Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
February 5, 1862 - Restrictions on the sale of guns, ammunition, and military supplies to the Confederacy are lifted by the British government.
February 5, 1862 - Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is printed in the Atlantic Monthly, arranged to the popular tune "John Brown's Body."
February 5, 1862 - General Charles F. Smith lands Union troops directly opposite Fort Henry at the unfinished Fort Heiman and seizes the fort without contact.
February 6, 1862 - In the drive toward Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, General U.S. Grant continues his strategic flanking movement. The fort is situated in low earthwork at river's edge and the Tennessee River is running full. His 17,000 troops are put ashore two miles below the fort but bog down in mud and proceed slowly. General Tilghman directs most of his 3,400 Confederate garrison to Fort Donelson, ten miles away on the Cumberland River. Little combat takes place but the Union troops detain 38 stragglers and capture six cannons as they pursue the Confederates.
February 6, 1862 - General Tilghman retains 17 cannons and 100 artillery troops to mount an "honorable" defense of Fort Henry. The four ironclad and three timber clad gunboats under Commodore Foote open fire on Fort Henry from 1,700 yards and move in to about 600 yards, maintaining constant fire for two hours. The fort's defenders score 59 hits on Foote's gunboats and a direct hit on the USS Essex, bursting her boilers. Several naval officers row through the sally port and accept Tilghman's surrender on the flooded parade ground. Union losses are 11 killed, 31 injured, and five missing. Confederate losses are five killed, six wounded, five missing, and 70 captured.
February 6, 1862 - After the fall of Fort Henry, Commodore Foote moves downstream on the Tennessee destroying railroad bridges as far south as Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
February 6, 1862 - At Jefferson City, Louisiana, the new and powerful ironclad CSS Louisiana is launched.
February 7, 1862 - Federal troops re-occupy Romney in western Virginia and General Loring withdraws to Winchester.
February 7, 1862 - Lt. Seth Phelps continues on his move down river on the Tennessee. The USS Conestoga surprises the Confederate steamers Samuel Orr, Appleton Belle, and Lynn Boyd and sets them afire.
February 7, 1862 - Hearing news of the fall of Fort Henry, Generals Beauregard, Albert S. Johnston, and William Hardee meet and send untested Generals Gideon Pillow at Clarksville, Tennessee and John B. Floyd at Bowling Green, Kentucky to slow the Union approach to Fort Donelson. Fort Donelson's garrison is directed to withdraw to Nashville.
February 7 & 8, 1862 - The U.S. Army and Navy win control of Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Control of Roanoke Island effectively stops Confederate communication with Norfolk, Virginia and Norfolk is eventually abandoned. General Ambrose Burnsides sets up enhanced blockade capability and controls the Albemarle Sound.
February 8, 1862 - President Davis reacts to the loss of Roanoke Island and Fort Henry, and a sense of gloom overtakes Richmond. Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin, overall theatre commander Benjamin Huger, and local commander Henry A. Wise are investigated for incompetence and questionable behavior.
February 9, 1862 - General Gideon Pillow becomes commander of Fort Donelson, replacing Generals Bushrod J. Johnson and Simon Buckner.
February 10, 1862 - Commodore Foote moves to Cairo, Illinois to get emergency repair of his damaged gunboats and plans his move to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River in Tennessee. Lt. Seth L. Phelps concludes his move downstream and arrives back at Fort Donelson.
February 10, 1862 - Union General Samuel R. Curtis and his 12,000 man Army of the Southwest leaves Rolla, Missouri to attack General Sterling Price and his 8,000 man Missouri Homeguard. This move is to drive Price west and into Arkansas to keep him from interfering with the Union thrust down the Mississippi.
February 11, 1862 - The northern railroads and captured southern rails are all placed under the control of the United States Military Railroads, established by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The Military Railroad achieved safety and efficiency never rivaled in the south.
February 11, 1862 - Union Generals McClernand and Charles Smith march 15,000 men from Fort Henry to Fort Donelson through heavy rain. Confederate General Pillow is strengthened by the arrival of General John B. Floyd and 21,000 Confederates.
