Confederate Breakout

During the fighting on February 16, 1862, the Confederates held the advantage and could either press their attack against Grant's army or continue their original plan to escape, but they did neither. General Pillow, despite the success of his initial assault, mysteriously ordered his men back into the entrenchments, and General Buckner, who had moved his division from the right to support the breakout, disputed Pillow's orders. While the Confederate commanders argued, a lull fell over the battlefield. Union General Grant then returned from meeting with the naval commander, recognized a chance to save his army, and ordered his men to retake the Union right while directing General Smith to attack the Confederate entrenchments near the river. By early evening both attacks had succeeded, Federal forces had regained most of the ground lost earlier that day, and Smith's troops on the Union left had captured the rifle pits of the Confederate interior defenses. That night Brigadier General John B. Floyd concluded that the Confederates were completely invested by a much larger army and that his officers unanimously believed they could not hold out against it.

Dover, Tennessee · United States