Daring River Raid Puts Bow on Union Conquest of Forts Henry and Donelson. As he sent word of the capture of Confederate Fort Henry on February 6, 1862, Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant kept his emotions in check, his victory telegraph an unassuming “Fort Henry is ours.” Union Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote, whose naval forces actually won the battle that day, reacted with a little more flair, writing his wife: “Bless the Lord who has given me the victory after a horrible fight of an hour and fifteen minutes.” Taking it even further was District of the Missouri commander Henry W. Halleck, who excitedly informed Washington: “The flag of the Union is re-established on the soil of Tennessee. It will never be removed.”