It is a good thing this barge on the Cumberland River did not try this during the brief siege of Fort Donelson because it would not have done well. Neither did the Union ironclad gun boats that tried to shell the fort, unlike their sister fort a few miles away. These guns were accurate and hit the seven Union boats repeatedly and delayed the fall of the fort as it was left to the Union troops to assault it over land. They did successfully but narrowly as the Confederates were winning the battle until an order was given to withdraw and the Union regrouped and Grant was now the famous winning general of the Union side.
