So far inland I had thought of the Civil War in this area as a foot and cavalry war, not entirely.  Union Generals led iron clad stern wheelers up the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers to attack Rebel forts that defended Confederate transportation and supply routes.  The heavily armed ships didn’t pull off quite the rout that the Federals hoped but it gave Lincoln the victory he so greatly needed to bolster his political position at the time.  The Fort Donelson National Battlefield tells the story of these battles.

Amazingly, we have found yet another battle that is called “the turning point” of the war.  The first sign that the Union could prevail and the beginning of the end for the Confederate States of America.  It certainly seems that it “depends on who you ask” when it comes to most significant battles.