sional Army of Tennessee. He was thus re-
sponsible for the recruitment, arming, and
training of thousands of volunteer soldiers,
and he functioned capably in this limited role.
But with some reluctance, Confederate Presi-
dent Jefferson Davis, never overly im-
pressed by Pillow, allowed him to join the reg-
ular Confederate service as a brigadier
general. Pillow then reported for duty under
Gen. Leonidas Polk in the western part of the
state. On November 7, 1861, Polk and Pillow
scored an upset victory by defeating Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant at Belmont, Missouri. This
victory seemed to enhance his military for-
tunes, and in February 1862 he gained ap-
pointment as commander of Fort Donelson
on the Cumberland River.
Fort Donelson, along with Fort Henry on
the nearby Tennessee River, constituted seri-
ous obstacles to Union penetration of the
Confederate heartland—provided they were
adequately defended. However, on February
6, 1862, a gunboat squadron and Capt. An-
drew Hull Foote cowed Fort Henry into sub-
mission, which allowed for an overland ad-
vance by Grant’s army to Fort Donelson.
Grant knew Pillow from his Mexican War
days and thoroughly despised him, both as an
individual and as a soldier. Worse, on Febru-
ary 13, Pillow was superseded in command by
the arrival of Gen. John Buchanan Floyd.
Once Grant surrounded the fort, the Confed-
erate leadership was in a quandary over what
course to pursue. Pillow finally prevailed
upon Floyd to allow him and Gen. Simon B.
Buckner to attack Grant’s lines and escape
south to Nashville. On the morning of Febru-
ary 15, 1862, the Confederates accomplished
exactly that, surprising Union forces in their
camps and driving them off. Victory seemed
within his grasp when Pillow suddenly—and
inexplicably—called off the attack and or-
dered his men back into the fort! This enabled
Grant to counterattack and tighten his grasp
around the bastion. That evening the Confed-
erates called a council of war to debate their
shrinking options. Floyd considered their po-
sition hopeless, announced his decision to es-
cape by riverboat, and resigned command of
the fort to Pillow. Pillow continued this farce
by resigning himself and directed General
Buckner to surrender. That evening Floyd,
Pillow, and several thousand Virginia troops
shamelessly abandoned their friends and fled.
Col. Nathan Bedford Forrestalso deliber-
ately disobeyed orders, and took his cavalry
regiment through Union lines and freedom.
When Fort Donelson capitulated on De-
cember 16, 1862, it was a stinging defeat. Not
only did Grant bag 15,000 badly needed Con-
federate troops; it also opened up the door for
subsequent campaigning down river—which
spelled the eventual doom of the Confeder-
acy. Not surprisingly, the recriminations of
Fort Donelson haunted Pillow for many years
after the war.
President Davis was livid when informed
of what Floyd and Pillow had done, and he
immediately relieved both of command. A
subsequent official inquiry found Pillow guilty
of “grave errors of judgment in the military
operations which resulted in the surrender of
the army.” However, by January 1863 Pillow
was restored to command in the army of Gen.
Braxton Bragg, where he led a brigade in the
division of Gen. John Cabell Breckinridge.
He then fought at the bloody battle of
Murfreesboro on January 2, 1863, turning in
an adequate performance. However, within
days the government reassigned him as super-
intendent of the Conscript Bureau for Al-
abama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Pillow
ruled with an iron hand and effectively en-
forced the conscription law and rounded up
numerous recruits for the army. In March
1864, he requested and received command of
a cavalry force and was ordered to protect the
iron and coal regions of central Alabama from
marauding Yankee cavalry raids. However, in
several mishandled battles through June and
July, Pillow proved unable to stop the in-
vaders and was removed. He ended the war as
commissary general of prisoners and surren-
dered at Montgomery on May 5, 1865.
The postwar years were exceptionally dif-
ficult for Pillow. Having lost his numerousPILLOW, GIDEONJOHNSON