Battle of Fort Donelson order of battle: Confederate

The following Confederate Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Fort Donelson of the American Civil War. Order of battle compiled from the army organization,[1] and the reports.[2] The Union order of battle is listed separately.

Confederate Memorial

Abbreviations used edit

Military Rank edit

Army of Central Kentucky edit

General Albert Sidney Johnston Not present at battle

Fort Donelson edit

BG Bushrod Johnson Feb 9
BG Gideon J. Pillow Feb 9-13
BG John B. Floyd Feb 13-16
BG Gideon J. Pillow Feb 16
BG Simon B. Buckner, Sr. Feb 16

Division Brigade Regiments and Others

Right Wing


     BG Simon B. Buckner, Sr.

2nd Brigade


   (attached to 3rd Brigade)

3rd Brigade


   Col John C. Brown

  • 3rd Tennessee: Ltc Thomas Gordon (w), Maj N. F. Cheairs
  • 18th Tennessee: Col Joseph B. Palmer
  • 32nd Tennessee: Col Edmond Cook

Left Wing


     BG Gideon Johnson Pillow
     BG Bushrod Johnson[3]

1st Brigade


   Col Adolphus Heiman

  • 27th Alabama: Col Adolphus Hughes
  • 10th Tennessee: Ltc Randal W. McGavock
  • 42nd Tennessee: Col William A. Quarles
  • 48th Tennessee: Col William Voorhies
  • 53rd Tennessee: Col Alfred Abernathy, Ltc Thomas F. Winston
2nd Brigade


   Col Thomas J. Davidson
   Col John M. Simonton
   Col John Gregg

3rd Brigade


   Col Joseph Drake

  • 3rd Alabama Battalion: Maj John Garvin
  • 15th Arkansas: Col James M. Gee
  • 4th Mississippi: Maj Thomas Adaire
4th Brigade
(Fort Donelson Garrison)[4]


   Col John W. Head

  • 30th Tennessee: Col John W. Head
  • 49th Tennessee: Col James Bailey
  • 50th Tennessee: Col Cyrus Sugg
  • 1st Tennessee Battalion: Maj Steven Colms
  • Stankiewicz's Tennessee Battery: Lt Peter Stankiewicz
5th Brigade


   Col Gabriel C. Wharton

6th Brigade


   Col John McCausland

7th Brigade


   Col William E. Baldwin[5]

  • 26th Mississippi: Col Arthur Reynolds
  • 26th Tennessee: Col John Lillard

Attached Units

Cavalry Brigade


   Lt Col Nathan B. Forrest

  • 3rd Tennessee Cavalry Ltc Nathan Bedford Forrest
  • 9th Tennessee Cavalry Ltc George Gantt
  • 1st Kentucky Cavalry, Company D: Cpt S.B. Williams
  • 1st Kentucky Cavalry, Company G: Cpt M.D. Willcox
  • 1st Kentucky Cavalry, Company K: Cpt James Huey
  • Melton's Kentucky Cavalry Company : Cpt James Melton
Artillery


   Lt Col Milton Haynes

  • French's Mercer (VA) Battery: Cpt Napoleon B. French[6]
  • Gauley (VA) Artillery: Cpt Stephen Adams
  • Goochland (VA) Battery: Cpt John Guy
  • Kanawha (VA) Artillery: Cpt Thomas E. Jackson
  • Graves' Kentucky Battery: Cpt Rice E. Graves
  • Green's Kentucky Battery: Cpt Henry Green
  • Maney's Tennessee Battery: Cpt Frank Maney (w)
  • Porter's Tennessee Battery: Cpt Thomas Porter (w), Lt John W. Morton
  • Ross' Tennessee Battery: Cpt Ruben Ross
  • Culbertson's Tennessee Battery: Cpt Jacob Culbertson
  • 51st Tennessee: Col. B.M. Browder

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Official Records, Series I, Volume VII, page 852
  2. ^ Official Records, Series I, Volume VII, page 158
  3. ^ Bushrod Johnson appears to have been neglected more than once during the Fort Donelson campaign (Cooling, pp 128, 164). Johnson originally commanded the fort for a few hours before being subordinated to Gideon Pillow. Johnson then commanded a division of the Fort Henry survivors (Drake’s and Heiman’s brigades) known as the "Left Wing". Buckner commanded a division of Baldwin’s and Brown’s brigades, the "Right Wing", with Pillow in overall command. (Cooling, p. 131) On Feb 11 the brigades of Davidson, Wharton and McCausland were added to Johnson’s command. However, when Floyd arrived Pillow assumed command of the Left Wing, superseding Johnson. Though Pillow had command of the Left Wing, it seems Johnson still took an active part in the fighting specifically directing Drake’s, Heiman’s and Davidson’s brigades. (Gott, pp. 221, 254)
  4. ^ The 4th Brigade was never employed as a brigade; regiments were deployed individually
  5. ^ Baldwin's brigade was divided between Buckner's and Pillow's commands. Baldwin personally accompanied two regiments attached to Pillow while the three remaining regiments where attached to Brown's brigade in Buckner's command.
  6. ^ f. Ray Sibley, Jr (8 September 2014). Confederate Artillery Organizations: An Alphabetical Listing of the Officers and Batteries of the Confederacy, 1861-1865. ISBN 9781940669441.

References edit

  • Cooling, Benjamin Franklin, The Campaign for Fort Donelson, U.S. National Park Service and Eastern National, 1999, ISBN 1-888213-50-7.
  • Gott, Kendall D., Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry—Fort Donelson Campaign, February 1862, Stackpole books, 2003, ISBN 0-8117-0049-6.
  • Knight, James R., The Battle Of Fort Donelson: No Terms but Unconditional Surrender, The History Press, 2011ISBN 978-160949129-1.
  • Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buell, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: The Opening Battles, Volume 1 (Pdf), New York: The Century Co., 1887.
  • U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.