Fort Donelson was a fortress built by the Confederacy during the American Civil War to control the Cumberland River leading to the heart of Tennessee, and the heart of the Confederacy. The fort was named after Confederate general Daniel S. Donelson.

The Union Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Major General Ulysses S. Grant, captured the fort from the Confederate Army in the Battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862. The capture of the fort resulted in an enormous strategic victory for the Union forces. Union forces occupied the fort for the remainder of the war. A small detachment of Confederate troops made one unsuccessful attempt to regain it.

Awaking during sunglow, I first grab a cup of hot and continue my drive along US highway 79 arriving at Fort Donelson National Battlefield by seven am. I expect that this park is about the Civil War and when I arrive, find out it is about that war and U.S. Grant′s initial push into Tennessee towards Nashville.

I take a few photos, some of two eagles high up in a tree but I am done with the battlefield quickly and then head up into The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, a National Forest Park which also takes me into Kentucky.