The Confederates' surrender of Forts Henry and…
February 1862 CE
The Confederates' surrender of Forts Henry and Donelson, Tennessee, and the evacuation of Columbus, Kentucky, forces General Beauregard, commander of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi, to chooses Island No. 10, about sixty river miles below Columbus, to be the strongpoint for defending the Mississippi River.
Nearby is New Madrid, one of the weak points.
Brigadier General John Pope, commander of the Union Army of the Mississippi, sets out from Commerce, Missouri, on February 28 to attack New Madrid.