The Battle of Fort Donelson (February 11-16, 1862) was one of the Union’s first major victories in the American Civil War (1861-65). A week after capturing Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, Union Brigadier General Ulysses Grant began his assault on Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, a key gateway to the Confederacy. On February 16, after Confederate forces under Brigadier General John Floyd failed to break through Grant’s lines, the Confederates relinquished the fort, meeting Grant’s terms of “unconditional and immediate surrender.” Grant’s victory ensured that Kentucky would remain in the Union and helped open up Tennessee to future Union advances.

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