Fort Donelson - Part II

During the second half of our visit to Fort Donelson National Battlefield we visited several stops on the driving tour including the Dover House and the national cemetery.

Built between 1851 and 1853, the Dover Hotel accommodated riverboat travelers before and after the Civil War. General Buckner and his staff used the hotel as their headquarters during the battle. It also served as a Union hospital after the surrender. After Buckner accepted Grant's surrender terms, the two generals met here to work out the details. Lew Wallace, the first Union general to reach the hotel following the surrender, did not want his men to gloat over the Confederate situation and instructed Capt. Frederick Knefler, one of his officers, to tell the brigade commanders "to move the whole line forward, and take possession of persons and property . . . [but] not a word of taunt—no cheering." An estimated 13,000 Confederate soldiers loaded into transports began their journey to Northern prisoner-of-war camps. Neither the Union nor Confederate governments were prepared to care for the large influx of prisoners. The prisoners from Fort Donelson were incarcerated in hastily converted and ill-prepared sites in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and as far away as Boston, Massachusetts, "and they suffered greatly from the harsh weather." In September 1862 most of the prisoners were exchanged.
--from Fort Donelson NB website

Two of the kids were sleeping, so I went inside the hotel with just Abigail.

Apparently most of the hotel isn't original, but it has been restored since it was last used as a private structure in the early twentieth century.

The downstairs is the only restored part of the building that is open to the public.

While not manned the building is open most days of the week.

 Inside are quite a few displays about the battle.

Next to the exhibit area is a room outfitted to look like a hotel.  It isn't available to enter, but you can look through the windows to get a good view.

This sign was on the window between the exhibit area and the restored area pictured above.

This 1877 house served as office and quarters for the cemetery keeper until 1931.  The design of the buildings is Second Empire (French), from the reign of Napoleon III (1852-1870).  This architectural style is characterized by gables and a roof consisting of two slopes on all sides.
--from NPS signage

 This information building had some signs about the battlefield and information about the cemetery.

 The cemetery was used long after the Civil War as you can see by the burial of this WWII and Korean veteran.

 The back of the veteran's headstone shows the information for his wife that was buried after him.

 Looking at a cemetery like this is always quite sobering.

 The graves were in a circle around the flagpole.

All of these pictures and a number more are found in this album.

~Matt

Fort Donelson - Part I

We visited Fort Donelson National Battlefield several times while we were camping at Land Between the Lakes.  The NRA is run by the Forest Service, so it isn't a National Park Service site like the fort, but they are quite near to each other so it was easy to find the time to visit.  We drove through once with my parents and saw much of the site, but then we went back after they left for home and saw the rest of the tour.

"Fort Donelson will hereafter be marked in Capitals on the maps of our United Country..."

Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant was becoming quite famous as he wrote these words following the surrender of Confederate Fort Donelson on Sunday, February 16, 1862. The Union victory at Fort Donelson elated the North, and stunned the South. Within days of the surrender, Clarksville and Nashville would fall into Union hands. Grant and his troops had created a pathway to victory for the Union.

--from Fort Donelson National Battlefield website

While the main visitor center is being repaired/renovated the battlefield's visitor center is located at the local community's visitor center.

Out front of the building are several informative Civil War signs.

As I've said elsewhere I'm a sucker for signs and always enjoy taking pictures of them after I've read them so that I can read them again later.

It is also nice that you could learn about the battle even if the visitor center was closed for the day.

A normal assortment of products are available in the small gift shop area before you enter the main exhibit section.

The Dover Hotel is one of the places we visited on our second day of visiting the park.

These items that you could pick up and touch were a nice experience.

We also watched the park film.

Maps of the area are especially useful when you're looking at a battle's history.

This display explained how ironclad vessels changed warfare.  It was quite a different experience to have cannonballs bounce off the target instead of causing considerable damage. It also made riverside fortifications much more vulnerable than they had been in the past as ships could often approach close enough to cause significant damage.

After leaving the temporary visitor center we drove onto the grounds of the actual battlefield.

This is the regular visitor center closed off for work.

This is the first monument we came to along the road was the Confederate Monument.

Erected by the Tennessee Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1933, the Confederate Monument commemorates the Southern soldiers who fought and died at Fort Donelson. The exact location of Confederate graves is unknown.
--from Fort Donelson NB website

I haven't yet seen a Civil War battlefield that wasn't covered with statues and monuments.

"We lived luxuriously in comfortable tents and log huts," one Fort Donelson soldier wrote in the more tranquil days before cold weather set in and the armies clashed...  The reconstructed log hut represents the approximately 400 huts built for the fort's garrison by soldiers and slave labors as living quarters, some 100 of them inside the 15-acre fort.
-exhibit signage

Evelyn was more than willing to pose in front of a cannon.

 The only thing more prosaic than monuments on Civil War battlefields are the cannons.

 When we got down to the river Abigail was thrilled to watch a barge and tugboat go by.

This was the powder magazine, buried in quite a bit of dirt.

 The cannon by the waterfront were designed to protect the fortifications from river traffic.  You can read more about the Confederate batteries here.

The fortifications provided a good view of the barge as it continued on the river.

I've always found it fascinating that we still have so many remnants from the Civil War.  Battles that lasted a few days or weeks often resulted in so much change that we can still see the earthworks

The signs that put the location you were viewing into the context of the entire battle were quite useful and informative.

Tomorrow I'll finish up describing the remainder of our visit to the battlefield.

~Matt

The Homeplace

On my parents last day camping we went by The Homeplace.  The attraction is a living history facility with a number of buildings that were gathered from all over the area when it was turned into a national recreation area in the mid twentieth century.

Homeplace 1850s Working Farm and Living History Museum represents a two-generation farm. When you visit the Homeplace, you will see interpreters in period clothing going about their daily chores. You’ll find the perfect blend of artifacts, restored historic structures, and traditional seasonal activities to step you back in time to relive history before the Civil War. Even our livestock includes rare and endangered breeds. We cultivate many varieties of garden plants and field crops; most from heirloom seeds dating back before the Civil War. These heirloom seeds can be purchased in our gift shop.
--from Land Between the Lakes website

The first building you enter contains the gift shop, ticket counter, and a few exhibits.

We didn't spend too much time in the exhibits as the kids were anxious to get outside and we didn't have too long to spend (my parents still needed to drive back home before the end of the day).

I thought the seasonal exhibits were interesting as they talked about how each time of year was different.

Once you exit the building there is a path back towards

I always like split rail fences.

I don't care if they may technically be weeds, I always enjoy seeing different flowers.

The first building we saw was a large cabin.

A number of quilts were being exhibited the weekend that we visited.

It was fun to see the various colorful quilts strung up in the middle of the landscape.

There were also a number of interpreters in the various buildings.

The buildings were also stuffed full of old furniture and other household accouterments.

The girls really enjoyed the cards with shoelaces that they could practice pretending to sew.

There was a great view from the upper room of the

After we left the house we saw plenty of animals starting with some sheep.

The farm also had a couple pigs.

The chickens were amusing to watch as they perched on the fence around the pigpen.

The ducks were quite obviously enjoying the puddle.

You can't quite tell it from this shot, but these are very large bovines.

There was a second one with red hair.

This gives you some idea of the scale.

These blooms on some of the trees were gorgeous to look at.

We got to watch some plowing.

The guy went up and down the field several times as we watched.

This pile of boards was actually a rather fun activity.

The boards were all notched so that you could put them together as a log cabin.  The sign encouraged you to build the cabin, photograph it, and then tear it apart so the next person could build it afresh.

It wasn't large when finished, but was more than big enough for the kids to play inside for a few minutes.

I took this shot as we headed back out to the parking lot.  The flowers were beautiful.

All of the photographs in this post and a few more are located in this album.

~Matt