War Comes to Germantown

In 1861, Germantown was divided between secessionists and unionists until news of Fort Sumter and President Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers shifted support toward secession. On April 26, Germantown women pledged aid to Confederate soldiers from the town, promising with their needles to assist them, to care for and sustain their families during their absence, and, if war came to their homes, to watch over the sick and wounded, even strangers, as their own brothers or fathers. Local men and other county residents formed the 4th Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A., which trained briefly at Germantown and later fought at Shiloh, Chickamauga, and Nashville. Federal troops entered Germantown in June 1862 and occupied houses, churches, and other buildings. Residents suffered as soldiers confiscated crops and livestock, while many dwellings and businesses were dismantled or burned. The Presbyterian church became a Federal hospital and headquarters, and Masonic Hall, also used as a hospital, survived because both the Union commander and the Presbyterian minister were Masons. The Memphis & Charleston Railroad depot became the center of the Federal garrison, whose men built an earthen redoubt and stockade just east of town. Confederate cavalry and Union troops fought at least eleven engagements around this rail line in the Germantown area. By the end of the war, Germantown’s population had fallen by more than half, and many years passed before the town recovered and again became a thriving community.

Germantown, Tennessee · United States