Given that the Union and Confederate forces were equally matched at Fort Donelson, what factors do you feel played an important role in the Union's...

One factor that helped the Union win the battle at Fort Donelson, despite being fairly evenly matched with the Confederate army, was the Union’s military leadership. The Union commander at Fort Donelson was U.S. Grant. The Confederate commander was General Johnston. General Johnston decided to defend the fort even though he believed the Union’s military would be too strong to allow the Confederacy to successfully defend it. He even sent additional troops and supplies to the fort.

Another Confederate general made a very unusual and a very questionable decision. As a group of Confederate troops had made significant advances against the Union army, Confederate Brigadier General Pillow ordered his troops to go back to their entrenchments. This allowed the Union army to regain the land they had lost. Grant continued to attack, and much to his surprise, the Confederate army decided to surrender.

These military mistakes allowed the Union to capture Fort Donelson and later move into Tennessee while keeping Kentucky in the hands of the Union.