Forge Road stop on the Fort Donelson National Battlefield tour

TOUR STOP 9: FORGE ROAD

The ninth stop on the tour of Fort Donelson National Battlefield is near today’s Main Street in Dover. In 1862 it was called Forge Road, and it was the road on which the Confederates planned to escape to Nashville. On the morning of February 15, 1862, they launched a surprise attack against the Union right flank in this area in hopes of pushing them back and clearing the way for the escape. The attack was successful, but for some reason Confederate General Gideon Pillow ordered the men back to the trenches. This allowed the Union army to regain the lost ground and close the escape route. Realizing they were now surrounded and facing a siege that would lead to a depletion of food, ammunition, and supplies, the Confederates surrendered the next day.

At the Forge Road stop is a wayside exhibit, a tablet marking the Confederate positions during the battle, a cannon, and a memorial to the Texas troops who fought in the battle. This is the only state memorial at Fort Donelson National Battlefield.

Texas Memorial at Fort Donelson National Battlefield

The Confederate earthworks (defensive trenches) continued east all the way to the Cumberland River, following today’s Natcor Drive. However, no earthworks survive east of Forge Road / Main Street. This is because the land to the east was not part of the National Battlefield, which was created in 1928, and the area is now developed with the houses and businesses of the city of Dover. Earthworks in that area would have been bulldozed under to make way for progress.