Fighting on the Tennessee River

During the Civil War, several engagements took place along the strategically important Tennessee River within about five miles of here, and in each cavalrymen fought naval forces. On April 26, 1863, near the mouth of the Duck River east of here, Confederate Maj. Robert M. White, with the Texas Rangers and a four-gun battery, attacked a Union flotilla from the riverbank. The gunboats Autocrat, Diana, and Adams and several transports came under heavy fire, but after small-arms and artillery fire drove the Confederate cannons out of range, Union Gen. Alfred W. Ellet ordered the gunboats to land their forces, with signalmen on the exposed decks wig-wagging the orders with flags. The Mississippi Marine Brigade quickly disembarked and engaged the Rangers, who were driven back and pursued some 12 miles inland, with White mortally wounded and left near the field, and one lieutenant and eight men killed. White, a Tennessee native who had lived in Texas since 1834, was buried in Belton, Texas. On November 4, 1864, Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest successfully attacked the Union supply depot at Johnsonville on the east bank of the Tennessee River five miles north of here. Earlier Forrest had commandeered two Union vessels at Paris Landing near the Kentucky border and ferried his command across the river. Opposite Johnsonville, he placed batteries above and below the depot, and an intense artillery duel erupted with the defenders. Three Union gunboats caught fire, and Col. Charles R. Thompson ordered the transports destroyed to prevent their capture. Wind-whipped flames spread to the warehouses, causing millions of dollars in damage. Forrest then crossed Birdsong Creek near here on his way to join Gen. John Bell Hood’s army near Florence, Alabama.

Tennessee · United States