FORT HEIMAN HISTORY
| In Jauary 1862 General Albert
Sidney Johnston ordered Tilghman to construct a new fort, known as Fort Heiman
after Colonol Aldolphus Heiman of the 10th Tennessee who commanded the 1,100
troops at the fort - on the bluffs on the west bank, Kentucky side
of the river. The new fort remained under construction when Union Brig. Ulysses
S. Grant launched his offensive against Forts Henry and Donelson in early
February 1862. On February 4-5, 1862, Grant landed his divisions in two different
locations, one on the east bank of the Tennessee River to prevent the garrison
at Fort Henry from escaping or receiving reinforcements from Fort Donelson
and the other to occupy the high ground on the Kentucky side to ensure the
fall of both Forts Heiman and Henry. After gunboats under the command of
Union naval Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote began bombarding the forts, Tilghman,
realizing that Fort Heiman could not be held, recalled the 1,100 troops building
the fort to cross the river and assist the nearly 2,000 soldiers defending
Fort Henry. The Confederates hoped that the muddy roads would make it impossible
for the Union army to set up artillery on the partially completed Fort Heiman.
After the capture of both Fort Henry and the uncompleted Fort Heiman, the
latter was occupied by troops under Brig. Gen. Lew Wallace on February 6.
Thus, the surrender of Forts Heiman and Henry enabled the Federals' wooden
gunboats to ascend the Tennessee River south to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and
set the stage for Grant's successful assault against Fort Donelson 11 miles
to the east on the Cumberland River on February 16. For the Confederates,
the area between the rivers was a sparsely defended region which cavalry
raids and guerilla operations could penetrate easily to disrupt Union
communication and supply lines. Thus, Federal troops occupied unfinished
Fort Heiman until March 6, 1863, to afford Union protection to the people
in the area and, perhaps more importantly to the Union army, protect the
vital supply lines that the Tennessee and Cumberalnd rivers had become. During
1862-63, Fort Heiman was garrisioned by troops from the 5th Iowa Cavalry
under the command of Col. W. W. Lowe. Forts Heiman, Henry, and Donelson offered
a haven for a growing number of refugees, most of whom were slaves seeking
safety within the Union lines. The Federals housed the freedmen, who were
officially termed "contraband of war," employing them as laborers at the
forts and in the area's industries. At least two African-Americans are known
to have been employed at Fort Heiman. Before evacuating the fort on March
6, 1863, as part of a general buildup of Union forces in the region, Lt.
Col. M. T. Patrick, in command of the post at Fort Heiman, was ordered to
level the river face of the fort's earthworks. Patrick reported that the
earthworks fronting the river were "very slight - the fort never having been
completed by the rebels." Although the earthwork fortifications along the
river were destroyed, largely intact outer earthworks of the fort along the
crest of the bluffs, an upper battery or redoubt, and remnants of what may
have been a powder magazine remain on site. Despite its strategic location,
neither side made a sustained effort to occupy Fort Heiman once the war moved
south into Tennessee. Perhaps, the greatest Confederate military success
in the Fort Heiman vicinity occurred in late October 1864 when Confederate
Brig. Gen. Nathan Forrest occupied the fort with 3,500 men. On October 28,
using the fort as their base, Forrest's cavalrymen fired upon and sank the
Union steamboat Mazeppa. Two days later, the Confederates continued their
assault on Union vessels passing along the Tennessee River from Fort Heiman,
firing on the Anna, disabling the Undine, forcing the Venus to surrender,
and causing the J. W. Cheeseman to be abandoned. Thereafter, the Confederates
took a Union vessel and headed up river where they engaged the Union navy.
Eventually Forrest burned all the seized ships once they had been stripped
of their cargoes of food and supplies. During these encouters only one
Confederate was wounded, while 8 Union troops were killed, 11 wounded, and
43 captured, including one officer. On November 4, Forrest launched his most
successful raid during the Civil War from his base at Fort Heiman, attacking
the Union supply base at Johnsonville, Tennessee, some 30 miles to the south
at the western terminus of the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad. During
the raid, Forrest's cavalrymen destroyed 4 Union gunboats, 14 transports,
20 barges, and 26 pieces of artillery, captured 150 Union soldiers, and burned
millions of dollars' worth of stockpiled supplies bound for Nashville and
Union Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas' army. During this encounter, Confederate
losses were two killed and nine wounded. Fort Heiman is closely associated
with the Battle of Fort Henry, which was designated as one of the Civil War's
384 principal battlefields by the Civil War Sites Advisiory Commission in
1993. As a result of its association with Forts Henry and Donelson, Fort
Heiman is nationally significant because of its relationship to the first
great Union victory of the Civil War. After the Confederate surrender of
these three forts, the South was forced to give up southern Kentucky and
much of Middle and West Tennessee, and the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers
became avenues for Union penetration into the heartland of the Deep South.
Thus, Fort Heiman, along with its sister forts, was a significant element
of a major battle that had a direct, observable impact on the Federal quest
to obtain control of the principal rivers in the western Confederacy and
hence the outcome of the Vicksburg campaign, as well as a decisive battle
that had a direct, observable impact on the direction, duration, and final
outcome of the Civil War. The authority to adjust the boundary at Fort Donelson
to include Fort Heiman would be sought from Congress. The preservation of
the historic resources of Fort Heiman would then be the responsibility of
the National Park Service. The visitor experience at Fort Donelson would
be expanded and enhanced to relate to comprehensive story of Forts Heiman
and Henry in the context of the larger impact on the Civil
War.
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