Unconditional surrender of Fort Donelson created jubilation throughout the North and silence in Dixie. It was the North’s first major victory of the Civil War, opening the way into the very heart of the Confederacy.
The Battle of Fort Donelson
February 14th, 1862 dawned cold and quiet. Early in the afternoon Foote’s Union gunboats arrived at Fort Donelson and began exchanging “iron valentines” with the Confederate heavy artillery. The gunboats suffered such damage that the decks became slippery with blood. The artillery bombardment from the Cumberland River bluff crippled the ironclads forcing them to retreat. more...
In 1863, the Union Army abandoned the Confederate works and constructed a new fortification on the ground that became the cemetery site. A freedmen's community developed around the new Union fort. Four years later, this same site was selected and 670 Union soldiers were reinterred here. more...
For Teachers
Fort Donelson National Battlefield offers curriculum-based classroom materials, including lesson plans, traveling trunks, audiovisual programs, On-site Interpretive programs, Junior Ranger Programs, and Teacher Workshops. more...
Fort Donelson Visitor Center (931) 232-5706 ext. 0
Fax
(931) 232-6331
Climate
Summers are hot and humid with an average high of 86 degrees. Winter temperatures are variable, averaging a low of 33 degrees, but may drop well below freezing with occasional snow/ice.
