Fort Heiman (Calloway County, Kentucky, Kentucky)
Calloway County, Kentucky · Kentucky · American Civil War
History & Significance
Fort Heiman was a Confederate fort erected in 1861 to occupy the high bluffs overlooking the Tennessee River in Calloway County. Named after Colonel Adolphus Heiman of the 10th Tennessee Regiment, who commanded 1,100 troops and oversaw its construction primarily by enslaved laborers in January 1862, the fort was designed to compensate for Fort Henry's poor placement at water level.
When Grant attacked in early February 1862, Heiman—lacking heavy artillery to damage Union gunboats—was abandoned on February 5, just before Fort Henry capitulated the next day, and was then occupied by the 5th Iowa Cavalry, who held it until March 1863 when it was deemed unnecessary. During Union occupation, the fort attracted enslaved people seeking freedom within Union lines.
In October 1864, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest occupied the fort to sink Union gunboats and supply ships on the Tennessee River, then used captured vessels to launch an assault on a Federal supply base at Johnsonville, Tennessee. As part of the network of Forts Henry and Donelson, Fort Heiman holds national significance due to its relationship to the first great Union victory of the Civil War. The site was transferred to the National Park Service on October 30, 2006, and is now preserved as a unit of Fort Donelson National Battlefield.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Confederate artillery battery position overlooking the Tennessee River
- Civil War earthworks and fortifications preserved on site
- Part of Fort Donelson National Battlefield complex
- Educational exhibits interpreting the Battle of Fort Henry
Sources
- https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/187
- https://eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/Locations/Pages/Fort%20Heiman.aspx
- https://history.ky.gov/markers/fort-heiman
- https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-heiman.htm
- https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/forts-heiman-henry-and-donelson
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Donelson_National_Battlefield
- https://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/j_ky_arch/Journal_Kentucky_Archaeology/Vol_1_No_2/Parsons_Fort_Heiman.htm