The purpose of Fort Donaldson was to defend the Tennessee River from Yankee invasion. Upriver was Nashville, a really important railway hub for the Western South. Admiral Foote had sent 4 ironclads against Fort Donaldson, but the inexperienced gunners had successfully fended off the attack. On the right is a picture taken immediately after this battle showing the fattest gunner in the Confederacy. Fort Donaldson is not much of a land battle. Fort Donaldson is significant because it was Grant's and the North's first major victory of the Civil War. Grant demanded the fort surrender "unconditionally" and it did. This is where U. S. Grant received his nickname, Unconditional Surrender Grant. Fort Donaldson is also where we meet Confederate General Gideon Pillow for the first time on this trip.
General Pillow is known as one of the worst generals in the Civil War because of his string of bad decisions. In this battle, the Confederate plan was to break out of the federal siege and escape to upriver to Nashville. When the Confederates attacked, Grant was miles away visiting Admiral Foote. The Confederates successfully pushed the federal back about a mile creating a large escape route. In the middle of this success, General Pillow called the troops back into the front right before Grant returned. Upon his return, Grant counterattacked and closed the gap, resulting in the surrender of 13,000 Confederate troops the next day. General Pillow escaped upriver on a Confederate steamer.
We drove on to Scottsboro, Alabama and Unclaimed Baggage. - car
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