The surrender of Fort Henry, coming so soon after Prestonburg and
Logan's Cross Roads, caused great rejoicing in the loyal North.
The victory, effective in itself, was completed by sending the
ironclad Carondelet several miles upstream to destroy the
Memphis-Ohio railway bridge, thus cutting the shortest line from
Bowling Green to the Mississippi. But the action, in which the
army took no part, was only a preliminary skirmish compared with
the joint attack of the fleet and army on Fort Donelson. Fort
Donelson was of great strategic importance. If it held fast, and
the Federals were defeated, then Johnston's line would probably
hold from Bowling Green to Columbus, and the rails, roads, and
rivers would remain Confederate in western Tennessee. If, on the
other hand, Fort Donelson fell, and more especially if its
garrison surrendered, then Johnston's line would have to be
withdrawn at once, lest the same fate should overtake the
outflanked remains of it. Both sides understood this perfectly
well; and all concerned looked anxiously to see how the new
Federal commander, General Grant, would face the crisis.


Ulysses Simpson Grant came of sturdy New England stock, being
eighth in descent from Matthew Grant, who landed in 1630 and was
Surveyor of Connecticut for over forty years. Grant's mother was
one of the Simpsons who had been Pennsylvanians for several
generations. His family was therefore as racy of the North as
Lee's was of the South. His great-grandfather and
great-granduncle, Noah and Solomon Grant, held British
commissions during the final French-and-Indian or Seven Years'
War (1756-63) when both were killed in the same campaign. His
grandfather Noah served all through the Revolutionary War.