Fort Donelson Investigation

Fort Donelson National Battlefield preserves Fort Donelson and Fort Heiman, two sites of the American Civil War Forts Henry and Donelson Campaign, in which Union Army Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant and Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote captured three Confederate forts and opened two rivers, the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River, to control by the Union Navy. The commanders received national recognition for their victories in February 1862, as they were the first major Union successes of the war. The capture of Fort Donelson and its garrison by the Union led to the capture of Tennessee's capital and industrial center, Nashville, which remained in Union hands from February 25, 1862 until the end of the war, and gave the Union effective control over much of Tennessee. This struck a major blow to the Confederacy early in the war.

The main portion of the park, in Dover, Tennessee, commemorates the Battle of Fort Donelson (36°29′41″N 87°51′22″W). Fort Heiman, in nearby Calloway County, Kentucky, was a Confederate battery in the Battle of Fort Henry.

The most vulnerable area in the Confederate defensive line in the Western Theater was the state of Kentucky. The Tennessee and Cumberland rivers were potential avenues for a Union invasion of the South through Kentucky and into Tennessee and beyond. Since Kentucky had declared neutrality, the Confederacy could not build defensive works within the state without risking alienating the local population. The local population in western Kentucky was pro-Confederate. Kentucky's westernmost (First) congressional district elected a secessionist and Lincoln proclaimed it to be in rebellion.

Adna Anderson and William F. Foster, two engineers detached from the Confederate 1st Tennessee Infantry, set to work on May 10, 1861, to find suitable ground just inside the Tennessee border to cover the two strategic rivers. They surveyed possible sites along the Cumberland River, noting the high ridges and deep hollows near the Kentucky border. In mid-May, on the west bank of the river not far below Dover, Anderson laid out the water battery of Fort Donelson, twelve miles from the Kentucky line. The new fort was named in honor of the Confederate General Daniel S. Donelson who, along with Colonel Bushrod Johnson of the Corps of Engineers, approved of the site. Construction was begun by a large force of men brought from the nearby Cumberland Iron Works.

The site was established as Fort Donelson National Military Park on March 26, 1928. The national military park and national cemetery were transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. It was re-designated a national battlefield on August 16, 1985. Public Law 108-367 (October 25, 2004) increased the authorized boundary of the national battlefield from 551.69 acres to 2,000 acres. On October 30, 2006, Calloway County transferred the Fort Heiman site, which was purchased through the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves' Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund, to the Park Service. Fort Heiman had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 1976.

The park preserves much of the original battle site, including the river batteries and the eroded remains of the fort, but the area in which the Confederate States Army attacked on February 15, 1862, is largely in private hands and occupied by residential development. The Cumberland River was dammed in the 1960s; this area is currently referred to as Lake Barkley. It covers an area roughly similar to the original river while at flood stage, as it was during the battle. The Civil War Trust (a division of the American Battlefield Trust) and its partners have acquired and preserved 368 acres of the battlefield, most of which has been conveyed to the NPS and incorporated into the battlefield park.

The Fort Donelson National Cemetery, at 15.34 acres in Stewart County, contains 670 Union dead, reinterred in 1867. There are numerous veterans from later wars. The cemetery is presently unavailable for additional burials.

Address: 120 Lock D Road, Dover, Tennessee 37058

Phone: 931-232-5706

Website: www.nps.gov/fodo/index.htm

Hauntings: Several reenactors have complained of paranormal events while they were at the fort. One female reenactor said that she was awoken in the middle of the night to witness her entire tent and inside supplies being violently shaken, even though there was no wind outside at the time that could have caused this event.

Another reenactor was on night-time picket duty when he saw a light coming up the hill towards him. The dim light grew larger and larger as it approached him. He eventually was able to make out the head and torso of a man, most likely an officer, with a broad-brimmed hat and smoking a cigar! Apparently it was the light from the cigar that was the dim illumination of the figure. He was no another reenactor as the figure had no lower body! Could it have been the ghost of General Grant?

Fort Donelson is also haunted by the ghost of Civil War infantryman Reuben Hammond, who is buried there. Reuben believes his job is to stand watch and make sure his dead
comrades are safe. He's also very lonely and sad because no one talks
to him. Even if you can't see him, just a simple greeting makes his day. He'll follow you around for a while because he is just so glad of your company, and will wave from the top of the
cemetery as you leave. His name is listed in the records at the Surrender House.

The GRS investigated Fort Donelson Cemetery on July 10, 2021 and the team included: Mike Rosario and Dale Kaczmarek with help from Steve Litteral, former director of Tinker Swiss Cottage..

Equipment setup: Hand-held equipment included Ovilus PX, Phasma Box, REM Epod, digital recorder and camcorder.

Experiments performed: A single EVP session was conducted by the overlook wall using the Ovilus PX in dictionary and phonetic mode and Phasma Box.

Personal experiences:

Mike Rosario: Equipment and Initial Investigation: Our investigation at this overlook located in Dover, Tennessee, took off at approximately 5:42pm with Dale Kaczmarek, Steve Litteral, and me. Weather was still hot and a bit humid outside, as well as with some intermittent rain showers in the later parts of the day. Equipment used was my K-II meter; a Philips VoiceTracer Digital Voice Recorder; a DVC 4K Ultra HD 48mp Night Shot Digital Video Camcorder; and an Apple iPhone 8-Plus 256GB Smartphone for exterior HD pictures and videos.

For this investigation, I was accompanied by Dale and Steve, and we pretty much stuck together as one group for this investigation. Such an amazing and very beautiful location at that, and definitely accessible. I began by doing my usual K-II sweeps in and around the cemetery grounds. My base reading was very low (around a constant 1.3-1.4mG). It was quiet and calm outside with very little disturbances and passersby. Only the wind had picked up a bit every now and then. Afterwards, I began taking some pictures and videos in hopes of capturing some good visual and audio evidence whilst we were there. There was the overlook, Fort area (both topside and lower side), and the Cumberland River in the distance.

The three of us stayed for a short while, and had asked some questions about the land in general, and who was with us in spirit form whilst we were there. We even did a Phasma Box session there as well.

Evidence: Upon reviewing all of my evidence, although there was no visual evidence, I did have some audio evidence associated with the Fort area. This evidence is as follows:

“Donelson;” or “That’s a weird question.”

“I just lost freight.”

“Local Politician.”

“Ship to Shore.”

“Donelson.”

Dale Kaczmarek: Civil War locations are always a plus for me. This was more of a river battle and General Grant’s first major victory in the war. This was a smaller battlefield but it did have eleven stops to visit along with a nearby cemetery.

There were some other visitors to the site at the time of our investigation adding a bit to background contamination. It was a somewhat windy day which also contributed to some wind noise during EVP sessions. (Need to purchase a windscreen for my digital recorder)

Visitor center was nice and personnel very friendly! I enjoyed coming here and even though we didn’t receive a lot of actual communication, there were some direct responses to questions asked.

Evidence collected:

Donelson1 Donelson.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “Can you tell us the name of the fort?” Donelson, Donelson.” The device responded twice with, “Donelson.”

Donelson2 Donelson.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, the device again repeated the name, “Donelson.”

I just lost freight Donelson.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, the device blurted out what sounds like, “I just lost freight.”

I’m injured Donelson.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, the device said, “I’m injured.”

Local politician Donelson.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, the device suddenly said, “Local politician.”

One Donelson.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “How many people are buried here?” The device responded in a deep, gruff voice with, “One.” (Interesting to note; an infantryman named Rueben Hammond is buried here.)

Ship to shore Donelson.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, the device said, “Ship to Shore.”

Conclusions: According to the brochures and park policies, it appeared that this location was open until 12am; unless that was a misprint. It would have been awesome to investigate here after dark as a lot of Civil War battlefields limit visitors to 10pm or even dusk as in Gettysburg now.

If we had more time and didn’t have so much to see and visit, I think we could have stayed here until after dark to try more of our Nightshot capabilities there. I had never visited or investigated here before so it was a pleasant addition to my lists of battlefields that I have explored. I would love to return here one evening if I was in the neighborhood.