Nashville Surrendered

When the Confederate garrison at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River was captured by Union forces on February 15, 1862, the gateway to Nashville was opened. Hope created by earlier reports of a Southern victory quickly turned to fear as news of the surrender spread around the city. Within hours, a Confederate army encamped across the river at Edgefield retreated through town toward Murfreesboro, unable to defend the city against a certain Union assault. Many prominent Confederate supporters fled as well, including members of the Tennessee legislature and Governor Isham Harris with the state's archival records in tow. The exodus became known as the Great Panic. Though the majority of the population remained, the flight of Confederate supporters continued for days. Finally, on the morning of February 25, the Union gunboat Cairo, followed by several troop-laden transports, arrived at the Cumberland River wharf below Front Street (First Avenue). At 11 a.m., Mayor R. B. Cheatham officially surrendered the city to Union Major General Don Carlos Buell. Nashville was the first Confederate state capital captured and remained under Union control until after the end of the war.

Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government (balance), Tennessee · United States