Fort Henry Battle Analysis

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In order to capture these three key cities, two major rivers, the Cumberland and the Tennessee would need to be controlled by the Union as state in The American Vision, “Control of these rivers would cut Tennessee in two and provide the Union with a river route deep into Confederate territory.” Therefore, three key battles would be fought securing a direct pathway into the Confederate held State. The first strategic target was the capturing of Fort Henry. Fort Henry was located in Stewart County and Henry County in Tennessee. It was situated on a bend in the Tennessee River to regulate commerce three miles long and to stop a potential invasion by Union forces. It was built by the Tennesseans after they succeeded from the Union. Governor …show more content…
The Union had two forces; one was by the river where four ironclad, two timber clads, and two troops lifts were led by Flag Officer Andrew Foote were positioned to strike. The other force was led by General Grant comprising of 15,000 men. The attack was scheduled for February 6th at 11am. However prior to February 6th, 1862, Confederate General Tilghman, commander of Fort Henry, Heiman and Donelson heard of the Union forces near Fort Henry. Fort Henry and Heiman only had 2,500 men and Fort Henry was partly flooded, which placed most of their guns underwater and inoperable. Also conditions inside the fort were unfavorable for the soldiers as stated, “. . . many of them with flint lock rifles dating from the War of 1812 and the inclement weather had left many ill.” Confederate General Tilghman ordered the soldiers garrisoned at Fort Heiman to be transported to Fort Henry. He then ordered his men to retreat to Fort Donelson and remained behind with a few soldiers to operate the guns that were not submerged. Foote started the bombardment of the Fort on February 6th and was met by fierce resistance by the accurate firing of Tilghman’s soldiers who managed to destroy …show more content…
The battle lasted four hours with Tilghman surrendering to the Union Navy. Grant’s land army had been delayed due to the flooding of the river. The capture and surrender of Fort Henry was the Union’s first victory and paved a straight
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