ate positions guarding the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. With 17,000 men and a flotilla of gunboats under the command of Commodore Andrew Hull Foote, Grant captured Fort Henry on February 6 and promptly moved against Donelson 12 miles away. When the Confederate commander there, Brig. Gen. Simon B. Buckner, asked for terms of capitulation, Grant replied tersely: "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." On February 16, Buckner surrendered with over 14,000 men. The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, the first major Union victories in the war, opened up Tennessee to the Federal armies. For the first time "Unconditional Surrender" Grant became prominent on the national scene. Despite Halleck's jealousy, Lincoln made him major general of volunteers.Grant's next important battle was at Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., on April 6-7, 1862. Early in the morning of April 6, Gen. Albert S. Johnston's Confederate army burst through the unfortified Union lines near Shiloh meetinghouse and threatened to drive Grant's men back into the Tennessee River. Historians differ on almost every aspect of the battle: whether Grant was at fault in being at Savannah, 9 miles from Pittsburg Landing, at the beginning of the battle; whether Grant was surprised by Johnston; whether Union troops should have been entrenched; whether Grant was personally responsible for checking the Confederate advance; and whether the arrival of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's army saved the day for the Union cause.At any rate, on April 7 the Union forces recaptured the initiative and drove the Confederates back in great disorder. When the news reached the North, a storm of abuse broke out against Grant, who was blamed for this bloodiest battle yet to occur on the American continent, and it was falsely whispered that he had been drunk and negligent of his duty. But Grant also had defenders, among the...
