Dover was a Civil War engagement fought in Tennessee, 1863. It was a Union victory.
Under orders, in late January 1863, Confederate Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, commanding two brigades of cavalry, had taken position on the Cumberland River at Palmyra to disrupt Union shipping. The Federals, however, apprised of Wheeler's intent, refrained from sending any boats up or downriver. Unable to disrupt Union shipping and realizing that he and his men could not remain in the area indefinitely, Wheeler decided to attack the garrison at Dover, Tennessee, which informers reported was small and could easily be overwhelmed. The Rebels set out for Dover and between 1:00 and 2:00 pm, on February 3, began an attack. The 800-man garrison, under the command of Col. A.C. Harding, was in and about the town of Dover where they had chosen camps that commanded the area and had dug rifle pits and battery emplacements. The Confederates mounted a determined attack using artillery fire with great skill, but were repulsed with heavy losses. By dusk, both sides were mostly without ammunition. The Confederates surveyed the Union defenses and decided that the enemy was too well-placed to allow capture. Wheeler's force retired. The Federals did send out a pursuit but to no avail. The Confederates had failed to disrupt shipping on the Cumberland River and capture the garrison at Dover. This Confederate failure left the Union in control in Middle Tennessee and a bitter Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest denounced Wheeler, a favorite of Gen. Braxton Bragg, saying he would not again serve under him.
On February 3, 1863, Union and Confederate forces clashed at Dover in Stewart County, Tennessee, in an engagement of the American Civil War. This fight is remembered by a second name as well, the Second Battle of Fort Donelson.
By the final days of January 1863, Joseph Wheeler, a Confederate major general leading two cavalry brigades, positioned his force along the Cumberland River near Palmyra with the aim of interfering with Union vessel traffic. Union commanders learned of his scheme beforehand, however, and simply held their boats back, sending none up or down the waterway. With this plan foiled and no realistic prospect of lingering in the region indefinitely, Wheeler turned his attention toward the Union garrison stationed at Dover, Tennessee. Sources within the area had informed him that the defenders there were few in number and vulnerable to being overrun.
Confederate forces marched toward Dover and launched their assault sometime between one and two in the afternoon on February 3. Colonel Abner C. Harding led the 800 men stationed in and around Dover, where his troops had positioned their camps to control the surrounding ground and had constructed rifle pits along with battery emplacements. Though the attacking Confederates handled their artillery with considerable skill and pressed the assault with determination, they were driven back and suffered severe casualties in the process. As evening approached, neither side had much ammunition remaining. After examining the strength of the Union positions, the Confederates concluded that the defenders were too firmly entrenched to be overrun.
Wheeler's men pulled back from the field. Union troops attempted a chase, but it produced nothing. In the end, the Confederates could claim no success: they had neither halted traffic on the Cumberland River nor seized the garrison stationed at Dover. Because of this setback, Union authority over Middle Tennessee remained unshaken. Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest, furious over the outcome, lashed out at Wheeler, who stood as one of General Braxton Bragg's preferred officers, and vowed that he would never again serve under his command.
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