page_title: Daniel Smith Donelson
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Daniel Smith Donelson / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Bust-length portrait of Daniel Smith Donelson (1801-1863), nephew of President Andrew Jackson, oil on canvas in original giltwood frame, signed lower right and on back G. Dury, Historic Rock Castle - Hendersonville, Tennessee, Tennessee Portrait Project
context_page_description: Daniel Smith Donelson was a Tennessee politician and soldier. The historic river-port of Fort Donelson was named for him as a Brigadier in the Tennessee militia, early in the American Civil War, in which he went on to serve as a Confederate general, notably at Perryville and Stones River. He was the nephew of America's seventh president, Andrew Jackson.
context_section_description: Donelson was born in Sumner County, Tennessee, one of the three sons of Samuel and Mary "Polly" Smith Donelson. Donelson's father died when Donelson was about five.  When his mother remarried, Donelson moved to The Hermitage, the home of his aunt, Rachel Donelson Jackson, and her husband, future President of the United States Andrew Jackson. Rachel and Andrew Jackson adopted Donelson and his two brothers.  His older brother, Andrew Jackson Donelson, was the private secretary to Jackson during his presidency and a vice presidential candidate in his own right.  Donelson's paternal grandfather was Colonel John Donelson, a frontiersman and founder of Nashville, Tennessee, and his maternal grandfather, Colonel Daniel Smith, was a Revolutionary War officer, an early leader in middle Tennessee and one of Tennessee's first U.S. Senators.
  In 1821, Donelson entered West Point, and graduated in 1825, becoming a United States Army officer. He resigned his commission only half a year later, on January 22, 1826, to become a planter in Sumner County.  He was also a member of the militia in Tennessee, starting as a brigade major in 1827 and being promoted to brigadier general in 1829.
  In 1834, Donelson resigned his commission in the Tennessee militia and moved to Florida, again working as a planter until 1836.  His stay there was brief, however, and he moved back to Tennessee two years later, still a planter. In 1841, Donelson became a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives.  He left after one two-year term in 1841–1843, but returned 12 years later, in 1855, serving in 1855–1861 and this time rising to the office of Speaker for 1859-1861.
caption: Portrait of Daniel Smith Donelson by George Dury, circa 1850
exif: {}