Following a council of war with Brig. Gens. Floyd and Pillow, Brig. Gen. Simon B. Buckner surrendered the Confederate defenders of Fort Donelson to Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant, USA. The two senior Confederate generals, having abandoned command, escaped. Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, refusing to agree to the surrender, led his cavalry regiment and a number of infantrymen out of the defenses without losing a man or meeting opposition.