An Army In Springfield

For most residents, Robertson County was a difficult place to live during the war. After the fall of Confederate Forts Henry and Donelson in 1862, Union forces occupied the county and made the town of Springfield a military base, where they guarded local roads and the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad. Federal troops used the First Presbyterian Church on Locust Street as a stable, and damage from horseshoes can still be seen in the building. Relations between the soldiers and the residents were generally friendly at first, but by February 1863, citizens were complaining of misbehavior and thievery to Military Governor Andrew Johnson. During one horrific day in December 1864 at Wessyngton Plantation, Union soldiers threatened and then shot the plantation owner while burning many farm buildings there. Other military activities also affected civilian life: in June 1861, Confederates established the major induction center Camp Cheatham, named for Gen. Benjamin Franklin Cheatham, whose ancestors were among Springfield's founders; during the autumn of 1862, Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan's cavalry raid destroyed the Dead Horse Trestle near Ridgetop; in 1863, Federal authorities recruited escaped slaves from local plantations and formed units of the U.S. Colored Troops; and in 1864, the 15th U.S. Colored Troops formed part of the Union garrison in Springfield.

Springfield, Tennessee · United States