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Birth
Fort Donelson Birth, Marriage, Death in the UK Fort Donelson- Fort Donelson
- Fort Donelson
- Fort Donelson
Fort Donelson National Battlefield
(Redirected from Fort Donelson)
| Fort Donelson National Battlefield |
| IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape) |
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| Location |
Calloway County, Kentucky & Stewart County, Tennessee, USA |
| Nearest city |
Clarksville, Tennessee |
| Coordinates |
36°28′57″N 87°51′46″W / 36.4825, -87.86278 |
| Area |
2,015.34 acres (8.16 km²)
555.23 acres (2.2 km2) federal[1] |
| Established |
March 26, 1928 |
| Visitors |
208,687 (in 2005) |
| Governing body |
National Park Service |
Fort Donelson National Battlefield preserves Fort Donelson and Fort Heiman, two sites of the American Civil War Forts Henry and Donelson Campaign, in which Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Admiral Andrew Hull Foote captured three forts, opened two rivers, and received national recognition for victories in February 1862, the first major Union victories of the war. The main unit of the park, in Dover, Tennessee, commemorates the Battle of Fort Donelson. Fort Heiman (36°30′7″N 88°3′21″W / 36.50194, -88.05583) in nearby Calloway County, Kentucky, was a Confederate battery in the Battle of Fort Henry. Fort Donelson hosted one of the most influential battles in American history.
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Administrative history
- 3 Park today
- 4 Cemetery
- 5 Notes
- 6 References
- 7 External links
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The most vulnerable area in the Confederate defensive line in the Western Theater was the state of Kentucky. The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers were potential avenues for a Union invasion through the state and into Tennessee and beyond. But since Kentucky had declared itself neutral in the conflict, defensive works could not be built within the state without alienating the local population.
Part of the lower river battery at Fort Donelson, overlooking the Cumberland River
Two engineers detached from the 1st Tennessee Infantry, Adna Anderson and William F. Foster, set to work in earnest on May 10, 1861, to find suitable ground just inside the Tennessee border to simultaneously cover the two rivers. They then focused on surveying possible sites along the Cumberland River, looking at the high ridges and deep hollows near the Kentucky border[2]. In mid-May, on the west bank of the river not far below the town of Dover, Anderson laid out the water battery of Fort Donelson twelve miles (19 km) from the Kentucky line. The new fort was named in honor of Gen. Daniel S. Donelson[3], who, along with Colonel Bushrod Johnson of the Corps of Engineers, approved of the site. Construction was begun by a large force of men brought from the nearby Cumberland Iron Works[4].
The site was established as Fort Donelson National Military Park on March 26, 1928. The national military park and national cemetery were transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. It was redesignated a national battlefield on August 16, 1985. Public Law 108-367 (October 25, 2004) increased the authorized boundary of the national battlefield from 551.69 acres (2.23 km²) to 2,000 acres (8.09 km²). On October 30, 2006, Calloway County transferred the Fort Heiman site to the Park Service. Fort Heiman had been listed on the National Register on December 12, 1976.
A portion of Fort Donelson National Cemetery
The park preserves much of the original battle site, including the river batteries and the eroded remains of the fort itself, but the area in which the Confederate States Army assaulted on February 15, 1862, is largely in private hands, occupied by residential development. The Cumberland River was dammed in the 1960s and this area is currently referred to as Lake Barkley. It covers an area roughly similar to the original river while at flood stage, as it was during the battle.
Fort Donelson National Cemetery, at 15.34 acres (62,080 m²), contains 670 Union dead, reinterred in 1867. There are also numerous veterans from later wars. The cemetery is presently unavailable for further burials.
- ^ Federal area figures do not yet include Fort Heiman, added to the park in 2006.
- ^ The river landing community of Lineport, Tennessee, was considered before the area near Dover, Tennessee, was selected.
- ^ The general was a nephew of Andrew and Rachel Donelson Jackson.
- ^ One of the many iron ore furnaces in Stewart County, Tennessee. It was located at present day Carlisle, 10 miles (20 km) south of Dover, Tennessee.
- The National Parks: Index 2001-2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.
- Gott, Kendall D., Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry—Fort Donelson Campaign, February 1862, Stackpole books, 2003, ISBN 0-8117-0049-6.
- NPS Fort Donelson National Battlefield site
- Public Law 108-367
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Protected Areas of Tennessee |
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| National Park Service |
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site • Appalachian National Scenic Trail • Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area • Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park • Cumberland Gap National Historical Park • Fort Donelson National Battlefield • Fort Donelson National Cemetery • Great Smoky Mountains National Park • Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail • Natchez Trace Parkway • Obed Wild and Scenic River • Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail • Shiloh National Cemetery • Shiloh National Military Park • Stones River National Battlefield • Stones River National Cemetery • Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
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| National Forests |
Cherokee National Forest • Land Between the Lakes
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| National Wildlife Refuges |
Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge • Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge • Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge • Lake Isom National Wildlife Refuge • Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge • Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge • Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge
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| Wilderness Areas |
Bald River Gorge Wilderness • Big Frog Wilderness • Big Laurel Branch Wilderness • Citico Creek Wilderness • Cohutta Wilderness • Gee Creek Wilderness • Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness • Little Frog Mountain Wilderness • Pond Mountain Wilderness • Sampson Mountain Wilderness • Unaka Mountain Wilderness
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East Tennessee State Parks
and Natural Areas |
Big Ridge • Booker T. Washington • Cove Lake • Cumberland Mountain • Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail • Davy Crockett Birthplace • Fort Loudoun • Frozen Head • Harrison Bay • Hiwassee/Ocoee • Indian Mountain • Norris Dam • Panther Creek • Pickett • Red Clay • Roan Mountain • Sycamore Shoals • Warriors' Path
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Middle Tennessee State Parks
and Natural Areas |
Bicentennial Capitol Mall • Bledsoe • Burgess Falls • Cedars Of Lebanon • Cordell Hull Birthplace • David Crockett • Dunbar Cave • Edgar Evins • Fall Creek Falls • Harpeth River • Henry Horton • Johnsonville • Long Hunter • Montgomery Bell • Mousetail Landing • Old Stone Fort • Port Royal • Radnor Lake • Rock Island • Sgt. Alvin C. York • South Cumberland • Standing Stone • Tims Ford
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West Tennessee State Parks
and Natural Areas |
Big Cypress Tree • Big Hill Pond • Chickasaw • Fort Pillow • Meeman-Shelby • N. B. Forrest • Natchez Trace • Paris Landing • Pickwick Landing • Pinson Mounds • Reelfoot Lake • Ross Cross Landing • T.O. Fuller
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| State Forests |
Bledsoe • Cedars of Lebanon • Chickasaw • Chuck Swan • Franklin • Lewis • Lone Mountain • Martha Sundquist • Natchez Trace • Pickett • Prentice Cooper • Scott • Standing Stone • Stewart
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| Pocket Wildernesses |
Honey Creek * Piney Falls • Laurel-Snow • North Chickamauga Creek Gorge • Stinging Fork Falls • Virgin Falls
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| Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (web) - Tennessee Department of Agriculture {web} |
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