During the Civil War, Yellow Creek's rough terrain and the widespread Confederate sentiment of its inhabitants provided a safe refuge for guerrillas operating in Dickson County and the surrounding area. Regular Confederate cavalry also came through the Yellow Creek valley, including Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's command on the retreat from Fort Donelson in February 1862, and again a year later when he and Gen. Joseph Wheeler sidestepped an interdicting Federal column after their attack on the fort failed. Mainly agricultural, the area attracted partisan rangers seeking food, shelter, and equipment. Federal commanders, realizing that Yellow Creek's residents sheltered the guerrillas, exerted considerable efforts to destroy their networks. Both Col. William W. Lowe at Fort Donelson and Col. Sanders D. Bruce at Clarksville sent patrols to break up these mounted bands, but constant Confederate ambushes and attacks kept the Union forces on edge. As the guerrilla warfare became more intense, both sides resorted to increased threats, violence, and brutality. One such incident occurred late in 1863. Lt. Henry W. Barr's squadron, 3rd Tennessee Cavalry (US), burned the house and farm buildings of a local resident, J. J. Pickett, in retaliation for the shooting of one of their men. Shortly after the war ended, his widow, Jane Pickett, filed an affidavit for the loss of some of her property in Dickson County Quarterly Court. While Federal attempts to break the guerrilla networks were unsuccessful, they eventually pacified the region. By October 1864, Union forces firmly controlled the areas surrounding Yellow Creek and isolated the guerrilla activity there until the end of the war.