150-Year Anniversary ยท February 1862
On February 6, 1862, gunboats under Andrew Foote and troops under Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, opening that waterway deep into the Confederacy.
Grant then moved against Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. When the Confederate commander asked for terms on February 16, Grant replied that only 'unconditional and immediate surrender' would be accepted. The fall of Donelson and its garrison was the Union's first great victory and made Grant famous overnight.
On February 8 a Union expedition under Ambrose Burnside seized Roanoke Island off North Carolina, tightening the coastal blockade and threatening the Confederate rear.
Forts Henry and Donelson opened the western river war. The rest of the conflict is framed on the history of the Civil War.