Behind the Lines at Fort Donelson

Left at the landing when his regiment (the 2nd Iowa) went to the front, Private Daniel McWorkman had a front row seat to the gunboat attack at Fort Donelson and witnessed its grisly aftermath.

          “As the boats drifted by me, I could see that they had it pretty hot,” he wrote in a letter to his wife. “Their decks were covered with splinters, the flag staff of one had been shot away. When they landed I went down to them. They had lost several men. One man had been torn to shreds and I saw them pick up pieces of flesh as big as my two hands and throw them into the river. One man had both arms shot off.”

          McWorkman’s letter first saw publication in the February 28, 1862, edition of the Keosauqua Republican.

 

"The gunboats came slowly on and opened fire with shot and shell. The firing was not rapid at first but the boats except the Tyler continued to advance and soon the battle commenced in earnest. There was a constant roar of artillery which reverberated grandly among the hills."

Fort Donelson, Tennessee

February 20, 1862

          It has now been 10 days since I had a pen in my fingers, 10 days of increasing toil and I find it difficult to write at all but I will do the best I can.

          Well, we left St. Louis on Monday the 10th of February. You have heard of the Hamilton Order concerning our regiment? It hurt me very much and I cried like a child. As we came down the river we were cheered at every town but cheers had no charms for me. About midnight of the 12th the colonel came to me and I had a long talk with him which cheered me up some. We finally reached Cairo. Until this time our destination was Fort Henry on the Tennessee, which is only 12 miles from here, but when we got to Cairo, the order was changed to this place. So, we passed on up the Ohio to Smithland and then up the Cumberland. We now knew we would soon get into a fight, provided we could get up in time. A force had gone ahead of us by steamers and when we got to Smithland, 6 gunboats had gone up. Our old boat was awfully slow and I was afraid it would all be over before we could get up.

          All along through Kentucky we were welcomed by shouts and cheers. Old men seemed mad with joy. I never witnessed such unmistakable signs of pleasure. At one place about the Tennessee line, an old gray-headed man with two little girls one in each hand came down to the water’s edge- saying “God bless you my Union friends.” It seemed to come from an honest heart. All the cheers up this way are for the Union and the dear old flag under which we have lived and prospered so long.

          On Thursday morning we ran out of wood and landed for a supply of 20 cords and while here we heard the gunboats firing; in a moment of the 2nd Iowa were on shore carrying it in. The colonel worked like a Turk, captains and lieutenants pitched in and we soon got it aboard and steamed on. Now we came up with the fleet with which was a little tug which went on, but soon returned with orders to prepare to disembark our forces with two days’ rations. How far we were below the fort nobody seemed to know. Our little tug which the boys named the Grand Rounds was running up and down like wildfire all the time.

          We landed on the right bank of the river Thursday night but did not go on shore until Friday morning. All seemed quiet but on Friday morning when day broke there lay our gunboats, 17 steamboats, and the little Grand Rounds. The regiment went ashore, formed, and marched off to the right. I wanted to accompany them but as there was nothing I could do, I was left behind. Soon after the gunboats moved slowly up the river. Some said the fort was 4 miles, some said 5 and some even said 7 miles up the river. I was now told that the land forces had been skirmishing on the right wing since Wednesday at 2 o’clock. A light snow fell on Thursday night and the high hills were clothed in white. But our men marched off with haversacks only; we knew now where they were and could not get their blankets to them.


          When the gunboats started, I went up the river about a mile to the top of a high hill. I could see then the position of the [Rebel] batteries about a mile and a half off but close down to the riverbank. The gunboats came slowly on and opened fire with shot and shell. I don’t know the names of them but one, the Tyler, kept off and fired at long range. The firing was not rapid at first but the boats except the Tyler continued to advance and soon the battle commenced in earnest. There was a constant roar of artillery which reverberated grandly among the hills. But the boats moved on in gallant style and the thunder of artillery was as fully grand and beyond any language of mine to describe.

          When we first came up with the fleet, a peculiar feeling crept over me; it was not fear, I think, but a sickening sensation but I did not feel it afterwards. But to the fight. How long it raged I cannot tell. But the rudders of the boats, at least two of them, were disabled and the boats slowly drifted back and the firing ceased. As the boats drifted by me, I could see that they had it pretty hot. Their decks were covered with splinters, the flag staff of one had been shot away. When they landed I went down to them. They had lost several men. One man had been torn to shreds and I saw them pick up pieces of flesh as big as my two hands and throw them into the river. One man had both arms shot off.

          All Friday night our boys lay without blankets and from my heart’s core I pitied them but we could do nothing to relieve them. Saturday morning I heard they were upon the left wing about 6 miles from where the transports lay. I mounted Billy [his horse] and took two blankets and started over the roughest road imaginable. The blankets I took for the colonel as I knew he could not stand a great deal of exposure. I soon came in hearing of the crack of the rifles of Col. Birge’s sharpshooters [66th Illinois- see link here]. I got off and hitched my pony, shouldered my blankets, and started afoot as the limbs began to fall above my head and I did not know how soon some cuss might take aim at me.

          But I could not see them, not a man, though their entrenchments were in sight. But I soon saw how the land laid. They would creep up and fire and drop down again to keep out of sight of Birge’s boys. They had two nasty little howitzers up on the hill that threw grape down in this direction hot, but they aimed too high. I asked a soldier where the 2nd Iowa was and he told me right down on my left- they were forming to storm the entrenchments and were down in a deep ravine and would soon be in view.

This Kurz & Allison print depicts the charge of the 2nd Iowa upon Fort Donelson. 

I watched a moment and there opened a perfect storm of musketry from behind the breastworks; another moment and I saw the left wing of the 2nd led by the gallant colonel up to the entrenchments. They were in line and had not fired a gun. Right over they go and away goes all Rebeldom and not being able to reach them with their bayonets they opened fire. I took off my cap to cheer but in swinging it around my head the rim came off and the crown went sailing down the hill. I knew it would not do to go after it just then so I waited until they ran off back across the hills, which they did like a flock of sheep with their white blankets over their shoulders.

When I went back, I met Captain Abe Wilkins of Co. F. I took his hand and said, “Captain I am glad to meet you safe.” I saw he was full and he replied, “We have beat them but have lost some as good men as ever the sun shone upon. George Morse is dead [Sergeant of Co. F]; Lieutenant [William C.] Harper [Co. F], Captain [Charles C.] Cloutman of Co. K, and Captain [Jonathon S.] Slaymaker of Co. C.” His voice trembled like a child’s. I went on.

The wounded and dead had been carried back. I soon came to Cloutman; he was a splendid fellow. He was shot in the breast and died instantly. Lieutenant Harper was shot through the heart with a large ball which passed entirely through his body. I took my two blankets and covered these two bodies. The next man I saw was Major [Norton P.] Chipman; he was shot through the thigh but never flinched; I helped put him in an ambulance. George Morse fell inside of the entrenchments; almost all the others on the outside on the hillside. He was shot directly through the head. Sergeant [Nathan W.] Doty of Co. D, a splendid fellow, fell dead on the parapet.

I stayed until 11 o’clock at night and then rode back; our regiment went back to hold what they had so bravely gained in the afternoon. I enquired of someone about Voltaire [Twombly]; he said he thought he was down for he has seen him with the colors and said he was the last of the color guard; when he looked back a moment afterwards the colors were in other hands. I supposed he was killed and did not know better until after the surrender when I saw him with the banner in his hand.

          Sunday morning to my surprise the fort surrendered bag and baggage. I found George Bonney after a good deal of hunting; he and Voltaire got off without a scratch. But many of our boys were wounded but the battle was won with as little loss as could have been expected. Our regiment fought on the left wing. On the right there was some hard fighting; I saw 61 out of one Illinois regiment lying side by side after the fight but they sold their lives bravely. The ground was covered with their slain, mostly cavalry at this point. How many have been killed in all you will learn before I will.

The water battery along the Cumberland River at Fort Donelson. (National Park Service)

          A great victory has been won, mainly attributed to the 2nd Iowa. The colonel covered himself all over with glory. He was fired at on all sides. Two villains shot at him at one time and one of our boys drew up and killed them both at one shot. The colonel was hit on the wrist with a spent ball which did not break the skin but paralyzed his arm for a time. He is now all right; [Adjutant] Joel Tuttle did not get a scratch but I saw him after the fight covered with burnt powder. He had been in the hottest of the fight. Lieutenant Colonel [James] Baker was shot through the cap but did not get a wound. Everybody praises the regiment.

          We went into the fort first after the surrender. I thought I was 6 feet high and weighed a ton as I rode along the line. I met a Kentucky regiment soldier as we were filing in and asked him where our regiment was. “By God, where it ought to be, in the advance.” First over the entrenchments and first in the fort. Co. F had eight men killed; this is the greatest loss of any one company. We have about 45 dead and 165 wounded.

          But I must close this letter. All praise without end to our brave colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, adjutant, sergeant major, all the captains and lieutenants, privates, etc. of the regiment. They did all men could do. We will soon go forward.

To learn more about the fighting at Fort Donelson, please check out these posts:

Four Feet of Water in the Hold: The U.S.S. Pittsburgh Gets Blasted at Fort Donelson

Dueling with the Gunboats: With the Confederate Gunners at Fort Donelson

Buckeyes Among Hawkeyes: Ohioans at Fort Donelson with the 2nd Iowa

Tramps and Triumphs of the 2nd Iowa- Fort Donelson

Source:

Letter from Private Daniel McWorkman, Co. G, 2nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Keosauqua Republican (Iowa), February 28, 1862, pg. 2 [He later served as regimental quartermaster of the 1st Alabama Cavalry (U.S.)] 

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