Foote's gunboats led the attack, and Grant's army moved by land to surround the garrison. Tilghman quickly recognized the futility of his position and sent all but 70 artillerymen overland to reinforce nearby Fort Donelson. Grant commanded 15,000 troops supported by Flag Officer Andrew H. Fewer than 3,400 ill-equipped Confederate soldiers under the command of Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman manned the fort, which was largely inundated by floodwaters. The fort, with its seventeen mounted guns and an adjacent entrenched garrison camp, became the scene of the first major Union victory in the western theater on February 6, 1862. Named for Confederate Senator Gustavus Henry of nearby Clarksville, this poorly positioned earthen field fortification was laid out on low ground by Tennessee state engineers and constructed in the summer of 1861 to defend the Tennessee River and the critical railroad route between Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Memphis.
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