Unconditional Surrender
From the Editor: In the cold, dark early morning hours of Sunday morning, Fort Donelson surrenders. In a bizarre, late night council of war, John B. Floyd turns over command to Gideon Pillow who, in turn, passes command to the third ranking general in the fort, Simon Bolivar Buckner. Generals Floyd and Pillow cross the Cumberland River in small boats and flee. Buckner, an old friend of Union commander Ulysses S. Grant, hopes to rely upon that friendship for honorable terms of surrender. In that hope, he is sorely disappointed. Grant offers no terms except "unconditional surrender." Using his pen as forcefully as he has utilized his army, U.S. Grant becomes, in the northern newspapers, "Unconditional Surrender Grant."
February 16, 1862 (Sunday)
From Springfield, Missouri, District of Southwest Missouri commander Samuel R. Curtis reports his “advance of cavalry” overtook and attacked Sterling Price’s rear guard at Little York, ten miles west of Springfield. He reports: “More straggling prisoners are being taken than I know what to do with. Fifteen wagon loads of supplies captured.” Included among the prisoners are General James H. McBride and Colonel Thomas R. Freeman of the Missouri State Guard. Near Big Sugar Creek, Arkansas, Lieutenant-Colonel Clark Wright, Missouri (U.S.) Cavalry, reports on a brief skirmish with other retreating elements of the Missouri State Guard. During their flight, Price must post guards to prevent his men from dropping out and "falling asleep in the bushes."
Report of Lieut. Col. Clark Wright, Wright's Battalion Missouri Cavalry.
We were formed at the creek when the charge was sounded.... For a few minutes the fight was well contested on the right, the heavy timber and dense underbrush affording good covering for the enemy. I ordered a saber charge after firing our carbines and pistols, but soon found that the brush was too dense to make it rapid enough. Consequently we returned sabers and fought our way through with carbines. My battalion moved steadily forward, routing the enemy, driving him beyond the brush into the open ground beyond, at which point I received an order to fall back. I am, very respectfully, colonel, your most obedient servant,
CLARK WRIGHT, Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding Wright's Battalion Cavalry.
Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry scouts are out probing the Union lines besieging Fort Donelson. Before they can return, Generals John B. Floyd, Gideon J. Pillow, and Simon B. Buckner receive intelligence from the troops who report "dogs barking" outside of the lines and the sounds of Union troops "re-investing” their position. When the scouts return they report “the enemy [is] in large force occupying his original position.” Scouts sent to the river road report that the "overflowed valley was not practible for infantry; that the soft mud was about half-leg deep, and that the water was about saddle-skirt deep on a horse."
Report of Brig. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, C.S. Army.
With these facts all before Generals Floyd, Buckner, and myself, General Floyd said: "Well, gentlemen, what is best now to be done?" Neither General Buckner nor myself having answered promptly, General Floyd repeated his inquiry, addressing himself to me by name. My reply was that it was difficult to determine what was best to be done, but that I was in favor of cutting our way out. He then asked General Buckner what he thought we ought to do. General Buckner said his command was so worn down, cut up, and demoralized that he could not make another fight; that he thought we would lose three-fourths of the command we had left in cutting our way out, and that it was wrong; that no officer had the right to sacrifice three-fourths of the command to save one-fourth.
GID. J. PILLOW, Brigadier-General, C.S. Army.
With the reconnaissance complete, the generals consider their remaining options.
Report of Brig. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, C.S. Army.
I remarked that we could hold our position another day and fight the enemy from our trenches; that by night our steamboats that had taken off the prisoners and our mounted men would return; that during the next night we could set our troops on the right bank of the river, and that we could make our escape by Clarksville, and thus save the army. To this proposition General Buckner said: "Gentlemen, you know the enemy occupy the rifle pits on my right, and can easily turn my position and attack me in rear or move down on the river battery. I am satisfied he will attack me at daylight, and I cannot hold my position half an hour.... I then said: "Gentlemen, if we cannot cut our way out nor fight on there is no alternative left us but capitulation, and I am determined that I will never surrender the command nor will I ever surrender myself a prisoner. I will die first? General Floyd remarked that that was his determination; that he would die before he would do either.... Thereupon General Buckner said that, being satisfied that nothing else could be done, if he was placed in command he would surrender the command and would take the fate of the command. General Floyd immediately said: "General Pillow, I turn over the command? I replied instantly: "I pass it." General Buckner said: "I assume it; bring on a bugler, pen, ink, and paper."
GID. J. PILLOW, Brigadier-General, C. S. Army.
Nathan Bedford Forrest, Tennessee Cavalry, unwilling to surrender his command, brings his 500 cavalrymen to the river road in a desperate attempt to avoid surrender.
Report of Col. Nathan B. Forrest, Tennessee Cavalry.
I moved out by the road we had gone out the morning before. When about a mile out crossed a deep slough from the river, saddle-skirt deep, and filed into the road to Cumberland Iron Works.... Over 500 cavalry had passed, a company of artillery horses had followed, and a number of men from different regiments, passing over hard-frozen ground. More than two hours had been occupied in passing. Not a gun had been fired at us. Not an enemy had been seen or heard.... Respectfully submitted
N.B. FORREST, Colonel, Commanding Forrest's Regiment of Cavalry.
Gideon Pillow, accompanied only by "a citizen of Dover and volunteer aide-de-camp,” crosses the river "in a small hand flat, about 4 feet wide by 12 long," John B. Floyd also escapes in the predawn hours, "with such portions of his division that could be transported in two small steamers." Simon B. Buckner waits until "near daylight" to initiate the surrender. He orders his troops back to their positions "in the intrenchments" and sends a note, under a white flag, to Federal commander, Ulysses S. Grant, District of West Tennessee.
HEADQUARTERS, Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862.
Brig. Gen. U.S. GRANT, U.S.A.: In consideration of all the circumstances governing the present situation of affairs at this station I propose to the commanding officers of the Federal forces the appointment of commissioners to agree upon terms of capitulation of the forces and post under my command, and in that view suggest an armistice until 12 o'clock today. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S.B. BUCKNER, Brigadier-General, C. S. Army.
U.S. Grant sends his reply.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY IN THE FIELD, Camp near Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862.
General S.B. BUCKNER, Confederate Army: Yours of this date, proposing armistice and appointment of commissioners to settle terms of capitulation, is just received. No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
U.S. GRANT, Brigadier-General, Commanding.
Buckner accepts Grant’s terms and the Confederate forces remaining at Fort Donelson surrender unconditionally. Grant transmits the news to Henry Halleck, Department of the Missouri, in Saint Louis, Missouri. “We have taken Fort Donelson and from 12,000 to 15,000 prisoners...; also about 20,000 stand of arms, 48 pieces of artillery, 17 heavy guns, from 2,000 to 4,000 horses, and large quantities of commissary stores.”
HEADQUARTERS, Dover, Tenn., February 16, 1862.
Brig. Gen. U.S. GRANT, U.S.A.: The distribution of the forces under my command incident to an unexpected change of commanders and the overwhelming force under your command compel me, notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Confederate arms yesterday, to accept the ungenerous and unchivalrous terms which you propose. I am, sir, your very obedient servant,
S.B. BUCKNER, Brigadier-General, C.S. Army.
Casualties at Fort Donelson, Tennessee:
U.S.: 2,832 (500 killed, 2,108 wounded, 224 missing)
C.S.: 15,829 (466 killed, 1,534 wounded, 13,829 missing/captured)
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. General-in-Chief McClellan asks D.C. Buell, Dept. of the Ohio, to advance “without waiting for repairs” to the railroad. He writes, “If you can occupy Nashville at once it will end the war in Tennessee.”
2. H.W. Halleck disagrees with McClellan’s desire for a quick advance. He writes, “I am still decidedly of the opinion that Buell should...come to the Cumberland [River] with his available forces.”
3. A.E. Burnside, Dept. of N.C., issues a proclamation: “The mission of our joint expedition is…to assert the authority of the United States.... We shall inflict no injury unless forced to do so by your own acts.”
4. U.S. gunboats are sent to Dover (TN), to destroy the Tennessee Iron Works.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. From Nashville (TN), A.S. Johnston orders the evacuation of Clarksville (KY), and the burning of “the army stores, &c.”
2. After withdrawing his men and artillery batteries from Saint Simon’s and Jekyl Islands, H.W. Mercer, District of Georgia, asks for permission to burn the nearby town of Brunswick, “for the moral effect it would produce upon the enemy.”
3. Retreating from Springfield (MO), S. Price reports his men have been “fighting for two days without sleep or eating” and he is “is now within 3 miles of the Arkansas line.”
4. Ex-Secretary of War L.P. Walker, new commander of the Dist. of N. Alabama, is instructed “to defend the Upper Tennessee [River] and the Memphis & Charleston Railroad.” He complains, “The only troops so far assigned to me...are one regiment of infantry and one regiment of cavalry.”
5. In Knoxville (TN), Col. D. Leadbetter, Corps of Engineers, and Col. R.B. Vance, 29th N.C., are ordered to “proceed to Cumberland Gap with all the force which can be spared.”
February 17, 1862 (Monday)
From Bowling Green, Kentucky, Ormsby M. Mitchel, Third Division, Department of the Ohio, reports that "the town of Franklin [Kentucky] (thirty miles from Nashville) is now clear of the enemy,” and his scouts are “pushing on for Nashville." Meanwhile, Ulysses S. Grant congratulates his troops for the "triumph over rebellion."
GENERAL ORDERS No. 2.
HDQRS. DIST. OF WEST TENNESSEE, Fort Donelson, February 17, 1862.
The victory achieved is not only great in breaking down rebellion, but has secured the greatest number of prisoners of war ever taken in one battle on this continent. Fort Donelson will hereafter be marked in capitals on the maps of our united country, and the men who fought the battle will live in the memory of a grateful people.
U.S. GRANT, Brigadier-General, Commanding.
In Port Royal, South Carolina, Thomas W. Sherman, Expeditionary Corps, asks for 10,000 additional troops and a siege train for an attempt to take Savannah, Georgia. George McClellan declines, and advises Sherman “to reduce Fort Pulaski in preference to attempting Savannah.” Captain Quincy A. Gillmore, Chief Engineer, has recommended the use of rifled guns on the stone fort, but Sherman feels they should be tested more “fully.” He explains: “All that can be done with guns is to shake the walls as far as practicable in a random manner.” Instead, Sherman confers with Commodore Samuel F. Du Pont, commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, about sending gunboats up the Savannah River in a movement “particularly calculated to the cutting off of Fort Pulaski.”
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA, &C., Savannah, Ga., February 17, 1862.
Col. [Charles] H. OLMSTEAD, [First Georgia] Commanding, &c., Fort Pulaski: From the position the enemy has taken in the Savannah River, it becomes necessary that you look to your defense in that direction…. As far as it is possible your safety will be anxiously cared for, and for the present your communication with the city will have to be by light boats over the marsh and through Wilmington Narrows to Causton's Bluff, or by any other mode by which you can better accomplish it. I am, sir,
[Robert] E. LEE, General, Commanding.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. H.W. Halleck asks G.B. McClellan to “make Buell, Grant, and Pope major-generals of volunteers, and to give him overall command in the West. He writes, “I ask this in return for Forts Henry and Donelson.”
2. U.S. Grant begins forwarding prisoners to Cairo (IL), and reports, “There has been a great deal of plundering notwithstanding all the precautions taken to prevent it.”
3. D.B. Birney is appointed brigadier-general in the Union Army.
4. Twelve officers who “participated in the battle of Wilson's Creek” forward a petition complaining “erroneous accounts of the part taken by General [Franz Sigel].” According to the officers, Sigel abandoned his command and “arrived at Springfield (MO) before the severest part of the battle was over.”
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. In the confusion surrounding the surrender of Fort Donelson, B.R. Johnson escapes through the lines. He explains: “I had taken no part in the surrender [and] had been given no parole, and had made no promises.”
2. Unaware that B.R. Johnson and G.J. Pillow have escaped, G.B. McClellan directs they “be sent, under a strong guard” to Fort Warren in Boston (MA). In addition, “all field officers taken” are to be sent to the “same place.”
3. Congress (C.S.) passes a resolution declaring "all negroes who are slaves belonging to hostile Indians" are to be delivered to the head chief of friendly tribes "as captured property."
4. L.P. Walker writes to Secretary Benjamin: “The Kentucky line of defenses has been lost, with a large part of our army. The line from Memphis to Virginia must now be defended at all hazards.” He continues, “The Memphis and Charleston Road is the vertebrae of the Confederacy, and there are no troops for its defense.”
5. The C.S.S. Virginia, formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack, is commissioned in Norfolk, Virginia, Captain Franklin Buchanan, C.S.N., commanding.
February 18, 1862 (Tuesday)
Department of the Missouri commander Henry Halleck, wary of his subordinate, Ulysses S. Grant's lightning successes, offers command of Grant's troops to Don Carlos Buell and downplays the Union success at Forts Henry and Donelson: According to Halleck: “We came within an ace of being defeated.... A retreat at one time seemed almost inevitable.”
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Saint Louis, February 18, 1862.
Brigadier-General BUELL, Louisville, Ky.: To remove all questions as to rank, I have asked the President to make you a major-general. Come down to the Cumberland and take command. The battle of the West is to be fought in that vicinity. You should be in it as the ranking general in immediate command. Don't hesitate. Come to Clarksville as rapidly as possible. Say that you will come, and I will have everything there for you.... I am terribly hard pushed. Help me, and I will help you.
H.W. HALLECK, Major-General.
Samuel R. Curtis continues to chase Sterling Price’s Missouri State Guard out of Missouri and into Arkansas. A small cavalry force from Alexander Asboth’s Second Division surprises “a dismounted Rebel cavalry picket,” and occupies Bentonville, Arkansas. Asboth reports: “The deserted rebel camp exhibited vestiges of a late encampment of about 5,000 men.” Henry Halleck reports on the movement of Union troops into Arkansas.
SAINT LOUIS, February 18, 1862.
Major-General MCCLELLAN: The flag of the Union is floating in Arkansas. General Curtis has driven Price from Missouri, and is several miles across the Arkansas line, cutting up Price's rear and hourly capturing prisoners and stores. The Army of the Southwest is doing its duty nobly.
H.W. HALLECK, Major-General.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. U.S. Grant's “unconditional” victory causes an unexpected logistical problem, thousands of prisoners of war. Indiana Governor Morton agrees to take 3,000, another 5,000 are sent to St. Louis (MO), 1,500 go to Evansville (IN), and 500 wounded prisoners are transported to Cincinnati (OH).
2. G.B. McClellan forwards a petition to Secretary Stanton: urging “that no promotion be given General Sigel.” In addition, H.W. Halleck sends “very important documents... showing [Sigel] unfit for command.”
3. Col. R.C. Hawkins, 9th N.Y., begins an expedition “for the purpose of proceeding up the Blackwater and Nottoway Rivers and destroying the bridges of the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad.”
4. Lt. Col. J.K. Mills, with a small party from the 3rd Iowa Cavalry, ride to Mount Vernon (MO). He reports that “once more” the “Stars and Stripes” are raised over the courthouse.
5. From New York (NY), Col. D.D. Tompkins, A.Q.M.G., is “directed to furnish transportation by sea” to Port Royal (SC) to all persons with permits for the “collection, safe-keeping, and disposition of cotton, rice, and other property.”
6. The U.S.S. Ethan Allen captures the schooner Spitfire and two sloops in the Clearwater harbor, Florida.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. The first elected Congress (C.S.) meets in Richmond (VA).
2. President Davis and Secretary of War Benjamin conclude the C.S. Army “cannot hold our entire coast and frontier, and... must withdraw from the defense of the whole Gulf coast except New Orleans (LA)." B. Bragg is ordered to withdraw all forces from "Pensacola, East Florida, and Mobile" and "hasten to the defense of Tennessee.”
3. From Nashville (TN), A.S. Johnston reports he has “ordered the army to intrench tonight midway between this place and Murfreesborough.
4. R.E. Lee forwards H.W. Mercer’s request to burn Brunswick (GA), to the War Department. He writes, “I propose to destroy it.”
5. H.A. Wise, “with the Legion under his present command,” is ordered to “proceed” to Manassas (VA), and report for duty in the Dept. of Northern Virginia.
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