10/13: Justifying Surrender: Col. Gabriel C. Wharton at Fort Donelson

A well-respected fighting general during the Civil War, the man to be examined became a leading Radford citizen after the conflict but also played a role in one of the Confederacy’s greatest strategic defeats.

Reputed to have Viking blood in his veins, the great-grandson of a British major general, Culpepper, Virginia native Gabriel Colvin Wharton (1824-1906) continued his family’s martial tradition by entering Virginia Military Institute, graduating second in his class in 1847. Wharton then worked as a civil engineer and was involved in mining operations in Arizona Territory.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Wharton raised the 51st Virginia Infantry. Elected its colonel, Wharton initially fought in Western Virginia. His regiment then was transferred to reinforce the Confederate citadel of Fort Donelson. Situated on the Cumberland River in Tennessee, Donelson was a key part of the Confederate defensive perimeter. Given command of a brigade, Wharton was part of the fort’s garrison of some 16,000 Confederates who soon found themselves under siege by a rising star in the U.S. Army, Ulysses S. Grant.

Those 16,000 soldiers were an army that the Confederates simply could not afford to lose. A breakout through the surrounding Union lines was planned. Wharton’s brigade was instrumental in leading the assault against the Union right flank on February 15, 1862. Initially punching a hole in Union lines and opening an escape route for the entire garrison, the assault faltered when its commanders lost their nerve and ordered the men back into the fort.

The next day, the Confederates gave up to U.S. Grant, who insisted upon “unconditional surrender.” Northern newspapers went wild with joy. The North had a new hero, and Grant had a new nickname: “U.S. “Unconditional Surrender” Grant. Conversely, the Confederates had suffered a major loss that had significant adverse consequences on their future operations.

But Wharton himself did not remain at Fort Donelson to become a prisoner of war with his brigade. Wharton, his commander, Maj. Gen. John B. Floyd, and a few hundred of their men scurried to escape to safety while others negotiated the surrender.

While Wharton went on to establish a credible reputation on other battlefields of the war, some of his actions and conduct at Fort Donelson were controversial. And he knew it. In his post-war accounts, Wharton tried to rewrite the history of own conduct after the fact. While Wharton went on to become a leading Radford businessman and state legislator and was instrumental in building a railroad through the New River Valley, Fort Donelson remained in his background.

To explore the true story of Gabriel Wharton and his Fort Donelson experience, the Roanoke Civil War Round Table presents Dr. Sheliah Elwardani.

Dr. Elwardani is an Adjunct Professor of American History at Virginia Western Community College. She contributed an essay on Wharton entitled “Justifying Surrender” to the recently-published The Forts Henry and Donelson Campaign: February 6–16, 1862 (Southern Illinois University Press, June 2026). She specializes in American History with a strong focus on the history of Appalachia, American religious issues, & Colonial through Civil War periods.

Date, Time & Location: Tuesday, October 13, 2026 (7:00 pm), Chapel of the Residents’ Center at Friendship North, 397 Hershberger Road, Roanoke, VA, 24012. Admission $5.00 for Non-Round Table Members (and becoming a Round Table member is welcome).