General U. S. Grant may use his initials for the following: Unconditional Surrender, for that is what he is reported to have asked from the defeated Confederate Brig. Gen Simon Bolivar Buckner, after his victory at the Battle of Fort Donelson.
The battle followed the capture of Fort Henry on February 6 after which the triumphant Grant moved his army 12 miles overland to Fort Donelson. Since February 13 has the general has conducted several attacks on the fort accompanied by a fleet of seven gunboats under the command of Flag Officer Andrew Foot, who was wounded on his ship, The St. Louis. The navy attempted to diminish the fort with naval gunfire, but were forced to withdraw after sustaining heavy damage from Donelson's water batteries. It looked although the Confederates were in a favorable position and continued their barrage against the beleaguered navy who drifted off sadly down the Cumberland. But it was a siege by U S Grant that won the day for the Union. When Grant heard of the defeat he was momentarily silent crushing some papers he held in his hand. Then he calmly said, "Gentlemen, the position on the right must be retaken."
On February 15, with their fort surrounded, the Confederate forces commanded by the militarily inexperienced Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd (who launched a surprise attack against Grant's army, attempting to open an avenue of escape. ) Grant, who was away from the battlefield at the start of the attack, arrived in time to rally his men and counterattack. Despite achieving a partial success and opening the way for a retreat, Floyd lost his nerve and ordered his men back to the fort.
On the following morning, Floyd and his second-in-command, Brig. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow completely panicked and both turned over their command to Brig. Gen. Buckner. Buckner convinced his peers that they had little chance of holding the fort or escape from Grant's army, which was receiving steady reinforcements. After the flight of Pillow and Floyd, frightened of capture by the Union army fled and Buckner stayed behind to surrender.
On the morning of February 16th, Buckner sent a messenger to the Union Army requesting a ceasefire and a meeting of commissioners to work out surrender terms. Buckner who once helped financially General Grant when he was destitute, may have hoped for lenient terms but Grant bore no sentimentality to his old friend in his terms of surrender- which was unconditional.
He said "No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.”[To this, Buckner responded:
SIR:—The distribution of the forces under my command, incident to an unexpected change of commanders, and the overwhelming force under your command, compel me, notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Confederate arms yesterday, to accept the ungenerous and unchivalrous terms which you propose.
Buckner, who was now without Floyd, Pillow, Forrest and roughly 4,000 Confederates, knew he had no choice but to accept Grant’s harsh terms.
Fort Donelson is now in Union hands. News of the victory has caused celebrations throughout the North and Grant has become an instant hero. Grant's victory is a strategic defeat for the Confederacy, which lost more than 12,000 men and much equipment, The Confederates have lost Tennessee and Kentucky, and the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers are now controlled by the Union.
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