Wall Art: Fort Henry | An Unfinished Fort

Mounds of earth atop this high bluff are the remains of Confederate Fort Heiman. It’s commanding view of the Tennessee River made it ideal to support the low-lying, flood-prone Fort Henry across the river. Confederate Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, then the commanding officer at both Fort Henry and Donelson, ordered it built. Slave labor from Alabama and Mississippi did most of the work. The new fort–named after Col. Adolphus Heiman of the 10th Tennessee Regiment, who commanded the 1,100 troops at the fort and oversaw it’s construction–was still unfinished when Union Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant launched is offensive in February 1862. On February 4, realizing he probably could not have prevented the destruction or capture of Fort Henry, Gen. Tilghman moved the Fort Heiman garrison back to Fort Henry to supplement that fort’s defenses. Fort Heiman was subsequently occupied by Union troops from Brig. Gen. C.F. Smith’s division and later Col. W.W Lowe’s Fifth Iowa Cavalry.

Fort Henry National Battlefield Site

Fort Donelson National Battlefield Site