Confederates Retake Fort Donelson, 1863

I'm reading War on the Waters, which is a naval history of the U.S. Civil War. The book reports that on February 3, 1863, Forrest and Wheeler's cavalry attacked Fort Donelson. They outnumbered the 800 defenders 5-1, but the Union fleet relieved Fort Donelson at the last minute--the Confederates were making their final assault.

What if the Union ships were late and the Confederates actually took the fort? The Union already took Fort Donelson once, so they'll probably be able to eject the Confederates sooner rather than later, but I'm wondering how much trouble the Confederates could make by retaking the fort.
 

Japhy

Banned
They're not really in a position to hold it. Like the more infamous attack on Fort Pillow Forrest and Wheeler will have to shortly withdraw or be cut off. The force that can be dispatched to the Fort quickly by steamboat will be more then enough to wreck the Cavalry which would be out of place defending the position. Not really much of a realistic way to have this disrupt the Vicksburg operations, though Grant might have to think about it for a day or two, depending.
 
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