Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment
The 40th Indiana, with the 21st Brigade, remained at Lebanon, KY.
Battle of Fort Henry
As mentioned in the last post, by February 5th, the forces under General Grant and Commander Foote were mostly in position for the attack on Fort Henry. Due to the poor road conditions that were made worse by recent rains, the army was not able to get to the fort before the gunboats began the battle.
As it turned out, the gunboats were all that was needed as they were able to silence most of the fort's guns (in addition, some of the guns in the fort were disabled by a bursting of a large rifled cannon) and thus received the surrender of the fort before the army came up. In addition it seems that most of the Confederate troops had transited to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, about 10 miles to the east. Fort Donelson was more easily defended, and had a large garrison already there.
Union troops occupied Fort Henry, and General Grant began to move toward Fort Donelson, confidently predicting that it would be taken on the 8th. The gunboats would also be necessary for the next attack, and began to make their way back up river into the Ohio, and back down the Cumberland toward Fort Donelson.
Central Kentucky
General Buell had sent a brigade, and some new regiments from Indiana and Ohio, to aid in the attack on Fort Henry. With the inability to move effectively toward East Tennessee, he had decided to push toward Bowling Green, KY. He presumed that he faced a larger force than his, and so did not promise that he could move quickly.
With the capture of Fort Henry, and the potential capture of Fort Donelson, the Confederates could not hold Kentucky and began to fall back toward Nashville. Buell would not face opposition as he moved toward Bowling Green.
NEXT POST: FEBRUARY 10TH
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