Since Kentucky had declared neutrality, the Confederacy could not build defensive works within the state without risking alienating the local population.

They surveyed possible sites along the Cumberland River, noting the high ridges and deep hollows near the Kentucky border.

[4] In mid-May, on the west bank of the river not far below Dover, Anderson laid out the water battery of Fort Donelson, twelve miles (19 km) from the Kentucky line.

The new fort was named in honor of the Confederate General Daniel S. Donelson[5] who, along with Colonel Bushrod Johnson of the Corps of Engineers, approved of the site.

Construction was begun by a large force of men brought from the nearby Cumberland Iron Works.

The park preserves much of the original battle site, including the river batteries and the eroded remains of the fort, but the area in which the Confederate States Army attacked on February 15, 1862, is largely in private hands and occupied by residential development.