Dear Editor,

This week are the anniversaries of the surrender of Confederate Forts Henry and Donelson. This opened up the Tennessee River to the Union gunboats. Ulysses S. Grant was relatively unknown until these surrenders occurred. After the surrender of Ft. Henry Grant's troops then went 12 miles to attack the Confederate forces at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. Lew Wallace who wrote Ben Hur was one of the Union officers besieging the fort. About ten days after Fort Henry surrendered, the garrison of Fort Donelson was ready to do the same with their 7,000 troops. They sent word to General Grant asking his terms of surrender.

Grant's famous response was "No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." As a result of capturing Fort Donelson, U. S. Grant earned the nick-name Unconditional Surrender Grant.

In general, to surrender means to give in to the enemy, which constitutes a humiliating defeat. However God calls sinners to surrender immediately to Christ for salvation, trusting Him alone to save them. Once a sinner is saved, God asks him to surrender to self and let God use him. When the Confederates surrendered to General Grant it proved to be a sad defeat, but when a Christian surrenders unconditionally to God it gives the Christian victory over sin, death and the grave.

Yours for the victory,
Evangelist Dan Manka