The Surrender House, also known as the Dover Hotel, is shown decked out in period patriotic bunting for the Fourth of July! Festooned in red, white and blue, the historic Surrender House is a glorious sight to behold on these hot, dry humid days. The Surrender House (the Dover Hotel) is located in historic Dover, Tennessee in Stewart County.
The Dover Hotel was the Confederate States of America Headquarters during the bBattle of Fort Donelson for Brigadier General John B. Floyd, Brigadier General Gideon Pillow and Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner.
At the Surrender House, a council of war with Brigadier Generals Floydand Pillow, Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner surrendered the Confederate defeners of Fort Donelson to Major General U.S. Grant, U.S.A. The two senior Confederate generals, having abandoned command, escaped. Lt. Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest refusing to agree to surrender, led his cavalry regiment and a number of Infantrymen out of the defenses without losing a man or meeting opposition, according to a Tennessee Historical Marker at the Surrender House entrance.
When General Buckner asked General Grant for terms of surrender of the Confederate forces, here is what General Grant famously wrote:
HEADQUARTERS ARMY IN THE FIELD
Camp near Fort Donelson
February 16, 1862.General S. B. BUCKNER,
Confederate Army.SIR: Yours of this date, proposing armistice and appointment of commissioners to settle terms of capitulation, is just received. No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
National Park Service, source
U.S. GRANT,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.
And here is where U.S. Grant got his nickname of “Unconditional Surrender Grant.”
https://www.nps.gov/fodo/learn/photosmultimedia/tourstop10.htm
