The Battle of Fort Henry is fought on February 6, 1862, in Tennessee, during the American Civil War.
It is the first important victory for the Union and Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater.
On February 4 and 5, Grant lands two divisions just north of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. (The troops serving under Grant Are the nucleus of the Union's successful Army of the Tennessee, although that name Is not yet in use.)
Grant's plan is to advance upon the fort on February 6 while it is being simultaneously attacked by Union gunboats commanded by Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote.
A combination of accurate and effective naval gunfire, heavy rain, and the poor siting of the fort, nearly inundated by rising river waters, causes its commander, Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, to surrender to Foote before the Union Army arrives.
The surrender of Fort Henry opens the Tennessee River to Union traffic south of the Alabama border.
In the days following the fort's surrender, from February 6 through February 12, Union raids use ironclad boats to destroy Confederate shipping and railroad bridges along the river.
On February 12, Grant's army proceeds overland twelve miles (nineteen kilometers) to engage with Confederate troops in the Battle of Fort Donelson.
