Fort Donelson

Fort Donelson was a fortress built by the Confederacy during the American Civil War to control the Cumberland River leading to the heart of Tennessee, and the heart of the Confederacy.

It was garrisoned by the Confederacy until 1862 when Union General Ulysses S. Grant and his army captured it during a brutal winter offensive to cut the confederacy in two by controlling the Mississippi River. (see Battle of Fort Donelson)

The fort was attacked again on August 25, 1863 by a Confederate force demanding its surrender, but it was repulsed.

Bushrod Johnson men of the Corps of Engineers, approved the site. Construction was begun by a large force of men brought from the nearby Cumberland Iron Works.