Daniel Smith Donelson

Daniel Smith Donelson was the grandson of two of early Middle Tennessees most famous foundersJohn Donelson and Daniel Smithand nephew of Tennessees perhaps most famous soldier statesman, Andrew Jackson. And while Civil War historians are familiar with Donelson because he led a Confederate brigade, his namesake fort in Middle Tennessee, and his importance to the war effort as he transitioned into Confederate war administration, Donelson the significant son of Tennessee has eluded a full study, and no book-length biography has been published, until now.Unfortunately, Daniel Smith Donelson left no body of papers, which leaves any biographers, as Richard Douglas Spence contends, to approach their subject through a historical back door via Donelsons legendary uncle and his brother, Andrew Jackson Donelson, who enjoyed a significant political career in his own right. Spences biography begins with Donelsons upbringing at the Hermitage after Donelsons father died when he was three. From there Spence follows Donelsons career as a planter, militiaman, state congressman, Civil War general, and finally an administrator overseeing the Confederate Department of East Tennessee. Fort Donelson was named in his honour, and his brigades fought at Cheat Mountain, Perryville, and Murfreesboro (Stones River). He was posthumously promoted to major general after dying of disease on April 17, 1863, at the age of sixty-one. Spences approach reveals aspects of Donelsons life and career that in many ways rival his Civil War record for importance, providing fresh perspectives on Jacksons tumultuous presidency and the contentious nature of antebellum politics in Tennessee.