Daniel Smith Donelson
Daniel Smith Donelson was born on December 2, 1842, in Davidson County, Tennessee, to Andrew Jackson Donelson and Elizabeth Martin. His father was a Democratic politician and planter who owned $100,000 of real estate and $100,000 of personal property by 1860. He grew up in Tennessee, and he attended the Western Military Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, in the late 1850s.
He sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War, and he served as a sergeant in Company E of the 154th Tennessee Infantry. He later served as an adjutant with the 2nd Confederate Infantry. He surrendered as part of the Vicksburg garrison on July 4, 1863, and he spent the next few months at home. He expressed devotion to the Confederacy. In September 1863, he praised the “valor” and “patient endurance” of the Confederate army. The described the war as a “war for our very life” and assured himself that “No nation with 500,000 fighting men has yet been conquered, if they are only true to the cause which they espoused.” If “the day does come when the Stars and Stripes triumply floats over the South humiliated & subjugated,” he vowed to “meet the glorious heroes who have fallen in the cause of freedom and say, Cast not your angry frowns on me, whatever others may have done, I did my duty.”
He was exchanged on January 1, 1864, and Confederate officials ordered him to return to duty. He was killed en route, in De Soto County, Mississippi, probably on January 25, 1864, and his body was discovered three months later.
DATABASE CONTENT
| (3874) | Donelson, Daniel Smith | 1842-12-02 | 1864-01-25 |
- Conflict Side: Confederacy
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: Sergeant
- Rank out: Adjutant
- Rank highest: Adjutant
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 44
- (10878) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Andrew J. Donelson, 10 October 1863
- (10883) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 15 April 1862
- (11410) [associated with] ~ John C. Pemberton Order, 1 July 1863
- (11503) [associated with] ~ Daniel S. Donelson Service Details, undated
- (11505) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 23 August 1861
- (11508) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 4 October 1861
- (11510) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 22 January 1862
- (11511) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Andrew J. Donelson, 30 January 1862
- (11513) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Andrew J. Donelson, 16 February 1862
- (11514) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 21 February 1862
- (11516) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Andrew J. Donelson, 7 March 1862
- (11517) [recipient, writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Allen A. Bursley, 17 April 1862
- (11518) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Allen A. Bursley, 17 April 1862
- (11519) [recipient] ~ Allen A. Bursley to Daniel S. Donelson, 18 April 186X
- (11520) [recipient] ~ G. A. Merrick to Daniel S. Donelson, 28 April 186X
- (11521) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Uncle, 3 June 1862
- (11522) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 21 June 1862
- (11524) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 7 October 1862
- (11525) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Rosalie A. Martin, 27 October 1862
- (11527) [recipient] ~ William W. Witherspoon to Daniel S. Donelson, 10 November 1862
- (11528) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Andrew J. Donelson, 11 December 1862
- (11530) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Samuel Cooper, 4 April 1863
- (11531) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Andrew J. Donelson, 4 July 1863
- (11532) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Andrew J. Donelson, 6 July 1863
- (11533) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson Note, 12 September 1863
- (11534) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 20 September 1863
- (11535) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 24 September 1863
- (11536) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 25 September 1863
- (11537) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 10 October 1863
- (11538) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 1 November 1863
- (11539) [associated with] ~ Lucien B. Pardue to William W. MacKall, 3 November 1863
- (11540) [associated with] ~ Orlando S. Holland to William W. MacKall, 3 November 1863
- (11541) [associated with] ~ Orlando S. Holland to Samuel Cooper, 3 November 1863
- (11542) [associated with] ~ William W. Witherspoon to William W. MacKall, 4 November 1863
- (11543) [associated with] ~ Lucien B. Pardue to Samuel Cooper, 6 November 1863
- (11544) [associated with] ~ William W. Witherspoon to Samuel Cooper, 8 November 1863
- (11545) [associated with] ~ Edward Brown to Samuel Cooper, 9 November 1863
- (11546) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Andrew J. Donelson, 12 November 1863
- (11547) [writer] ~ Daniel S. Donelson to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 20 November 1863
- (11548) [recipient] ~ William W. Witherspoon to Daniel S. Donelson, 5 January 1864
- (11549) [associated with] ~ Daniel S. Donelson Death Notice, 27 April 1864
- (11550) [associated with] ~ Franklin J. Malone to Elizabeth A. Donelson, 28 April 1864
- (11551) [associated with] ~ Daniel S. Donelson Postmortem Examination, 29 April 1864
- (11552) [associated with] ~ Daniel S. Donelson Biography, undated
People - Records: 3
Places - Records: 2
Regiments - Records: 2
SOURCES
1850 and 1860 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Daniel S. Donelson Note, 12 September 1863, DOT0162.022, Nau Collection; Richard Douglas Spence, Andrew Jackson Donelson: Jacksonian and Unionist (Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 2017)
