Graves’ Battery stop on the Fort Donelson National Battlefield tour
TOUR STOP 7: GRAVES’ BATTERY
The seventh stop on a tour of Fort Donelson National Battlefield is the site of a Confederate six-gun Kentucky artillery battery under the command of Captain Rice Graves. The battery was strategically situated on a hill overlooking Indian Creek Valley and was part of the Confederate outer line of defense that protected Fort Donelson from a land attack. The first shots of the Battle of Fort Donelson took place in this area on February 13, 1862.
Graves’ Battery was moved to the Confederate left flank (near Stops 8 and 9 on the tour) to participate in the army’s February 14th massive attack on the Union right in an attempt to break through the Union line and escape to Nashville. General Grant’s 27,000-man army had surrounded the Fort Donelson area, and the Confederates knew they would be starved into surrendering during a long siege if they did not escape. The breakout attempt failed, and the Confederates surrendered the next day.
At this stop on the tour is a wayside exhibit that explains the events that took place here, remnants of the Confederate earthworks (defensive trenches), and a cannon that marks the site of Graves’ Battery. The earthworks would have been much taller during the Civil War. One hundred and sixty plus years of erosion have whittled them down to what you see today.
Confederate earthworks at the Graves’ Battery stop on the Fort Donelson National Battlefield tour
Confederate earthworks at the Graves’ Battery stop on the Fort Donelson National Battlefield tour
There is an out-and-back trail that runs from Stop 7 to Stop 8, the Graves’ Battery to French’s Battery Trail. If you plan to hike it, this is the better place to start because there isn’t much parking at Stop 8. The trail runs along the central portion of the Confederate outer line and is very hilly. Graves’s Battery is situated on the westernmost of three hills covered on the hike. From here the trail runs down into a ravine and immediately back up to the top of a hill where Maney’s Battery was located. From Maney’s Battery the trail drops down into another ravine and then climbs to the top of the easternmost hill at French’s Battery.
Tour Stop 7 trailhead for the Grave’s Battery to French’s Battery Trail at Fort Donelson National Battlefield
Stop 8: French’s Battery | Stop 6: Union Camp | Battlefield Tour Home Page
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Last updated on July 19, 2023
