In May 1864, the Nashville and Northwestern Military Railroad was completed to run from the Tennessee River to Nashville, offering Federal commanders a supply route they hoped would be safer than the hazardous Cumberland River and less vulnerable than the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The line soon drew mounted guerrilla raids, and on October 18, 1864, Confederate partisan Alexander D. McNairy attacked it near this site. Around midnight, McNairy captured the railroad maintenance crew and forced them to remove spikes from one rail. His men fired on the first passing train, wounding two men and killing one but causing no damage to the train. A second train then passed over the sabotaged track and derailed, injuring two crewmen. The Confederates robbed the crew and tried unsuccessfully to burn the train. When a third train arrived, everyone jumped off and was robbed, but the engineer backed the loaded lumber train to the safety of White Bluff. Federal cavalry pursued the raiders but could not catch them, and section workers cleared the track by morning so traffic resumed. McNairy's men returned on October 21, burned the railroad maintenance facilities, dwellings, and stacks of cordwood, and also damaged the tracks. Union cavalry again failed to overtake the guerrillas, but Union construction crews responded quickly and reopened the railroad two days later without major disruption to Federal supply efforts.