HENRY, FORT

The main area of the eastern campaigns, 1861-65. Use left sidebar to control the speed of the 1/4 in the American Civil War, strategic Confederate stronghold in Tennessee, the capture of which on February 6, 1862, by Union naval forces under Commodore Andrew Hull Foote, opened a Northern invasion route along the Tennessee River. Fort Henry was a closed fieldwork on the Tennessee River, defended by 17 heavy guns, 100 artillerymen, and rifle pits held by 2,500 infantrymen. A combined land and naval assault had been planned, but General Ulysses S. Grant's troops arrived too late to see action. After a short, fierce bombardment by four Union ironclad gunboats under Commodore Foote, Confederate General Lloyd Tilghman and 78 surviving artillerymen surrendered; the 2,500 Confederate riflemen retreated to nearby Fort Donelson.