The fall of Fort Donelson was a severe blow to the Rebels. It had a great effect. It was the first great victory of the Union troops. It opened all the northwest corner of the Confederacy. It compelled General Johnston to retreat from Bowling Green, and also compelled the evacuation of Columbus and all Central Tennessee. Nashville, the capital of that State, fell into the hands of the Union troops. On Sunday morning the Rebels at Nashville were in good spirits. General Pillow had telegraphed on Saturday noon, as you remember, "On the honor of a soldier, the day is ours." The citizens shouted over it. One sober citizen said: "I never liked Pillow, but I forgive him now. He is the man for the occasion." Another, who had been Governor of the State,--a wicked, profane man,--said: "It is first-rate news. Pillow is giving the Yankees hell, and rubbing it in!"[6] It is a vile sentence, and I would not quote it, were it not that you might have a true picture from Rebel sources. [Footnote 6: Mobile Tribune.] The newspapers put out bulletins:-- "ENEMY RETREATING! GLORIOUS RESULT!! OUR BOYS FOLLOWING AND PEPPERING THEIR REAR!! A COMPLETE VICTORY!" The bell-ringers rang jubilant peals, and the citizens shook hands over the good news as they went to church. Services had hardly commenced, when a horseman dashed through the streets, covered with mud, and almost breathless from hard riding, shouting, "Fort Donelson has surrendered, and the Yankees are coming!" The people poured out from the churches and their houses into the street. Such hurrying to and fro was never seen. Men, women, and children ran here and there, not knowing what to do, imagining that the Yankees would murder them. They began to pack their goods. Carts, wagons, carriages, drays, wheelbarrows,--all were loaded. Strong men were pale with fear, women wrung their hands, and children cried. Before noon Generals Floyd and Pillow arrived on steamboats. The people crowded round the renegade officers, and called for a speech. General Floyd went out upon the balcony of the hotel, and said:-- "Fellow-Citizens: This is not the time for speaking, but for action. It is a time when every man should enlist for the war. Not a day is to be lost. We had only ten thousand effective men, who fought four days and nights against forty thousand of the enemy. But nature could hold out no longer. The men required rest, and having lost one third of my gallant force I was compelled to retire. We have left a thousand of the enemy dead on the field. General Johnston has not slept a wink for three nights; he is all worn out, but he is acting wisely. He is going to entice the Yankees into the mountain gaps, away from the rivers and the gunboats, and then drive them back, and carry the war into the enemy's country."[7] [Footnote 7: Lynchburg Republican.]