Event Details

Fort Donelson Presents "Battle for Maney's Battery"

Where:  Dover - Fort Donelson National Battlefield - 229 Sandy Rd, Battery Trail Parking Circle

When:  July 19, 2025 - 10am-11am

Contact:  931-232-5706

To defend Fort Donelson, Confederates used soldiers and enslaved people to construct trenches along several ridge lines close to the fort and the town of Dover. Along multiple high points they placed cannons to guard approaches along creek beds. Two of the overlooked but important batteries were Maney's and Graves'. Both guarded Indian Creek, and some of the hardest fighting of the campaign took place there on the afternoon of February 13, 1862.

Join a Ranger on the 3rd Saturday of the month to go on a .6-mile roundtrip hike. Explore the events of Brigadier General John A. McClernand's attack on Maney's Battery that became the most controversial Union attack at Fort Donelson. The attack failed and brush fires burned wounded and dead Union soldiers. Was this attack, as later reported by Ulysses S. Grant in his memoirs, carried out "without orders or authority," or, according to John McClernand, was it carried out "within the spirit of your order…"? Attend the program to learn about this overlooked part of the battle for Fort Donelson!

Please be aware that while the hike is short, the hill is very steep and uneven. Please wear sturdy closed-toed shoes and be prepared to go up several hundred feet in elevation.

Programs are subject to staffing availability. In the interest of safety, in the event of inclement weather, programs are subject to cancelation. Information as to program status will be available online, or by contacting the Ranger office at 931-232-0576.

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