I said this to the officers of my staff at the time.

I knew that Floyd was in command, but he was no soldier, and I judged that he would yield to Pillow's pretensions.

I met, as I expected, no opposition in making the reconnoissance and, besides learning the topography of the country on the way and around Fort Donelson, found that there were two roads available for marching; one leading to the village of Dover, the other to Donelson.
Fort Donelson is two miles north, or down the river, from Dover.

The fort, as it stood in 1861, embraced about one hundred acres of land.

On the east it fronted the Cumberland; to the north it faced Hickman's creek, a small stream which at that time was deep and wide because of the back-water from the river; on the south was another small stream, or rather a ravine, opening into the Cumberland.