Today's Civil War view is a depiction of the aftermath of the Battle of Fort Donelson as seen in the pages of Harper's Weekly shortly after the fight.


The scene which northern readers saw was not a comforting one to those who had loved ones serving in the war.  The image shows Union soldiers searching the battlefield at night by torchlight to find wounded and dead comrades.  Just as the heat at battles like Gettysburg contributed to the death of many wounded soldiers left helpless on the battlefield, the frigid February temperatures at Fort Donelson had the same effect.  Accounts on both sides mention wounded men freezing to death as they suffered out of reach in between the lines.  Fort Donelson had been one of the costliest battle so far in the war, but it was only  a precursor to the next major battle in Grant's campaign down the Tennessee River; Shiloh, which would set the precedent for the savage combat seen for the next three years.