The Battle Of Fort Donelson

Jim Klag

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The Siege and Capture of Fort Donelson, TN, with Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA, surrounding the fort, as well as Dover, TN, while Federal gunboats prepare to attack from the Cumberland River. Feb 12-16, 1862

 

diane

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I've always maintained that this battle was the decisive battle of the war - the Union had a route into the center of the South via the rivers, Kentucky was irrevocably lost, and A S Johnston's chance for a defense of the Confederacy was gone. From that point on, it was a domino effect. Had Ft Donelson been commanded by less feckless officers (with the exception of Buckner) and had used the cavalry properly - Grant might well have been bogged down in a siege. Johnston would have had time to reorganize. But when Donelson fell, it caused a tsunami of troop movements throughout Kentucky and Tennessee with some very momentous results...most of them in favor of the Union. From Ft Donelson on, the Southern Confederacy was all but doomed.
 
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