Feb. 11, 1862

Feb. 11, 2012: Gen. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee step off in their march to Fort Donelson.　Flag Officer Andrew Foote of the Navy steams his gunboats down the Tennessee, up the Ohio, and up the Cumberland toward Ft. Donelson.

Grant's Campaign: Ft. Henry to Ft. Donelson

---At Fort Donelson, Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner arrives with his division and a strategic plan devised by Gen. John B. Floyd and himself under the direction of Gen. A.S. Johnston. The plan called for the Rebels to abandon Ft. Donelson to avoid being trapped, and withdraw to Cumberland City, 12 miles upstream on the Cumberland River, since it was a railroad town and could be easily reinforced. Gen. Pillow denounces the plan, refusing to obey it, and forbids Gen. Buckner from removing any of his troops from the fort, while using the slogan "Liberty or Death!" to express his intention of defending the fort to the death.

---At Ft. Thorn in New Mexico, Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley and his brigade of Texas mounted troops (about 2,500 men) begin to move north. Sibley is taken ill, and so only the 5^th Texas Mounted Volunteers move out in front, heading up the Rio Grande Valley toward Ft. Craig, where Col. Edward Canby and 3,800 Union troops await the Rebel advance.

---Never able to bring himself to trust Grant, Gen. Halleck is annoyed that Grant has advanced to take Ft. Donelson without direct orders. Halleck urges Foote to expedite his squadron’s move up the Cumberland, so that he will take the fort instead of Grant.