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Battle of Fort Henry
February 6, 1862

On January 30, 1862, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at last received the reluctant permission of Gen. Henry W. Halleck to attempt to capture Fort Henry, a Confederate earthwork fort on the Tennessee River just south of Kentucky that was one of a string of outposts built to protect Confederate territory. Grant was to be assisted by Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote's flotilla of seven gunboats in this first attempt to penetrate the western Confederacy by using the major rivers as lines of operations.

Confederate Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, commander of the 3,400 Rebel troops at Fort Henry, knew his post was indefensible. Located on low ground on the edge of the river, Fort Henry was subject to flooding and was dominated by high ground on both sides of the river. Tilghman was determined not to give up his position without a fight, but he wisely decided not to sacrifice his men in the effort. Holding back 100 artillerymen, he sent the rest of the garrison to Fort Donelson, 10 miles away on the Cumberland River. With 11 of the fort's 17 guns placed where they commanded a three mile stretch of the main channel, Tilghman and his brave gunners gamely defended their post.

At 12:00 noon on February 6, while Grant's infantry was still approaching the fort overland, Foote's powerful flotilla steamed upriver, firing rapidly into the open fort. The courageous defenders returned the fire when the approaching gunboats were still a mile distant, but the Rebels were severly outgunned, and the Union fire knocked one Rebel cannon after another out of action. After two hours of furious cannon fire, and with only four cannon still operating, Tilghman had done all that honor demanded; he struck the flag and surrendered the fort to Foote. The Confederates had suffered 5 killed and 11 wounded; the Union sailors lost 11 killed and 31 wounded. Grant and his army, much to the navy's delight, did not arrive on the scene until after the fort had surrendered.

Battle of Fort Donelson
February 13 - 16, 1862

"I am going over to attack Fort Donelson tomorrow," Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant told a newspaper reporter. "Do you know how strong it is?" the reporter asked. "Not exactly," Grant replied, "but I think we can take it. At all events, we can try."

It was this almost casual attitude of Grant's that caused his commander in St. Louis, Gen. Henry W. Halleck, to consider him rash and careless. President Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, considered Grant's willingness to engage in battle a rare trait not shared by enough of his generals. Lincoln would tell Grant detractors, "I can't spare this man; he fights."

Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River had fallen to Union forces on February 6, 1862, but not before most of the Rebel garrison had retreated to the much stronger Fort Donelson, 12 miles away on the Cumberland River. Even though Halleck advised restraint, on February 11 Grant began the advance overland from Fort Henry to Fort Donelson. The four ironclad gunboats, commanded by Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote, that had battered Fort Henry into submission again steamed down the Tennessee to the Ohio River and then up the Cumberland River toward Fort Donelson.

By the afternoon of February 12, Grant's 15,000-man force had arrived at Fort Donelson, formed its lines in a semicircle around the fort, and had begun waiting for the gunboats. The next day, 12,000 federal reinforcements bolstered Grant's forces, and the first of the gunboats arrived and began bombarding the fort. The rest of Foote's flotilla arrived the next morning and at midafternoon steamed toward Donelson with their cannon firing continuously. But Fort Donelson was much more formidable than Fort Henry had been, and the gunboats took a terrible punishment from the fort's guns. The Rebels had placed their cannon on high ground and the plunging fire had soon disabled two of the ironclads and wounded Foote. Recognizing defeat, Foote ordered his gunboats to withdraw.

Grant was in a bind. It suddenly looked like he faced a long siege, since the navy couldn’t win it for him. Worse, he had a green army and he didn’t think he could storm the Fort. Finally, the weather was dreadful, wet formerly and not frosty as well, and the army didn’t have tents. Meanwhile, the Confederates could supply themselves along the river, protected by the Fort. Confederate stupidity bailed Grant out.

The Confederates didn’t think about supplying themselves by water; it was unconventional, and they were cut off by land. They also thought Grant was stronger than he really was, and being continually reinforced. They worried that Foote would turn up with another fleet. In a council of war on the night of February 14, they decided to try and break out.

The plan was to reinforce the left (Pillow) with Buckner’s men from the right. Pillow would lead the attack and clear the road to Charlotte and Nashville. Buckner’s men would keep the road open while the rest of the garrison was evacuated, and everybody would join the main army in central Tennessee. It almost happened. Pillow, with Buckner joining the attack, broke the Union line in late morning. They captured 300 prisoners, about 5,000 rifles, and an artillery battery. Indecision then lost the victory. Pillow was cautious, Buckner bold, and Floyd foolish. After hemming and hawing Floyd ordered his (victorious) men to return to the trenches. Meanwhile Grant returned to the field. He’d been conferring with Foote (wounded, so the conference had to be on the gunboat) and returned in time to rescue the battle.

He ordered his reserve into action, attacking the Fort rather than the victorious Confederate left. The deploying attack was what drew the Confederates back to their trenches, but Buckner’s men didn’t arrive in time. They held the Union to only limited gains, but the Confederate’s main defensive line was broken. They had broken the Union line, but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Grant also rallied his right, and reoccupied most of the ground lost in the morning, so the day closed with a near-total Union advantage.

One opportunity remained for the Southerners: McClernand hadn’t blocked the river road; a part, perhaps a substantial part, of the Confederate forces could escape. Floyd lacked the strength of will to risk his men, and held another council of war. The decision was to surrender. But Floyd decided that wasn’t good enough for him. He reckoned his own life was at risk if he was taken prisoner (as U.S. Secretary of War he’d made some decisions that helped the seceding states, and he was under indictment) and hopped on the last steamer to Nashville. (He did take about 2,000 Virginia infantry with him.) Gideon Pillow then declared he was too valuable to lose, and Buckner was left to make the actual surrender, although he’d always argued for more fighting. Another man refused to surrender, and Nathan Forrest broke out along the river road with his cavalry regiment and a few infantry. On February 16, 1862, the 12,000-man garrison surrendered. Buckner had enquired about terms and Grant uncompromisingly replied “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.” Buckner fumed that it was “ungenerous and unchivalrous” but it was warlike. With a demoralized command he had no choice.

Additional Sources:

www.civilwaralbum.com
www.state.tn.us
usa-civil-war.com
www.rugreview.com
www.nps.gov
www.lmunet.edu
www.civilwaralbum.com
www.galwest.com

Today's classic warship, USS Los Angeles (ZR-3)

Los Angeles class airship
Length: 658 feet
Diameter: 90 feet 6 inches
Volume: 2.4 million cubic feet
Max speed: 76 mph

USS Los Angeles, a 2,472,000 cubic foot rigid airship was built at Friedrichshafen, Germany. Her construction was partially funded by German World War I reparations and was conditional on her being employed for "civil" purposes. Completed in August 1924 under the builder's number LZ-126, she departed Germany in mid-October 1924 for delivery to the U.S. Navy. After a three day trans-Atlantic flight, the airship arrived at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, where her hydrogen lifting gas was replaced with non-flammable helium. This greatly increased her safety, but also significantly reduced her payload and range. On 24 November 1924 she was placed in commission as USS Los Angeles by Mrs. Calvin Coolidge and began several years of flight activity to explore the potential of her type for commercial and Naval use.

Between February and May 1925, she voyaged twice to Bermuda and one time to Puerto Rico, and made test moorings to the Navy's floating airship base, the oiler Patoka.

In June 1925, Los Angeles began an overhaul at Lakehurst, while her expensive helium gas was transferred to the older dirigible Shenandoah (ZR-1). The latter's tragic loss, on 3 September 1925, produced a temporary shortage of helium, delaying Los Angeles' return to flight service until March 1926. However, she was actively employed for six years after that, five of them as the Navy's only rigid airship.

During this time, in addition to her normal training and experimental duties, she was used to calibrate East Coast radio compasses, made several cross-country flights around the eastern and southern United States, landed briefly on the aircraft carrier Saratoga and continued her work with Patoka. A unique incident on 25 August 1927, in which she briefly rose tail-high to a near-vertical position while attached to Lakehurst's tall mooring mast, demonstrated the dangers inherent with this type of facility and led to the adoption of the "stub" mast used for more than three more decades of dirigible and blimp operations.

Also in 1927, Los Angeles began a series of operations that developed techniques for basing airplanes on board airships, a concept that promised to greatly expand the dirigible's potential for fleet scouting. In the winter of 1931, with her "civil use" restrictions diplomatically eased, she flew to Panama to participate in Fleet Problem XII, the first time an airship had taken part in a major U.S. Fleet exercise since 1925. Later in 1931 she operated for a short time with the new USS Akron (ZRS-4), a much larger dirigible whose design owed much to Los Angeles's work.

At the end of June 1932, she was decommissioned and placed in preservative storage in Lakehurst's airship hangar. Following reconditioning in 1934, she began three years of non-flying experiments, including open-air moorings. Los Angeles left her hangar for the last time in November 1937 and, in October 1939, was stricken from the Navy list and began the dismantling process. Within a few months, USS Los Angeles, the most successful of the Navy's rigid airships, had been reduced to scrap.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on April 03:
---- Pak Tai Hong Kong
1245 Philip III king of France (1270-85)
1593 George Herbert English metaphysical poet (5 Mystical Songs)
1783 Washington Irving American writer (Legend of Sleepy Hollow)
1822 Edward Everett Hale US, clergyman/author (Man without a Country)
1823 William Macy "Boss" Tweed corrupt NYC political boss
1837 John Burroughs writer/nature enthusiast (Burroughs Medal namesake)
1893 Leslie Howard London, actor (Gone With the Wind)
1894 Dooley Wilson Tyler Tx, actor (Bill-Beulah)
1895 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Firenze (Florence) Italy, composer
1898 George Jessel toastmaster general/entertainer (Diary of Young Comic)
1898 Henry R Luce publisher (1965 Fisher Award)
19-- Anne DeSalvo Phila, actress (Compromosing Positions)
19-- John Laughlin Memphis Tn, actor (White Shadow)
19-- Kuan Yin buddhist/taoist deity
19-- Pat Proft Minneapolis Mn, comedy writer (Naked Gun, Airplane)
1904 Peter Van Steeden Amsterdam Neth, orch leader (Break the Bank)
1904 Sally Rand US, actress/ecdysiast/fan dancer (1933 Chic World Fair)
1916 Herb Caen Sacramento Calif, columnist (SF Chronicle)
1917 Bill Finegan Newark NJ, (Sauter-Finegan Band, Sat Night Revue)
1918 Sixten Ehrling Malm” Sweden, conductor (Royal Opera of Stockholm)
1920 Stan Freeman Waterbury Conn, pianist (Melody Tour)
1921 Harry Landers NYC, actor (Ted Hoffman-Ben Casey)
1921 Marilyn Maxwell Clarinda Iowa, actress (Grace-Bus Stop)
1923 Jan Sterling NYC, actress (1st Monday in October, HS Confidential)
1924 Doris Day Cincinnati Oh, "girl next door" actress (Pillow Talk)
1924 Marlon Brando Omaha Neb, actor (Superman, Godfather)
1925 Tony Benn British minister of technology (1968)
1926 Virgil Grissom Mitchell Ind, Lt Col USAF/astronaut (Merc 4, Gemini 3)
1927 Eva Sz‚kely Hungary, 200m backstroke swimmer (Olympic-gold-1952)
1929 Miyoshi Umeki Jap, actr (Mrs Livingston-Courtship of Eddie's Father)
1930 Helmut Kohl chancellor (Germany)
1930 Lawton Chiles (Sen-D-Fl)
1930 Max Frankel journalist (Tables of Id of Organic Compounds)
1931 Alex Cord Floral Park NY, actor (Jack-WEB, Michael-Airwolf)
1934 Jane Goodall London England, ethologist, studied African chimps
1934 Jim Parker NFL guard, tackle (Baltimore Colts)
1937 Simon Brown British high court judge
1937 William Gaunt Leeds England, actor (The Champions)
1938 Jeff Barry Bkln NY, rock writer (Tell Laura I Love Her)
1938 Phillppe Wynn rocker (Spinners)
1939 Vitaliy Davidov USSR, ice hockey player (Olympic-gold-1964, 68, 72)
1941 Eric Braeden actor (Victor Newman-Young & Restless)
1941 Jan Berry singer (Jan & Dean-Deadman's Curve)
1942 Marsha Mason St Louis Mo, (Blume in Love, Cinderella Liberty)
1942 Michael Elliott US, skier (Olympics-1968)
1942 Rick Sylvester parachute ski jumper (world record 3,300')
1942 Wayne Newton singer (Danke Sch”n)
1944 Richard Manuel rocker (Band-Cripple Creek)
1944 Tony Orlando NYC, singer (& Dawn-Tie a Yellow Ribbon)
1945 Catherine Spaak France, actress (Empty Canvas, Hotel)
1945 Richard Manuel pianist/vocalist (Up on Cripple Creek)
1946 Carlos Salinas de Gortari president (M‚xico)
1948 Garrick Ohlsson Bronxville NY, pianist (Intl Busoni winner 1969)
1948 Mary Gordon-Watson England, equestrian 3 day event (Oly-gold-1972)
1949 Lyle Alzado NFLer (LA Raiders)/actor
1949 Richard Thompson vocalist/guitarist (Shoot out the Lights)
1951 Mel Schacher bassist (Grand Funk Railroad-Some Kind of Wonderful)
1954 Mick Mars [Bob Allen Dale], IN, guitarist (M”tley Cre-Girls Girls)
1956 Miguel Bose Panama, spanish singer
1958 Alec Baldwin Amityville NY, actor, (Joshua-Knots Landing, Beetlejuice), (honorary frenchman)
1961 Eddie Murphy Bkln NY, actor (SNL, 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop, Raw)
1962 John Gruffith rocker (Red Rockers)
1968 Sebastian Philip Clerk Bach Bahamas, rock (Skid Row-Psycho Love)
1972 Jennie Garth Champagn Ill, actr (Kelly Taylor-Beverly Hills 90210)

Deaths which occurred on April 03:
1882 Jesse James shot dead in St Joseph Mo by Robert Ford
1936 Bruno Hauptmann convicted Lindbergh baby killer, executed
1946 Lt Gen Masaharu Homma (responsible for Bataan Death March), executed
1950 Carter G Woodson "father of black history," dies in Wash DC at 74
1980 Luella Gear actress (Joe & Mabel), dies at 82
1982 Warren Oates actor (East of Eden, Stoney Burke), dies at 53
1990 Sarah Vaughn jazz singer, dies of lung cancer at 66
1991 Grahame Greene author (3rd Man), dies at 86

On this day...
245 -BC- Origin of Era of Arsaces
309 -BC- Origin of Seleucid Era
419 [Etalius] ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1679 Edmund Halley meets Johannes Hevelius in Danzig
1776 Washington receives honorary Ll.D. degree from Harvard College
1783 Sweden & US sign a treaty of Amity & Commerce
1848 Thomas Douglas becomes 1st SF public teacher
1860 Pony Express began between St Joseph Mo & Sacramento Calif
1865 Union forces occupy Confederate capital of Richmond Va & Petersberg
1868 An Hawaiian surfs on highest wave ever, he rides a 50' tidal wave
1872 J C Watson discovers asteroid #119 Althaea
1886 J Palisa discovers asteroids #256 Walpurga & #274 Philagoria
1889 Savings Bank of the Order of True Reformers opens in Richmond, Va
1905 M Wolf discovers asteroid #562 Salome
1908 Frank Gotch wins world heavyweight wrestling championship in 2 hrs
1910 Highest mountain in North America, Alaska's Mt McKinley climbed
1916 S Belyavskij disc asteroid 854 Frostia, 855 Newcombia & 856 Backlunda
1918 House of Reps accepts American Creed written by William Tyler
1926 2nd flight of a liquid-fueled rocket by Robert Goddard
1927 Interstate Commerce Comm transfers Ohio to Eastern time zone
1930 Mont Canadiens sweep Boston Bruins in 2 games for Stanley Cup
1930 Ras Tafari becomes Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
1933 1st airplane flight over Mt Everest
1933 Then longest North American hockey game requires a 1:44:46 overtime as Maple Leaf Ken Doraty scores to beat Canadiens 1-0
1935 C Jackson discovers asteroids #1354 Botha & #1948 Kampala
1936 Al Carr KOs Lew Massey on 1 punch, :07 of the 1st round
1936 Shortest boxing bout with gloves lasts only 10 seconds
1937 K Inkeri discovers asteroid #1425 Tuorla
1940 Y Vaisala discovers asteroids #2194 Arpola, #2512 Tavastia & #3099
1944 Supreme Court (Smith v Allwright) "white primaries" unconstitutional
1948 1st US figure skating championships held
1948 Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan ($5B aid to 16 European countries)
1949 KQW-AM in San Francisco CA changes call letters to KCBS
1954 Don Perry climbs a 20' rope in under 2.8 seconds (AAU record)
1955 Balt Orioles pull their 1st triple play (3-6-2 vs KC Athletics)
1962 Jockey Eddie Arcaro retires after 31 years (24,092 races)
1964 Beatles hold the top 6 spots on the Sydney Australia record charts
1964 US & Panam agree to resume diplomatic relations
1965 1st atomic powered spacecraft (snap) launched
1967 113 East Europeans attending World Amateur hockey championships in Vienna, ask for political asylum
1968 N Vietnam agrees to meet US reps to set up preliminary peace talks
1970 Miriam Hargrave of England passes her drivers test on 40th try
1972 L Chernykh discovers asteroid #2142 Landau
1974 148 tornadoes are reported over an area covering a dozen states
1974 Gold hits record $197 an ounce in Paris
1975 Bobby Fischer stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend
1975 James Rupers kills his family to inherit
1976 N Chernykh discovers asteroid #3493
1976 Phila Flyers win record tying 20th straight NHL home game
1977 Boston Bruin Jean Ratelle scores his 1,000th NHL point
1977 Egyptian Pres Anwar Sadat 1st meeting with President Jimmy Carter
1981 Arnie Boldt of Saskatchewan jumped 6' 8.25", with 1 leg
1982 Buffalo Sabre Gil Perrault scores his 1,000th NHL point
1982 UN Security Council demanded Argentina withdraw from Falkland Islands
1984 E Bowell discovers asteroid #3676
1984 Soyuz T-11 carries 3 cosmonauts (1 Indian-Rakesh Sharma) to Salyut 7
1985 Vic Elliot pocketed 15,780 pool balls in 24 hours in London
1987 Bill Elliott sets NASCAR qualify record of 212.809 mph at Talladega
1988 Mario Lemieux wins NHL scoring title, stopping Gretsky 7 year streak
1988 NJ Devils beat Chicago to clinch their 1st ever playoff spot
1989 "Sunrise" a Gannett newspaper begins publishing for the Bronx
1989 Michigan beats Seaton Hall for NCAA basketball title
1992 1st exhibition game at Camden Field-Orioles beat NY Mets

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Switzerland : Glarius Festival (1388) - - - - - ( Thursday )
Mass : Student Government Day - - - - - ( Friday )

Religious Observances
Ang : Commemoration of Richard, Bishop of Chichester

Religious History
1189 The Peace of Strasbourg was signed, resolving the differences between Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany and Pope Clement III.
1528 In Cologne, German reformer Adolf Clarenbach, 28, was arrested for teaching Protestant (some say Anabaptist or Waldensian) doctrines. The following year, Clarenbach was burned at the stake for his faith.
1593 Birth of George Herbert, English clergyman and poet. One of his verses endures today as the hymn, "The King of Love My Shepherd Is."
1759 Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'I believe that love to God, and to man for God's sake, is the essence of religion and the fulfilling of the law.'
1950 Death of American hymnwriter Ira B. Wilson, 70. Associated with Lorenz Publishing in Dayton, Ohio for over 40 years, Wilson's most enduring sacred composition was "Make Me a Blessing" (aka "Out of the Highways and Byways of Life").

Thought for the day :
"Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status."