Gen. George McClellan, fourth from right, and his staff. Library of Congress.
February 2, 1862 – February 15, 1862
By Phil Kohn Phil Kohn can be reached at USCW160@yahoo.com.
President Lincoln and Maj. Gen. George McClellan on February 3 continue their squabble — in private and in public — over disposition of Union troops in Virginia. The president wants the force to move directly overland, while McClellan insists the troops be ferried by ship to the coast of the Virginia Peninsula, followed by an inland march on the Confederate capital of Richmond. Brig. Gen. Grant’s Fort Henry operation gets underway, as a Federal fleet moves into the Tennessee River and transport vessels carrying Union soldiers depart Cairo, Illinois. Off the southwest coast of England, the sloop-of-war USS Tuscarora attempts to cut off and capture the Confederate cruiser CSS Nashville, which has just left the port of Southampton. The U.S. vessel is thwarted by the intervention of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Shannon, and Nashville proceeds on its way.
At Richmond, Virginia, on February 4, the Virginia House of Delegates entertains a debate on permitting free blacks to enlist in the Confederate Army. Positions are stated, but no vote is taken. In North Carolina, the U.S. Navy vessels carrying Brig. Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s 15,000 troops clear Hatteras Inlet and enter Pamlico Sound.
On February 6, in Tennessee, a fleet of gunboats under the command of U.S. Navy Flag Officer Andrew Foote begins firing on partly flooded Ft. Henry. Realizing his dire situation, Confederate commander Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman has sent the bulk of his force of 2,500 away from the fort and remains behind with only a handful of troops. After an artillery battle of three hours, Tilghman and the 78 soldiers with him surrender to Foote. Slowed by rain and mud, the 15,000 land-based troops of Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant, who planned the expedition, arrive too late to take part in the action.
Confederate Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley, on Feb. 7, begins moving an invasion force of about 2,500 men and 15 artillery pieces northward up the Rio Grande Valley from Mesilla, the capital of the Confederate Arizona Territory. The targets: Albuquerque and Santa Fe, in New Mexico, and then, Colorado. In Tennessee, the Union troops of Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant begin moving toward the stronger Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River, about 12 miles to the east of Fort Henry.
On the Atlantic Coast, Union troops under Brig. Gen. Ambrose Burnside capture Roanoke Island in North Carolina on February 8, opening Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds to Federal ships, hampering Southerners’ blockade-running activities and threatening Richmond’s “back door.” The Federals also capture 30 Confederate guns.
At the Battle of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, on February 10, 1865, 13 Union gunboats destroy the “Mosquito Fleet” — five gunboats and a schooner that had been originally part of the North Carolina Navy but were subsequently transferred to the Confederate Navy. In Tennessee, Brig. Gen. Grant finalizes preparations for his move against Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River.
Action against Fort Donelson commences on February 11, as Grant’s troops march out and a force under Brig. Gen. John McClernand moves out of its positions at the recently taken Fort Henry. Simultaneously, Federal gunboats begin moving up the Cumberland River. At the northern end of the Federal beachhead on the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina, Union troops capture Edisto Island.
On February 12, in Tennessee, the 25,000 Federal troops under Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant take positions on the hills encircling Fort Donelson, defended by some 17,000 Confederate soldiers. Meanwhile, Union gunboats move into position to attack the fort from the river.
Arriving at Fort Donelson from Virginia with some 1,500 Confederate troops, Brig. Gen. John Floyd, the most-senior general present, takes overall command as the Union assault begins on February 13 with attacks from the right and the left.
The fighting at Fort Donelson intensifies on February 14, as the U.S. Navy’s Western Gunboat Flotilla —four iron-clad and three timber-clad vessels — led by Flag Officer Andrew Foote begins bombarding the fort. Fort Donelson’s water batteries are up to the challenge, however, badly damaging two of the Union ironclads. Flag Officer Foote is wounded, and the river force withdraws. In Washington, D.C., orders are given for the release of political prisoners who will take an oath of allegiance to the United States. A general amnesty is proclaimed for those who comply with the oath and who agree to give no further aid to the Confederacy. Marching northward up the Rio Grande Valley, Brig. Gen. Henry Sibley’s 2,500-soldier Army of New Mexico reaches Fort Craig, defended by a force of around 4,000 (most of whom are New Mexico militia), commanded by Col. Edward Canby, head of the (Federal) Department of New Mexico.
On February 15, at Fort Donelson, the Confederates launch an early morning surprise attack led by Gen. Gideon Pillow that breaks through Federal lines surrounding the fort and opens an escape route to Nashville. Hesitations on the parts of several commanders and a lack of follow-on, however, finds the Confederates return to their original positions by early afternoon. In a council of war later that evening that addresses the hopelessness of their situation, Brig. Gen. Floyd, fearing that if he is captured, he will be indicted for corruption during his tenure as secretary of war under President Buchanan, yields command to his junior, Brig. Gen. Pillow. Pillow, also concerned about Northern reprisals, passes command to his junior, Brig. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner. Buckner agrees to remain behind to surrender the fort while the others attempt to escape. Enraged at the decisions being made, cavalry commander Lt. Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest declares: “I did not come here to surrender my command,” and storms out of the meeting. Later that night, Forrest leads 700 troopers through Union lines and escapes to Nashville. In New Mexico, Brig. Gen. Sibley’s troops surround Ft. Craig out of the range of its many guns and attempt to force the garrison of the strong fort to come out into the open and fight. (When this strategy fails, Sibley crosses his force to the east bank of the Rio Grande and, out of artillery range, marches them past the fort. He will recross the river to regain the west bank — and the road — at a ford north of the fort.)
