As well as they could surmise, the garrison, like the besieging army, was seeking shelter and rest, and from this fact the keen mind of Colonel Arthur Winchester divined that the defense was confused and headless.
Colonel Winchester knew most of the leaders within Donelson.

He knew that Pillow was not of a strong and decided nature.

Nor was Floyd, who would rank first, of great military capacity.

Buckner had talent and he had served gallantly in the Mexican War, but he could not prevail over the others.

The fame of Forrest, the Tennessee mountaineer, was already spreading, but a cavalryman could do little for the defense of a fort besieged by twenty thousand well equipped men, led by a general of unexcelled resolution.
All that Colonel Winchester surmised was true.