In freezing winter weather, the Confederate defenders of Fort Donelson in Stewart County, Tennessee made a powerful attempt to break out of the 25,000 man Union siege. Attacks on the Union right-wing began in the morning and by noon had succeeded in opening an escape route. But hesitation doomed the attempt and reorganized Union counter-attacks were able to reclose the siege lines by dark. Fort Donelson and most of its 17,000 men surrendered the next day. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
David G. Martin, The Shiloh Campaign, March-April 1862 (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2003), 33-35.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Battles/Soldiers
