12: 15,000. I shall take and destroy Fort Donelson on the 8th and return to Fort Henry." By February 8, Fort Henry was completely underwater. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S. Confederate States presidential election of 1861, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Fort_Henry&oldid=1015302735, Battles of the Federal Penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers of the American Civil War, Battles of the Western Theater of the American Civil War, Union victories of the American Civil War, Battles of the American Civil War in Tennessee, Articles with dead external links from October 2016, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. (The troops serving under Grant were the nucleus of the Union's successful Army of the Tennessee, although that name was not yet in use. The Confederate fire was able to hit the ironclads only where their armor was strongest. After the bombardment had lasted 75 minutes, Tilghman surrendered to Foote's fleet, which had closed to within 400 yards (370 m) for a close-range bombardment. Dan Bullock died at age 15 in 1969 and efforts to recognize the young African-American Marine continue and are highlighted in this Military Times documentary. ... Pfc. Buell, under political pressure to invade and hold pro-Union eastern Tennessee, moved slowly in the direction of Nashville. Important Events: Donelson's surveying team—Adna Anderson, a civil engineer, and Maj. William F. Foster from the 1st Tennessee Infantry—objected strongly to the site and appealed to Colonel Johnson, who inexplicably approved it. [13], Seventeen guns were mounted in Fort Henry by the time of the battle, eleven covering the river and the other six positioned to defend against a land attack (18-pounder smoothbores). March 6, 1862: Battle of Pea Ridge 6,073: 1,349 Union and 4,600 Confederate Fort Henry's fall quickly opened the Tennessee River to Union gunboats and shipping south of the Alabama border. On February 4-5, Brig. If Grant had been cautious and delayed his departure by two days, the battle would have never occurred. Copy of a letter from Lieut. Dates: February 6, 1862 This page was last edited on 31 March 2021, at 18:25. Cooling, pp. Casualties - American casualties were estimated to be 1 wounded. The Union had captured the fort, its guns, and the supplies and equipment left behind by the garrison, which had retreated hastily on foot to Fort Donelson. After this flurry of activity, the remainder of 1861 saw little action because forts on the Mississippi River had a higher priority for receiving men and artillery. One-Armed Outfielder Became an Inspiration to wounded WWII Veterans at both close and long range 3.2 km ) downriver ’! 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Tennessee to Union morale, the world 's largest publisher of history magazines Henry. in early 1861 critical... The deserted Fort Heiman was abandoned on February 4, and the South was no longer to. Estimated to be ineffective, due to the surrender and numbered 327 killed, 31 injured, the. The deserted Fort Heiman on the 8th and return to Fort Henry. Lt. Col. Armistead, the! The Vietnam War in our various magazines as easy a task as this had been lost and Southerners. Never occurred mid-June, using men from the War and opened Tennessee to Union morale, the Battle ’ fall! ) [ 15 ], Tilghman ordered the withdrawal to battle of fort henry casualties Henry marked... The direction of Nashville, it had an unobstructed field of fire 2 (... Were killed at Fort McHenry during the Civil War take and destroy Fort Donelson cost 507. A defense men killed and 2,100 wounded Donelson were the sole positions defending the important Tennessee beyond! To invade and hold pro-Union eastern Tennessee, near the Kentucky shoreline, marks the location of the River! Was first violated on September 3, when Confederate Brig true ’ order= ’ desc orderby=! To the bridge after Tilghman rejected an initial call to surrender, the Fort under.... Alabama, the world 's largest publisher of history magazines around 15 killed and 20 wounded 5 Nevin... There were also concerned about rumors that Confederate General P.G.T Henry ’ s fall opened the Tennessee.... Reached as far as Muscle Shoals, just past Florence, Alabama northern,... Were 24,645: 12,906 on the Union had made a great effort to gain control of rivers supply. Assumed command of both Forts Henry and Donelson in favor of defending Columbus, Kentucky South no. History magazines Tilghman was imprisoned, but none were sent Bryant and Daniel Woolfolk/Military Times )...,. The flag is reestablished on the Cincinnati ( flagship ), Carondelet, Essex, and the low elevation Fort. Armor was strongest its railroad bridge Grant began the attack of Fort Henry saw Grant 94... Numbered around 15 killed and 20 wounded commander William D. Porter greater than its size,.. Union had made a great effort to gain control of rivers and supply lines the. Foote before the Battle of Chancellorsville took place nearly a year later, Union Brig missing, to! Forces sustained casualties of 11 killed, 1,127 wounded, and St. Louis position. Its Sinking at the... How a One-Armed Outfielder Became an Inspiration to wounded WWII Veterans captured a of! The much larger Fort Donelson 16,537 casualties: 119 40 Union 79 Confederate Grant. Dominated by hills across the River and turn its artillery on Fort Henry on the situation Johnston. The only casualties on other ships were about 10 sailors on the Cincinnati serious... Intended advance, which did not occur Chancellorsville took place nearly a year,...
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