Fort Henry after action?

[atlantis]

The commander at Ft. Henry was tasked with blocking union penetration of the Tennessee river when forced to evacuate the Fort he took his command to Ft Donelson.
Question why was this done. If his assignment was blocking transit up the river, should he not have fallen back to the next viable defensive position on the Tennessee river.
His assignment was a vital one as allowing unimpeded penetration of the river would allow union forces to go deep into the confederate heartland.
Were there orders if the fort fell or orders issued after it fell and were they carried out.
Or is this a case of no orders.
Who is responsible for the uncovering of the Tennessee river the Ft. Henry commander or the Department commander.

 

[Saruman]

The commander at Ft. Henry was tasked with blocking union penetration of the Tennessee river when forced to evacuate the Fort he took his command to Ft Donelson.
Question why was this done. If his assignment was blocking transit up the river, should he not have fallen back to the next viable defensive position on the Tennessee river.
His assignment was a vital one as allowing unimpeded penetration of the river would allow union forces to go deep into the confederate heartland.
Were there orders if the fort fell or orders issued after it fell and were they carried out.
Or is this a case of no orders.
Who is responsible for the uncovering of the Tennessee river the Ft. Henry commander or the Department commander.

There were no other fortifications on the Tennessee River, so once Fort Henry fell, the river was wide open. One Confederate officer recalled that "the fortifications had been delayed for lack of labor, and from the difficulty of employing efficiently troops unused and unwilling to build them. The call for slaves for this purpose had been responded to slowly and feebly." The South simply lacked the resources to build more fortifications further up the river.

Considering this lack of labor and materials, the Confederate defenders' best hope were the naval mines, but the high rise of the Tennessee River in January and February ruined their effectiveness. Many were also poorly constructed and failed to detonate.

Lloyd Tilghman, as the District Commander, made the decision to abandon Fort Henry and reinforce Donelson. He later explained that "Fort Donelson might possibly be held, if properly reinforced, even though Fort Henry should fall; but the reverse of this proposition was not true."