Tullahoma Campaign

Founded in the late eighteenth century, Manchester was locally imagined as an American counterpart to Manchester, England, with the falls of the Duck River expected to provide strong water power for milling. When war began in 1861, the South faced blockade and invasion and, though inferior to the North in manufacturing resources, became self-sufficient in arms production by 1863 as older industrial centers expanded and new factory towns emerged. Seeking to aid that effort, Manchester native W.S. Whiteman built a powder mill near Old Stone Fort on the Barren Fork of the Duck River, adding to other local manufacturing facilities. Alexis Cope of the 15th Ohio Infantry recalled several large mills and factories near camp, powered by the river falls, and these manufacturing establishments were destroyed by the Federal army. Born and raised near Nashville, Benjamin Franklin Cheatham became one of the western Confederacy’s best-loved generals, rising from brigadier general in 1861 to major general the following year. Active in Democratic politics and a staunch opponent of the military tactics of Braxton Bragg and later John Bell Hood, Cheatham was remembered by Sam Watkins of the 1st Tennessee for his personal courage at Stones River, where he led a charge in person. After the war, Cheatham married and settled near Noah north of here, became known for advocating scientific farming and experimenting with animal breeds and crops, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1872, and before his death in 1886 moved to Nashville, where he served as state prison superintendent and postmaster.

Manchester, Tennessee · United States