Battles were fought in and around Chattanooga primarily for control of the railroad network. By 1861, the city had become one of the South’s most important rail hubs. The lines that crossed here connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Tennessee River and Middle Tennessee and the Mississippi River to East Tennessee and Virginia. To support these railroads, Chattanooga entrepreneur Robert Cravens built the East Tennessee Iron Manufacturing Company two blocks south of here to make "chilled railroad car wheels of the very best quality and freight cars of any description."
