Buckner's Defense

To stop the Confederate breakout attempt on February 15, Grant sent his reorganized troops against the Confederate left and, at the same time, sent C.F. Smith's Division against the Confederate right to exploit the weakened line. Smith's forces overran the Confederate outer defenses and pushed the Southerners back to a position along the ridge in front of you, where the charge was halted by Buckner's forces arriving just as the Union assault began. Buckner later credited the field artillery with helping check the Yankee advance. The strong new defensive position on the ridge and the coming of night ended the fighting, and the Union forces grudgingly withdrew to the old Confederate defensive line. In this desperate fighting, several hundred men lost their lives, and many of them still lie in this area in unmarked graves.

Dover, Tennessee · United States