Forrest's Opening Move

In November 1864, with Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s army holding Atlanta and preparing to push deeper into the Confederacy, Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford B. Forrest sought to cut off Sherman’s supplies by striking Johnsonville, a vital link in the Union supply chain. Forrest blockaded the Tennessee River between Fort Heiman and Paris Landing with his improvised naval force, and in two days his command burned two supply boats and captured a gunboat and a supply boat. On November 2, 1864, he sent his makeshift two-ship navy, the armed supply boat Venus and the gunboat Undine, toward Johnsonville, but two Union gunboats attacked and recaptured the Venus. A second naval battle the next day ended the Undine, and after losing his fleet Forrest resumed the river blockade, bottling up Union gunboats at Johnsonville and preventing gunboats from Paducah from aiding them.

Tennessee · United States