Ft. Heiman... Steamboat Captain Fools Forrest...

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
Ft Heiman was the first fort capture by Grant. He would go on to capture FT. Henry under water and Ft Donelson and gain fame. Ft. Heiman was abandon and General Smith capture it on Fed 5th. 1863. We going to move on to 1864 when General Forrest used it as a base of operations. This is where he capture the riverboats he would use later to attack Johnsonville. There a side story where a riverboat captain con General Forrest and escaped to tale the tale...

Early the next morning, the Confederate artillerists thought they had an easy target in the steamer Alllla. But Buford wanted to capture her uninjured, and the steamer's captain agreed to surrender without a fight. But just as the jubilant gunners ran to the banks of the Tennessee to greet their supposed captive, she sharply turned down stream and steamed full speed ahead to Paducah. The gunners scrambled up the bluffs to their weapons as rapidly as possible. But they were not in time, But next time, there would be no such treachery.

It seems the article did not spell the steamboats name correctly...
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
Forrest used Ft Heiman as his base to launch his most successful raid - the raid on the Union supply depot at Johnsonville. While the Union was able to use the river to get deep into Alabama, the terrain around it was hard to defend, sparsely done if at all. This made it easier for Forrest to slither about the area without being hampered much. Ft Heiman is almost never mentioned in connection with Ft Henry and Ft Donelson, but even though not finished and not often manned, it presented a vantage point on the river - which Forrest took advantage of.
 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
Here is Heiman fighting at fort Donelson...
Screenshot_20220207-094636.png
 
Last edited:

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
Forts Henry, Heiman and Donelson were hastily built due to an unexpected event - Kentucky didn't follow the rest of the South out of the Union. Gov Harris of Tennessee had expected to have a remarkably good barrier between his state and the Deep South in the form of Kentucky. This state contained the corner of the world where the Cumberland, the Mississippi and the Tennessee Rivers converged. Hastily constructed and garrisoned haphazardly, there were a lot of serious problems with these forts. Grant, operating in Belmont, was able to spy out the land and what he saw pleased him.

Forrest had a lot of experience with the rivers, having been a river boat captain for some time, and he knew exactly what he was looking at when Foote's little flotilla came around the bend. He turned to his chaplain, Rev D C Kelley, and said, "Pray, Chaplain! Only God can help us now." Forrest didn't scare worth a darn but Foote managed it!

(Forrest never did make up to Kentucky - he refused to use the new flag with their star on it. The 12-star flag became the flag that signalled the general was personally on a battle field. It became known as the Forrest Flag.)
 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
1644284056663.png


Despite the fact that a pro-Union government replaced the secessionists in Missouri and the Kentucky government voted to end their status of neutrality and stay in the Union, the 13 stars remained on most Confederate battle flags throughout the war, although flags with 12 stars also were produced. Beauregard attempted to standardize the battle flag throughout the Confederacy, but individual units resisted, insisting on retaining their own distinct designs.
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
Patrick Cleburne's division also had a distinctive flag - blue with a white moon.
 
Top