Fort Donelson

As I've told you before, our family loves history and we are really interested in Civil War history.
Andy had mentioned that Fort Donelson was about 45 minutes from Fort Campbell and that it was a really interesting place to visit, so we made sure we had some time to stop there.
There was lots to see and we happened to show up on the 150th anniversary of the Confederate surrender there, so there were some special things going on.

This is a monument commemorating the battle that occurred there.

Lots of cannons dot the landscape

This is a replica of the soldiers housing

The powder keg - ammunition was stored here.

A view from a hill looking down the Cumberland river. There were larger weapons than the usual cannons set up facing the river.

And more cannons!



Near this battlefield was the Fort Donelson National Cemetery.

We found stones from the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean war and the Vietnam war. As I walked around looking at all those stones, I was reminded that each of these stones represented someone who was loved by their family. This was someones husband, brother or son. The fact that I was able to walk around there and have my son with me was another reason to give thanks!


The building where this battle officially ended is still standing.

This is the Dover Hotel and it was here, that General Ulysses S Grant demanded "unconditional surrender" from General Buckner of the Confederacy.

There were several re-enactments going on to commemorate the 250th anniversary, and this man allowed me to take his picture in front of the hotel.
What an interesting day! We really enjoyed the whole day, but tomorrow I'll share something that happened during the day that was one of the highlights of the week!