150 Years | Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial

Lexington Senior Citizen's Center
Union Gen. Robert Ingersoll surrendered his command of about 150 (and two pieces of artillery) here after trying to stop Forrest near Lexington Dec. 18, 1862. The Federals did slow the Confederates down a little, but Union positions near Beech Creek were quickly overrun. Forrest's troopers then continued toward

City: Lexington
County: Henderson
Region: West Tennessee

Harris-Collier-Holland Farm
Albert Gallatin Harris purchased this farm in 1829 and built the present house in 1857. After camping on the land during the Civil War, Union troops ransacked the farm, killing or stealing all the livestock. They did not burn the house because the Harris family had cared for a sick Union officer and nursed him back to health. When Union soldiers stole Harris\'s nine-year old daughter Ada\'s pony, she angrily shouted after them, \"I hope he throws you, and breaks your damn

City: McKenzie
County: Carroll
Region: West Tennessee

McKenzie Station
McKenzie\'s location put it squarely in the path of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest\'s first West Tennessee raid in December 1862. After capturing Union City, Forrest turned east on Christmas Day, burning trestles and destroying track between there and McKenzie. Forrest\'s troopers reached McKenzie two days later with captured wagons full of coffee, flour, and military supplies.Here he learned that Federal forces had destroyed the bridges across the Obion River and were approaching from several

City: McKenzie
County: Carroll
Region: West Tennessee

Civil War in Tennessee: Memphis During the War
In 1860, Memphis had Tennessee’s largest cotton and slave markets and was a strategic Mississippi River gateway. The naval battle of Memphis in June 1862 took place as thousands of residents watched nine Union vessels defeat eight Confederate ships. The Federals occupied the city for the rest of the war. Confederate Park, on the bluffs downtown, contains markers and memorials about the battle. Nearby Jefferson Davis Park commemorates the former Confederate president, who lived here as an insurance executive for several years after the war. Confederate Gen. Leonidas Polk and Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had their headquarters in the

City: Memphis
County: Shelby
Region: West Tennessee

Civil War in Tennessee: Southwest Tennessee
Southwest Tennessee was a contested gateway to the Lower South via the Mississippi River and the rail corridors formed by the Memphis & Charleston, the Gulf, and the Mobile & Ohio lines. Fort Pickering, the major Federal base on the Mississippi River, stood near Exit 11, and part of the 1866 Memphis Riot occurred there. Riverside Drive (Exit 12) provides access to the city’s many Civil War–era properties by the Mississippi River.North of here, on I-240 (Exit 28), are two historic cemeteries.  Both Union and Confederate officers are interred in Elmwood Cemetery, and Zion Cemetery is the city’s oldest African

City: Memphis
County: Shelby
Region: West Tennessee

Confederate Park
Opened in 1906 as part of the Memphis Park and Parkway System, Confederate Park commemorates the Battle of Memphis. When Confederate forces retreated to Mississippi after the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, unfortified Memphis became vulnerable to attack. From these bluffs and those at what is now Chickasaw Park, on June 6, 1862, thousands of civilians watched the naval battle onthe Mississippi River below. Within 90 minutes, the Union fleet defeated the Confederates. Medical Cadet Charles R. Ellet and a small party entered the city and raised the U.S. flag over the post office. The Federals held Memphis for

City: Memphis
County: Shelby
Region: West Tennessee

Davies Manor Plantation
Davies Manor provides a stunning example of wartime survival. Located just north of the stage route between Memphis and Nashville, the house and surrounding plantation were visited by soldiers from both sides during the Civil War. When the war began, brothers Logan E. Davies and James B. Davies jointly operated the plantation. Their slaves grew cotton, corn, and wheat and raised livestock. James Davies joined the 38th Tennessee Infantry in 1862. He fought at Perryville, Lookout Mountain, and Atlanta, among other engagements. Younger brother Henry Newton Davies also joined the Confederate army and died at the Battle of Nashville. Logan

City: Memphis
County: Shelby
Region: West Tennessee

Elmwood Cemetery
Established in 1852, Elmwood Cemetery is the resting place of some of the most colorful inhabitants of Memphis, including many who were significant during the Civil War and Reconstruction. They include Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris, who led Tennessee out of the Union in 1861; Confederate General Gideon J. Pillow, namesake of Fort Pillow upriver; African- American millionaire Robert Church, Sr., who survived an attack during the Memphis Riot of 1866; and Shelby Foote, a renowned historian of the

City: Memphis
County: Shelby
Region: West Tennessee

Fort Pickering
In June 1861, Confederate supporters in Memphis erected earthworks to protect the city here at Fort Pickering, the site of a frontier-era fortified trading post. Capt. William Pickett and his company of sappers and miners supervised the slave and free black laborers who built the stronghold. Local volunteers mounted artillery and built ammunition magazines on the two Indian mounds within the fort. After the fall of Memphis in June 1862, Union forces used Fort Pickering as a major supply depot and staging area. Gen. William T. Sherman increased its size so that it extended for more than a mile along

City: Memphis
County: Shelby
Region: West Tennessee

Hunt Phelan Home
Before and during the Civil War, the Hunt-Phelan House welcomed politicians and high-ranking military men of every stripe. Both Jefferson Davis and Andrew Johnson visited here, and in 1861, Gen. Leonidas Polk stayed in the house while he organized the Provisional Army of Tennessee. As the war progressed, the owner, Col. William R. Hunt, served as superintendent of the Confederate ordnance works at Columbus, Mississippi. Designed by famed architect Robert Mills, the original part of the Federal-style house was built ca. 1840 by George H. Wyatt. Retired land commissioner Eli M. Driver purchased the property five years later and left

City: Memphis
County: Shelby
Region: West Tennessee

Parker's Crossroads
A Confederate cavalry force under Gen. N.B. Forrest was nearly trapped here by converging Union forces Dec. 31, 1862. Forrest was returning from a raid during which he destroyed Union railroad lines carrying supplies for the building Federal offensive against Vicksburg. Union pursuers caught up with him at Parker's

City: Parker's Crossroads
County: Henderson
Region: West Tennessee

Divided Loyalties
The residents of Wayne County supported the Union almost unanimously until the fighting began. After the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861, the majority in the northern portion of the county shifted their allegiance to the Confederacy, while most residents of the southern portion remained loyal to the Union. Both sides raised companies during the war. The first companies supporting the Confederacy became part of Col. Jacob B. Biffle’s 9th Tennessee Cavalry. Local Unionists joined Co. A, 10th Tennessee Cavalry at first and later formed the 2nd Tennessee Mounted Infantry under Col. John

City: Parsons
County: Decatur
Region: West Tennessee

Cherry Mansion
Union Gen. U.S. Grant was here the morning of April 6 when the Battle of Shiloh erupted 7 miles upriver. Boarding a nearby steamer, the general and his staff headed to Pittsburg Landing and the fighting. The mansion was owned by Unionist William Cherry. His wife, Ann, however, was an ardent Confederate with two brothers in the Southern

City: Savannah
County: Hardin
Region: West Tennessee

Mobile and Ohio Railroad
This is the Mobile and Ohio Railroad which was chartered in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky in 1848 to provide a vital commercial link between the Gulf of Mexico and Cairo, Illinois, on the Ohio River. The last miles of track were laid in April 1861 just as hostilities erupted at Fort Sumter. The strategic significance of the railroad quickly became apparent. By the spring of 1862, thousands of Confederate troops from as far away as Pensacola and Mobile steamed into southwestern Tennessee and northern Mississippi on the railroad in anticipation of an imminent Union offensive. Corinth, Mississippi, was among

City: Selmer
County: McNairy
Region: West Tennessee

Johnston’s Last Bivouac
Confederate commander Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston made his camp here after meeting with his top generals April 5, 1862, before the Battle of Shiloh. Awakened the next morning to the sound of musketry, Johnston rode to the opening battle and was killed just hours

City: Shiloh
County: Hardin
Region: West Tennessee