13 - Thunder On The Rivers Tennessee And Cumberland: Forts Henry And Donelson

Threads From The National Tapestry: Stories From The American Civil War · Feb 22, 2019 · 45m

About this episode:

At 750,000 square miles, the Confederacy was huge, and to put down the rebellion, Mr. Lincoln's armies had to go on the offensive. They would have to be the aggressor. It was a daunting task; even more so in the Confederate West where there existed poor transportation and communication networks. Known early on as The Western Department or Department Number Two, three major rivers offered invasion avenues into the heartland of the south: The Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland. This is the story of a federal campaign led by an officer who was a most unlikely hero, one…