The garrison inside Fort Donelson surrendered today to overwhelming Union forces that were surrounding it by land and by river. The surrender came after several days of fighting, including a successful break-out attempt yesterday that was not followed through.
The Union force, approximately 25,000 strong and under the command of Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant, marched to Fort Donelson after taking Fort Henry on February 12th. The day after their arrival, they assaulted with several disorganized attacks across the entire front. When no progress was made in this way, seven gunboats, some ironclad, some timberclad, sailed down the river and bombarded the fort on the 14th. They were chased away by return fire. The garrison then tried to make its own break-out assault yesterday, which made headway, and managed to open a gateway to escape, but it was not followed through, and the gate was closed again. By the end of the fighting, approximately 1,000 men had been killed, and about 3,000 wounded. Many of those among the dead had only been wounded in the fighting, but froze to death during the night.
Many would argue that the force inside Fort Donelson was more than a garrison, but a small army. Approximately 17,000 men are being surrendered, most of them from brigades just recently arrived at the fort to help with its defense. It seems that instead of being used to defend the line, it simply fed more men into Northern prison camps; men that could badly be used elsewhere.
Just last night, General Floyd, who was in command of the fort, and General Pillow, the former commander, wired General AS Johnston in Nashville to tell him that they had won a great victory. How they considered their cowardly actions of not exploiting their advantage to be a victory is a mystery. Even Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner, the third general inside the fort, realized that the day had been a defeat, and informed Johnston of this, as well as telling him that Federal reinforcements were on their way.
Apparently, Buckner convinced his two colleagues that it was hopeless at some point during the night, possibly at a meeting at the Dover Hotel, where a small light could be seen flickering through the windows at approximately 1:30 in the morning. The offer for surrender came the next morning, oddly, from Buckner, who was third in command. Both Floyd and Pillow outranked him and should have been sending the offer, but both had disappeared during the night.
The reason for Floyd’s flight is probably because he is a wanted man in the North, not because of his Confederate affiliation, but for alleged embezzlement while he was Secretary of War in the Buchanan administration. Additionally, although he spoke against secession, many believe that he purposely sent arms to Southern arsenals so that the Confederacy would have weapons to pull from when they seceded.
General Gideon J. Pillow, meanwhile, has less to fear, but may be hiding from old rivalries against him in the military, whom he had a falling out with during the Mexican War.
Buckner’s note reached Grant in the morning. He asked for an armistice and for terms that Grant could give him for surrender. Buckner is an old friend of Grant’s, having helped him out financially when Grant was kicked out of the army in California for drunkenness. Buckner had given grant enough money to return home and to have a little to live on once he arrived since Grant had not saved enough to do it himself.
Grant’s response was ungenerous to such a noble friend, stating simply:
“Sir: Yours of this date proposing Armistice, and appointment of Commissioners, to settle terms of Capitulation is just received. No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works. I am Sir: very respectfully. - Your obt. sevt. U.S. Grant, Brig. Gen”
Buckner sent a response, pointing out his old friend’s rudeness, but surrendered his command. The total number of prisoners is estimated between 12,000 and 15,000. Not included in the surrender, however, are several units; most notably the cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest, who must have sneaked away during the night.
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