Battle of Fort Henry

The Battle of Fort Henry was fought on February 6, 1862, in western Tennessee, during the American Civil War. It was the first important victory for the Union and Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater.

What do you know about the Battle of Fort Henry? Take this US Civil War Trivia quiz.

1. The Union military command in the West suffered from a lack of unified command, organized into three separate departments: the Department of Kansas, under Maj. Gen. David Hunter, the Department of Missouri, under Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, and the Department of the Ohio, under Brig. Gen. Don Carlos Buell. Who did Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant report to?

• Maj. Gen. Hunter
• Maj. Gen. Halleck
• Brig. Gen. Buell

2. Who commanded thee US Navy Western Flotilla?

• Andrew Hull Foote
• Adam Wayne Stewart
• John Carlson Mosby

3. Fort Henry was a five-sided, open-bastioned earthen structure covering 10 acres on the eastern bank of the Tennessee River, near Kirkman's Old Landing and Standing Rock Creek, nearly opposite the mouth of the Sandy River. Construction began in mid-June, using men from the 10th Tennessee Infantry and slaves. When was the first cannon was test fired at the fort?

• July 12, 1861
• September 12, 1861
• November 12, 1861

4. A combination of effective naval gunfire and poor sitting of the fort, almost completely inundated by rising river waters, caused its commander, Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, to surrender to the Navy commander before the Army arrived.

• True or False?

5. The Confederate commander realized that it was only a matter of time before Fort Henry fell. Only nine guns remained above the water to mount a defense. While leaving artillery in the fort to hold off the Union fleet, he escorted the rest of his force out of the area and sent them off on the overland route to Fort Donelson, twelve miles away. Who was the commander?

• Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman
• Brig. Gen. Thomas Henry
• Brig. Gen. Lloyd Baldman

6. Seven gunboats began bombarding the fort on February 6. This was the first engagement for the Western Flotilla, using newly designed and hastily constructed ironclads. A chance 32-pound shot penetrated one of the ships and hit her middle boiler, sending scalding steam throughout half of the ship. Thirty-two men were killed or wounded, including her commander, William D. Porter, and she was out of action for the remainder of the campaign. What was the ship?

• USS Cincinnati
• USS Essex
• USS St. Louis

7. How long did the battle last?

• 75 minutes
• 3 hours
• 7.5 hours

8. Three timberclads, the Tyler, Conestoga, and Lexington, on a mission up river to destroy installations and supplies of military value. How for did the raid reach?

• Muscle Shoals, Alabama
• Tygertown, Alabama
• Birmingham, Alabama

9. The raid also captured a variety of Southern ships. What is NOT one of the ships captured?

10. When the Tennessee River was dammed in the 1930s, creating Kentucky Lake, the remains of Fort Henry were submerged permanently. A small navigation beacon far from the Kentucky shoreline marks the location of the northwest corner of the former fortification.

• True or False?

Battle of Wilson's Creek Answers

1. Maj. Gen. Halleck
2. Andrew Hull Foote
3. July 12, 1861
4. True
5. Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman
6. USS Essex
7. 75 minutes
8. Muscle Shoals, Alabama
9. Phoenix
10. True

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