Crossing into History

In 1838, nearly 2,000 Cherokee, their enslaved Africans, and others stopped at Brown's Ferry and looked across the Tennessee River toward the landing on the opposite bank before being ferried across, making this place a significant part of their Trail of Tears journey. In the pre-dawn darkness of October 27, 1863, most Confederates guarding the far ferry landing were asleep when more than a thousand Union soldiers in pontoon boats suddenly came from the river and scattered the Southern soldiers. Their action opened the way for supplies to reach starving Union soldiers in Chattanooga, and that life-sustaining supply line became known as the Cracker Line.

Chattanooga, Tennessee · United States