{⋆★⋆} MG Donelson, Daniel S.

Daniel Smith Donelson

:CSA1stNat:

Born: June 23, 1801
General Donelson.jpg


Birth Place: Sumner County, Tennessee

Father: Samuel Donelson 1758 – 1803

Mother: Mary Smith 1781 – 1857
(Buried: Rock Castle Cemetery, Hendersonville, Tennessee)​

Wife: Margaret Branch 1811 – 1871
(Buried: Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville, Tennessee)​

Children:

Elizabeth Donelson Williams 1831 – 1918​
(Buried: Spring Hill Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee)​
Mary Ann Donelson Martin 1834 – 1916​
(Buried: Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville, Tennessee)​
Sarah Donelson Bradford 1836 – 1869​
(Buried: Bradford – Eppes Cemetery, Leon County, Florida)​
Rebecca Donelson Dismukes 1840 – 1911​
(Buried: Gallatin City Cemetery Gallatin, Tennessee)​
Martha B. Donelson Shute 1847 – 1893​
(Buried: Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville, Tennessee)​
Susan Branch Donelson Dismukes 1848 – 1871​
(Buried: Hendersonville Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville, Tennessee)​
John Branch Donelson 1851 – 1918​
(Buried: Elmwood Cemetery, Birmingham, Alabama)​
Emily Donelson Horton​
Samuel Davis Donelson
General Donelson 1.jpg
Daniel Smith Donelson II​

Education:

1825: Graduated from West Point Military Academy – (5th in class)​

Occupation before War:

1825 – 1826: 2nd Lt. in United States Army, 3rd Artillery​
1825 – 1826: On Leave of Absence from the army​
1826: Resigned from United States Army on January 22nd
1826 – 1834: Planter in Sumner County, Tennessee​
1827 – 1829: Major of Tennessee State Militia​
1829 – 1834: Brigadier General of Tennessee State Militia​
1841 – 1843: Tennessee State Representative​
1834 – 1836: Planter in Florida Territory​
1836 – 1861: Planter in Sumner County, Tennessee​
1855 – 1861: Tennessee State Representative​
1859 – 1861: Speaker of Tennessee State House of Representatives
IMG_8613.JPG

Civil War Career:

1861: Brigadier General of Tennessee State Militia​
1861 – 1863: Brigadier General in the Confederate Army​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky​
1862: Participated in the Battle of Stones River​
1862 – 1863: Commander of East Tennessee Department​
1863: Major General in the Confederate Army Infantry​

Died: April 17, 1863

Place of Death: Knoxville, Tennessee

Cause of Death: Chronic Diarrhea

Age at time of Death: 61 years old

Burial Place: Presbyterian Cemetery, Hendersonville, Tennessee
 
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5 days after his death he was confirmed as Major General by the Confederate Senate. Apparently Richmond was not yet aware that he had died at Montvale Springs. A fort on the Cumberland River was named in his honor.He's the one who determined where Fort Donelson was to be located.
 
Donelson commanded General Benjamin Cheatham's division for 1 day , Oct 8, 1862 at Perryville.I can find no evidence of Cheatham being incapacitated , so what accounted for his absence?
 
Donelson was the nephew of Rachel Donelson, the wife of Andrew Jackson. His father was the founder of Nashville. These connections probably got him accepted into West Point, where he graduated quite high in the class roster (though I know not what his proficiencies were).
People claim Fort Donelson was named after Dan specifically, though its more likely named for the whole family in general, as it was the principal fortress defending the entrance to the city.
 
Donelson was the senior brigadier in CHeatham's Division until 1863, when he was assigned to command in East Tennessee. He was promoted to Major General on April 22nd, the Senate unaware of Donelson's death. This I believe led to Buckner's assignment to that department.
 
Namesake of Fort Donelson. Donelon then a brigadier in the Tennessee militia selected locations for forts to defend the Tennessee and Cumberland River from attack along those rivers. The sites he initially chose were in Kentucky territory, but Kentucky was neutral at the time. Donelson then selected the sites upon which Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were located as a second choice.
 
Namesake of Fort Donelson. Donelon then a brigadier in the Tennessee militia selected locations for forts to defend the Tennessee and Cumberland River from attack along those rivers. The sites he initially chose were in Kentucky territory, but Kentucky was neutral at the time. Donelson then selected the sites upon which Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were located as a second choice.
I thought it was Bushrod Johnson or another engineer officer who scouted the sites, and Donelson was in another part of the state, uninvolved in either fort?
 
I thought it was Bushrod Johnson or another engineer officer who scouted the sites, and Donelson was in another part of the state, uninvolved in either fort?
In the book Forts Henry and Donelson: The Key to the Confederate Heartland the author, B. F. Cooling stated that the locations of the forts were selected by a civil engineer named Adna Anderson and a Wilbur Foster, who had been detached from the 1st Tennessee Infantry. It does not seem that Anderson or Foster had a strong military background, so Governor Isham Harris sent General Donelson to approve the sites. Donelson approved the location of what would become Fort Donelson but suggested a different location several miles north from the location chosen by Anderson and Foster for Fort Henry. A couple months later Bushrod Johnson was sent to revisit the site selections and approved Fort Donelson, which was already under construction, and Donelson's site for Fort Henry.
 
It's a shame the Fort Henry site wasn't visited right after a good downfall. I'm almost certain they'd have picked a differant location.
From what I've read there wasn't a good location for a fort between the Kentucky border and the bridge carrying the Memphis, Clarksburg & Louisville Railroad across the Tennessee River. The railroad bridge was the first of a number of assets Fort Henry was built to protect. The east bank of the river was low and subject to flooding, the heights on the west bank were too high to interdict river traffic. The Confederates tried to make the best of a bad situation.
 
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