Fort Donelson National Battlefield

Fort Donelson National Battlefield
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
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Location	Calloway County, Kentucky & Stewart County, Tennessee, USA
Nearest city	Dover, Tennessee
Coordinates	36°29′14″N 87°51′39″W / 36.48722°N 87.86083°W / 36.48722; -87.86083[1]
Area	1,319 acres (5.34 km2)[2]
Established	March 26, 1928 (War Dept.) August 10, 1933 (NPS)[3]
Visitors	208,687 (in 2005)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Fort Donelson National Battlefield

Fort Donelson National Battlefield preserves Fort Donelson and Fort Heiman, two sites of the American Civil War Forts Henry and Donelson Campaign, in which Union Army Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant and Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote captured three Confederate forts and opened two rivers, the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River, to control by the Union Navy. The commanders received national recognition for their victories in February 1862, as they were the first major Union successes of the war. The capture of Fort Donelson and its garrison by the Union led to the capture of Tennessee's capital and industrial center, Nashville, which remained in Union hands from February 25, 1862, until the end of the war, and gave the Union effective control over much of Tennessee. This struck a major blow to the Confederacy early in the war.

The main portion of the park, in Dover, Tennessee, commemorates the Battle of Fort Donelson (36°29′41″N 87°51′22″W / 36.49472°N 87.85611°W / 36.49472; -87.85611). Fort Heiman, in nearby Calloway County, Kentucky, was a Confederate battery in the Battle of Fort Henry.