Colonel William Preston Johnston, The Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston : His Service in the Armies of the United States, the Republic of Texas, and the Confederate States.

[476]

It is difficult to over-estimate the consequences to the Federal arms of the surrender of Donelson. The material results were great; but, great as they were, the moral effects were still greater. An army was demolished; nearly one-half of the Confederate soldiers in Tennessee were killed, captured, or scattered; the line of defense was broken, so as to open the whole of Kentucky, and a great part of Tennessee, to the Federal arms; Bowling Green, Nashville, Columbus-all were turned; and the valley of the Cumberland was rendered untenable. But, mighty as was the disaster, its consequences on the minds of the parties to the civil strife were still more ominous to the Confederate cause. Where now were the impregnable fortifications, said to be guarded by 100,000 desperate Southerners; where now the boasted prowess of troops, who were to quail at no odds; where the inexhaustible resources that were to defy all methods of approach? The screen was thrown down; the inherent weakness and poverty of the South were made manifest to all eyes; its vaunted valor was quelled, it was claimed, by inferior numbers and superior courage, and the prestige of the Confederate arms was transferred to their antagonists.

An immense stride had been taken toward conquest. The North rang with self-gratulations and with plaudits to the triumphing general and army. President Lincoln at once nominated Grant as a major-general, and the Senate confirmed him; and, though some cabals and military rivalries interposed themselves timidly, there can be no doubt that his promotion was honestly won; for, by decision, force of will, and tenacity of purpose, he had held up the sinking courage of a beaten army. If Fortune helped him, his case was not different from that of many others who have thus become famous.

As for the soldiers, there were no more flings or jeers on either side at the courage of the other. Each was compelled to testify to the valor of its antagonist. The combats in the shadows of the dark woods of Donelson, and in those bosky valleys, where the snows were trampled and blood-stained in the doubtful struggle, bore impartial witness to a like fearlessness in assault, stubborn resolution in resistance, and indomitable spirit in retreat. Mutual respect grew up from the horrors and strife of that field of carnage. This is not a compensation for the awful suffering and sorrow of war; but it is something. Any generous or elevated feeling may be paid for by a nation at heavy cost.