Gideon Johnson Pillow Gideon Johnson Pillow ( June 8 , 1806 – October 8 , 1878 ) was an American lawyer , politician , and Confederate general in the American Civil War . He is best remembered for his poor performance at the Battle of Fort Donelson . Early life . Pillow was born in Williamson County , Tennessee , to Gideon Pillow and Ann Payne Pillow . He graduated from the University of Nashville in 1827 and practiced law in Columbia , Tennessee , as a partner of future President James K . Polk . Married Mary Elizabeth Maartin , March 24 , 1831 . He served as a brigadier general in the Tennessee Militia from 1833 to 1836 . In the Mexican - American War , Pillow joined the United States Army as a brigadier general in July 1846 and President Polk promoted him to major general on April 13 , 1847 . He was wounded in the right arm at the Battle of Cerro Gordo and in the left leg at Chapultepec . During the war he came into conflict with the commander of the American forces in Mexico , General Winfield Scott . An anonymous letter — actually written by Pillow — published in the " New Orleans Delta " on September 10 , 1847 , and signed " Leonidas " , wrongfully credited Pillow for recent American victories at Contreras and Churubusco . The battles were actually won by Scott . When Pillow ' s intrigue was exposed , he was arrested by Scott and held for court - martial . Polk , defensive of Pillow , recalled Scott to Washington . During the trial that began in March 1848 , Maj . Archibald W . Burns , a paymaster , claimed authorship of the " Leonidas " letter at Pillow ' s behest . Pillow escaped punishment , but was discharged from the Army in July 1848 . In his memoirs , Scott wrote that Pillow was " amaible and possessed of some acuteness , but the only person I have ever known who was wholly indifferent in the choice between truth and falsehood , honesty and dishonesty : — ever as ready to attain and end by the one as the other , and habitually boastful of acts of cleverness at the total sacrifice of moral character . " Pillow ' s antagonism for Scott was reflected in the 1852 election for president , when he opposed Scott ' s candidacy , supporting instead a former subordinate of his in the Mexican - American War , Franklin Pierce . Pillow attempted to win the vice - presidential nomination , but was rejected . He tried , but failed , to win the nomination for vice president again in 1856 . Civil War . Although he opposed secession , Pillow joined the Confederacy just after the start of the Civil War , beginning as the senior major general in the Tennessee Militia as of May 9 , 1861 . In July he was appointed brigadier general in the Confederate States Army and was given command of the unit that was briefly called the " Army of Liberation " . He soon came under the command of General Albert Sidney Johnston in the Western Theater . His first combat was against Union Army Brigadier General Ulysses S . Grant , also in his first battle , at Belmont , Missouri , in November . The battle is considered a Confederate victory , although it was primarily inconclusive . Nevertheless , Pillow and his command were voted the Thanks of the Confederate Congress on December 6 , 1861 : Pillow resigned from the Army on December 28 in a dispute with Major General Leonidas Polk , but he soon realized that this was a rash decision and was able to cancel his resignation by obtaining an order from Confederate President Jefferson Davis . When he returned he was given command of Fort Donelson , a crucial installation protecting the Cumberland River . This was a brief assignment , however , that ended when three additional brigadier generals were assigned to the fort . One , John B . Floyd , former governor of Virginia and Secretary of War under James Buchanan , outranked Pillow , who found himself in the unofficial position of second - in - command . During the Battle of Fort Donelson , Pillow essentially overshadowed the general who was in formal command of the left wing of the army , Brigadier General Bushrod Johnson , and led this wing in a surprise assault ( February 15 , 1862 ) with the intention of opening an escape route to relieve the besieged Confederate forces in the fort . Although the assault against the army of Ulysses S . Grant was initially successful , Pillow inexplicably decided to pull his men from their advance positions and back into the trenches so that they could be resupplied before their escape , squandering the advances they had fought for so hard that morning . Floyd and the other generals were furious with Pillow , but it was too late to correct his error . At a council of war early on the morning of February 16 , the generals agreed to surrender their army . Floyd , who feared prosecution for treason if he should be captured , turned command of the army over to Pillow , who had similar concerns and immediately passed command to Simon Bolivar Buckner . Pillow escaped in the night in a small boat across the Cumberland River ; Floyd likewise escaped , taking two regiments of his Virginia command with him before Buckner could surrender to Grant . Some historians have judged Ulysses S . Grant as being too rash in his haste to assault Fort Donelson without possessing overwhelming superiority . However , his acquaintance with Gideon Pillow played a key factor in his confidence . As he wrote in his memoirs , Grant also recalled that , following the surrender of Fort Donelson , he met with his old friend Buckner , who told him of Pillow ' s escape . At the Confederate council of war the night before , the vain Pillow had expressed concern that his capture would be a disaster for the Southern cause . " He thought you ' d rather get hold of him than any other man in the Southern Confederacy , " Buckner told Grant . " Oh , " replied Grant , " if I had got him , I ' d let him go again . He will do us more good commanding you fellows . " Pillow assumed command of the 3rd Division of the Army of Central Kentucky , but was suspended from command by order of Jefferson Davis on April 16 for " grave errors in judgement in the military operations which resulted in the surrender of the army " ( at Donelson ) . He commanded a brigade in Major General John C . Breckinridge ' s division during the second day at the Battle of Stones River , arriving on the battlefield just an hour before Breckinridge ' s assault . Breckinridge was furious to find Pillow cowering behind a tree and ordered him forward . After the battle , Pillow spoke in support of General Braxton Bragg ' s decisions , denigrating Breckinridge ' s execution in the ill - fated assault . Pillow had no more combat assignments . He commanded the Volunteer and Conscription Bureau of the Army of Tennessee and was the Commissary General of Prisoners in 1865 . He was captured by Union forces at Union Springs , Alabama , on April 20 , 1865 , and was paroled in Montgomery , Alabama , in May . He received a presidential pardon on August 28 , 1865 . Fort Pillow in Tennessee , the site of the controversial 1864 battle , was named for Pillow . Postbellum career . After the war , Pillow was forced into bankruptcy , but embarked on a successful law practice in Memphis , Tennessee , as partner with former Governor Isham G . Harris . He died in Lee County , Arkansas , and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery , located in Memphis , Tennessee .