The Fort Henry Battlefield

Battle of Fort Henry

Bombardment and capture of Fort Henry, Tenn,
1860s lithograph by Currier and Ives

Date: February 6, 1862
Location: Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, Fort Donelson National Battlefield, Dover, Tennessee
Commanders: Union-Brig Gen Ulysses Grant, Confederate-Brig Gen Lloyd Tilghman
Strength: Union-11000-15000, Confederate-3000-4000, 79 after evacuation
Casualties: Union-40, Confederate-79
Result: Strategic Union Victory; Tennessee River open to Union attack
Current Status: National Recreation Area, National Battlefield, Partially disappeared

In the middle of the relatively quiet Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, near the border between Kentucky and Tennessee lies a small, beach covered with litter. The beach faces the wide Tennessee River, but there is little to give a hint at what was once the site of Fort Henry. The first decisive battle of the Western Theater, the attack on Fort Henry would blow open the front and launch the reputation of the future General of the Army and President, Ulysses S. Grant.

In 1861 Tennessee voted to secede from the United States and join the Southern Confederacy, one of the last states to do so. Consequently it would also serve as the front line of the Confederate defenses, and the state and its Northern neighbor, Kentucky, would be the location of much of the fighting in the Theater.

USS Lexington, a Timberclad

The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers flow into the Ohio River, cutting a huge swath as they wind their roughly parallel ways through the state of Tennessee.  Consequently during the Civil War, they were easy access points for Union forces to attack deep into the Confederacy, leading to Southern forces assembling river defenses against the expected penetration. While Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River was able to be situated on a domineering bluff, due to Kentucky's declaration of neutrality in 1861, no suitable defenses existed near the border for the Tennessee River. Instead Fort Henry, a five-sided 17-gun position, lay on the river floodplain dominating the river for miles, but built on low, swampy ground.  In February of 1862, heavy rains caused the Fort to be flooded.

"Ead's Turtle" Ironclad

Meanwhile, the Department of Missouri, under the command of Maj Gen Henry Halleck, was feuding with Don Carlos Buell's Department of Ohio over control of operations through the West.  Buell was given priority to seize Kentucky and Tennessee, and secure the loyal population of Appalachia, while Halleck was to secure Missouri. Though cautious by nature, Halleck wanted to improve his standing in Washington and approved an operation by one of his more aggressive subordinates, Brig Gen Ulysses Grant, to attack and take Fort Henry, technically in Buell's region.  On February 6, Grant led 17,000 troops and the Western Flotilla of seven hastily converted riverboat ironclad and timberclad riverboats under the command of Flag Officer Andrew Foote towards Fort Henry, where some 3400 Confederates under Brig Gen Llyod Tilghram waited.

The Ironclads and Timberclads were two innovations that would help the Union cause at this battle.  The ironclads were gunboats plated with iron, built with the support of wealthy St. Louis industrialist James Eads.
The timberclads were steamships hastily converted with thick timber armor on its sides. Both types of ships would prove to be powerful weapons in the war.

Realizing how poor his position was, Tilghram sent all but a skeleton crew manning the 9 guns above water to Fort Donelson.  Grant's infantry attempted to take the fort from the rear, while Foote's squadron attacked the river positions head-on. For 75 minutes, Foote's ships pummeled the fort, and though a lucky shot from the gun hit the boiler of the Essex, sending boiling-hot steam surging through the boat and sending it out of action, the Confederate guns were quickly silenced. Tilghram surrendered, taking a boat directly from the fort ramparts to Foote's flagship.  Grant's troops, marching through the mud, failed to make it to the fighting. Though the Battle of Fort Henry cost about 35 casualties each for the Union and Confederate forces (plus perhaps 100 Confederate prisoners), the Tennessee River was opened, as a massive timberclad raid the following days would attest to, reaching Muscle Shoals, Alabama deep in the heart of Dixie.

Part of the Confederate outer entrenchments

Telegraph Road, a historic road Grant's troops took to Fort Donelson

Ironically, the same force that doomed the Confederates at the battle also, swamped the new Federal occupiers. Within two days of the battle, the rising waters had completely flooded the fort, effectively rendering the entire battle moot.

Today, Fort Henry looks much as it did on February 8-- that is under water.  In 1944, the Tennessee Valley Authority dammed up the Tennessee River to prevent devastating periodic flooding and now all but the outermost line of trenches are deep under Lake Kentucky. A faint outline of the trenches remain near the Fort Henry Picnic Area of Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. On the other side of the Tennessee River is Fort Heiman, a small redoubt built on higher ground that would have allowed the Confederates greater control of the region.  It had not been completed when Fort Henry was seized by Grant on February 6. In 2006, the remnants of the fort was transferred to the National Park Service as part of Fort Donelson National Battlefield.

To reach Fort Henry, take HWY 79 to HWY 49 (The Trace) at Dover.  Take a left at Fort Henry Road and follow it to Boswell Landing Road.  There will be a small dirt parking lot. Take the trail down. 

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