Tennessee Railroad-Related Military Events Sorted by County

Bedford	Skirmish at Wartrace	N & C	4/11/1862
Benton	Destruction of railroad tracks by men from the USN "Tyler"	M C & L	2/6/1862
Benton	Destruction of Memphis & Bowling Green RR Bridge	Memphis & Bowling Green (M C & L)	2/8/1862
Bradley	Raid on ET & G RR	ET & G	11/24/1863
Bradley	Wheeler's Raid on Cleveland	ET & G	8/17/1864
Bradley	East Tennessee Unionist Bridge Burnings	ET & VA, ET & GA, W & A	11/8/1861
Carroll	Destruction of railroad from McKenzie Station to Union City	N & N W	12/24/1862
Chester	Henderson's Station Bridge	Mob & O	11/25/1862
Chester	Cox's Raid on Henderson's Station	Mob & O	10/25/1862
Coffee	Destruction of M & M RR	M & M	4/20/1863
Coffee	Raid on N & C RR, near Tullahoma	N & C	3/16/1864
Coffee	Destruction of RR near Tullahoma	N & C	9/28/1864
Coffee	Forrest's attack on Guest Hollow Stockade	M & M	8/29/1862
Coffee	Destruction of rails near Tullahoma	N & C	3/25/1862
Davidson	Affair at Antioch Station	N & C	4/10/1863
Davidson	Destruction of bridge near Nashville	N & C	7/21/1862
Davidson	Burning of train near Antioch	N & C	1/25/1863
Davidson	Operations against stockades and block-houses on the N & C RR	N & C	12/2/1864
Davidson	Skirmish at "Dead Horse Trestle"	E & K	10/31/1862
Davidson	Affair near Nashville	L & N	4/9/1863
Davidson	Affair near Antioch	N & C	4/9/1863
Dickson	Raid on the N & NW RR (1864)	N & NW	10/18/1864
Fayette	Affair at Moscow	M & C	3/29/1863
Fayette	Trestle Work at La Fayette	M & C	12/4/1863
Fayette	Destruction of bridges near Moscow and over the Obion River	Mob & O	12/21/1862
Fayette	Skirmish at Shelby Depot	M & O	10/23/1862
Fayette	Attack on train near La Fayette	M & C	6/23/1864
Fayette	Affair near La Fayette Station	M & C	6/25/1862
Franklin	Action near Elk River Bridge	N & C	9/4/1864
Franklin	Destruction of Tracy City Railroad track	TC & RR	6/29/1863
Franklin	Affair at Cowan	N & C	10/9/1863
Gibson	Destruction of track between Trenton and Kenton	Mob & O	12/21/1862
Gibson	Destruction of Trenton Station	Mob & O	12/21/1862
Gibson	Attack at Humboldt	M & O and Mob & O	12/20/1862
Gibson	Skirmish near Humboldt at Burnt Bridge	Mob & O	9/5/1862
Gibson	Attack at Humboldt	Mob & O and M & O	12/20/1862
Giles	Forrest's raid on Elkton	T & A	9/26/1864
Giles	Destruction of RR between Pulaski and Columbia	T & A	9/27/1864
Giles	Skirmish at Reynold's Station, N & D RR	N & D or T & A	8/27/1862
Grundy	Destruction of Tracy City Railroad track	TC & RR	6/29/1863
Hamblen	Destruction of RR near Russellville	ET & V	10/21/1864
Hamblen	Capture of train near Morristown	ET & V	9/6/1863
Hamilton	Burning of Chickamauga Station	W & A	11/26/1863
Hamilton	Attack on Chattanooga by James S. Negley	ET & G, N & C, W & A	6/7/1862
Hamilton	Burning of Ooltewah Bridge	ET & G	11/25/1863
Hamilton	Burning of bridge at Wauhatchie	N & C	10/28/1863
Hamilton	Pittinger's Raid on Georgia State Railroad	W & A	4/7/1862
Hamilton, Bradley, McMinn, Jefferson, Washington	East Tennessee Unionist Bridge Burnings	ET & GA, ET & VA, W & A	11/8/1861
Hardeman	Attack on a railroad train, Grand Junction	MsC	3/21/1863
Hardeman	Bridge across Big Hatchie River discovered burned	MsC	7/13/1863
Hardeman	Attack on Grand Junction	MsC	7/25/1862
Hardeman	Track destruction at Saulsbury	M & C	12/2/1863
Hardeman	Burning of trestle near Middleton	M & C	7/30/1863
Hardeman	Attack on rail near Bolivar	MsC	7/26/1862
Houston	Destruction of railroad tracks by men from the USN "Tyler"	M C & L	2/6/1862
Houston	Destruction of Memphis & Bowling Green RR Bridge	Memphis & Bowling Green (M C & L)	2/8/1862
Humphreys	Attack on Johnsonville	N & NW	11/5/1864
Humphreys	Raid on the N & NW RR	N & NW	8/15/1864
Jefferson	Destruction of railroad around Mossy Creek Bridge	ET & V	6/21/1863
Jefferson	Skirmish at Strawberry Plains Bridge (1864)	ET & V	8/24/1864
Jefferson	Skirmish at Mossy Creek	ET &V	10/16/1864
Jefferson	Destruction of bridges near Strawberry Plains	ET & V	6/20/1863
Jefferson	Skirmish at Strawberry Plains Bridge	ET & VA	11/8/1861
Jefferson	East Tennessee Unionist Bridge Burnings	ET & VA, ET & GA, W & A	11/8/1861
Knox	Capture of Knoxville	ET & G, K &K, ET & V	9/2/1863
Lincoln	Affair near Fayetteville	Wn & AL	12/6/1863
Loudon	Attack on Railroad at Athens and Sweet Water	ET & G	2/16/1865
Loudon	Destruction of railroad between Lenoir Station and Knoxville	ET & G	6/19/1863
Madison	Armstrong's raid on Medon Station	MsC	8/30/1862
Madison	Destruction of Webb's Station	Mob & O	12/18/1862
Madison	Affair at Carroll Station	Mob & O	12/19/1862
Marion	Skirmish at Tracy City	TC & RR	8/30/1864
Marion	Destruction of Tracy City Railroad track	TC & RR	6/29/1863
Marion	Burning of Nickajack Bridge	N & C	8/21/1863
Maury	Destruction of RR between Pulaski and Columbia	T & A	9/27/1864
Maury	Destruction of Railroad near Campbell's Station	T & A	9/1/1864
Maury	Action near Columbia	T & A	10/1/1864
McMinn	Attack on Railroad at Athens and Sweet Water	ET & G	2/16/1865
McMinn	East Tennessee Unionist Bridge Burnings	ET & VA, ET & GA, W & A	11/8/1861
McMinn	Destruction of bridges at Calhoun	ET & G	11/29/1863
McNairy	Destruction of Beach Creek Bridge	Mob & O	3/13/1862
McNairy	Skirmish at Chewalla	Mob & O	10/5/1862
McNairy	Skirmish on Elk River, near Bethel	Mob & O	5/9/1862
McNairy	Cypress Creek Bridge burned	Mob & O	5/30/1862
McNairy	Raid on the Mob & O near Bethel Station	Mob & O	4/29/1862
McNairy	Action near Bethel	Mob & O	5/4/1862
Montgomery	Clarksville railroad bridge burned	MC & L	2/18/1862
Montgomery	Destruction of trestle near Clarksville	MC & L	5/21/1863
Montgomery	Lyon's raid on RR near Clarksville	M C & L	12/6/1864
Obion	Destruction of railroads around Union City	N & NW and Mob & O	12/23/1862
Obion	Capture of Union City	N & NW, Mob & O	3/31/1862
Obion	Destruction of railroad from McKenzie Station to Union City	N & N W	12/24/1862
Obion	Capture of Union City	Mob & O, N & NW	3/31/1862
Robertson	Skirmish at "Dead Horse Trestle"	E & K	10/31/1862
Rutherford	Operations against stockades and block-houses on the N & C RR	N & C	12/2/1864
Rutherford	Skirmish at LaVergne	N & C	10/7/1862
Rutherford	Skirmish at La Vergne	N & C	4/10/1863
Rutherford	Destruction of Murfreesboro depot and railroad	N & C	7/13/1862
Rutherford	Attack on railroad train near Murfreesboro	N & C	12/13/1864
Rutherford	Affair at Christiana	N & C	10/5/1863
Rutherford	Wheeler attacks Murfreesboro	N & C	10/5/1863
Rutherford	Capture of railroad train near Murfreesboro	N & C	12/15/1864
Rutherford	Stopping of a train near Murfreesboro	N & C	9/2/1864
Rutherford	Burning of Train near La Vergne	N & C	12/25/1863
Shelby	Operations on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad	M & C	10/11/1863
Shelby	Destruction of track at Collierville	M & C	11/3/1863
Shelby	Track damaged near Germantown	M & C	7/18/1863
Shelby	Bridge at Collierville	M & C	12/27/1863
Sullivan	Occupation of Zollicoffer	ET & V	10/15/1863
Sullivan	Destruction of the Holston and Watauga railroad bridges	ET & V	12/30/1862
Sullivan	Occupation of Bristol by Federal troops	ET & V	9/19/1863
Sullivan	Skirmish near Bristol	ET & VA	11/10/1861
Sumner	Skirmish at Richland Station	L & N	3/19/1863
Sumner	Morgan at Gallatin	L & N	8/12/1862
Sumner	Guerilla Attack on train at Gallatin Tunnel	L & N	10/26/1863
Sumner	Raid on L & N	L & N	8/19/1862
Sumner	Affair at South Tunnel, Gallatin	L & N	10/10/1864
Sumner	Taking of the station at Gallatin	L & N	3/15/1862
Warren	Destruction of M & M RR	M & M	4/20/1863
Warren	Wheeler attacks McMinnville	TC & RR	10/4/1863
Washington	Destruction of the Holston and Watauga railroad bridges	ET & V	12/30/1862
Washington	East Tennessee Unionist Bridge Burnings	ET & VA, ET & GA, W & A	11/8/1861
Weakley	Destruction of railroad from McKenzie Station to Union City	N & N W	12/24/1862
Williamson	Attack on Brentwood	T & A	3/25/1863

Source: Middle Tennessee State University

 

Recommended Reading: Carter's Raid: An Episode of the Civil War in East Tennessee. Description: During the Civil War, many East Tennesseans remained loyal to the Union. When the state seceded, it smashed a wedge between the region’s pro-Unionist and Confederate factions. Samuel P. Carter of Elizabethton, the daring "sailor on horseback" and a naval officer, led the Yankee cavalry in a raid from Kentucky into his familiar East Tennessee hometown. Continued below...

 

On April 12, 1862 -- one year to the day after Confederate guns opened on Fort Sumter -- a tall, mysterious smuggler and self-appointed Union spy named James J. Andrews and nineteen infantry volunteers infiltrated north Georgia and stole a steam engine referred to as  the General. Racing northward at speeds approaching sixty miles an hour, cutting telegraph lines and destroying track along the way, Andrews planned to open East Tennessee to the Union army, cutting off men and materiel from the Confederate forces in Virginia. If they succeeded, Andrews and his raiders could change the course of the war. But the General’s young conductor, William A. Fuller, chased the stolen train first on foot, then by handcar, and finally aboard another engine, the Texas. He pursued the General until, running out of wood and water, Andrews and his men abandoned the doomed locomotive, ending the adventure that would soon be famous as The Great Locomotive Chase, but not the ordeal of the soldiers involved. In the days that followed, the "engine thieves" were hunted down and captured. Eight were tried and executed as spies, including Andrews. Eight others made a daring escape to freedom, including two assisted by a network of slaves and Union sympathizers. For their actions, before a personal audience with President Abraham Lincoln, six of the raiders became the first men in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor -- the nation's highest decoration for gallantry. Americans north and south, both at the time and ever since, have been astounded and fascinated by this daring raid. Until now, there has not been a complete history of the entire episode and the fates of all those involved. Based on eyewitness accounts, as well as correspondence, diaries, military records, newspaper reports, deposition testimony and other primary sources, Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor by Russell S. Bonds is a blend of meticulous research and compelling narrative that is destined to become the definitive history of "the boldest adventure of the war."

 

Recommended Reading: A History of the American Locomotive: Its Development, 1830-1880 (Trains) (528 pages). Description: Important and beautifully illustrated volume chronicles the explosive growth of the American locomotive from British imports to grand ten-wheelers of the 1870s. Over 240 vintage photographs, drawings, and diagrams tell the exciting tale. Includes comprehensive introduction, appendices and index. Continued...

 

Recommended Reading: War at Every Door: Partisan Politics and Guerrilla Violence in East Tennessee, 1860-1869. Description: One of the most divided regions of the Confederacy, East Tennessee was the site of fierce Unionist resistance to secession, Confederate rule, and the Southern war effort. It was also the scene of unrelenting 'irregular,' or guerrilla, warfare between Union and Confederate supporters, a conflict that permanently altered the region's political, economic, and social landscape. In this study, Noel Fisher examines the military and political struggle for control of East Tennessee from the secession crisis through the early years of Reconstruction, focusing particularly on the military and political significance of the region's irregular activity. Continued below...

Fisher portrays in grim detail the brutality and ruthlessness employed not only by partisan bands but also by Confederate and Union troops under constant threat of guerrilla attack and government officials frustrated by unstinting dissent. He demonstrates that, generally, guerrillas were neither the romantic, daring figures of Civil War legend nor mere thieves and murderers, but rather were ordinary men and women who fought to live under a government of their choice and to drive out those who did not share their views.

 

Recommended Reading: The Railroads of the Confederacy (400 pages) (The University of North Carolina Press: April 15, 1998). Description: Originally published by UNC Press in 1952, The Railroads of the Confederacy tells the story of the first use of railroads on a major scale in a major war. Robert Black presents a complex and fascinating tale, with the railroads of the American South playing the part of tragic hero in the Civil War: at first vigorous though immature; then overloaded, driven unmercifully, starved for iron; and eventually worn out—struggling on to inevitable destruction in the wake of Sherman's army, carrying the Confederacy down with them. Continued below...

With maps of all the Confederate railroads and contemporary photographs and facsimiles of such documents as railroad tickets, timetables, and soldiers' passes, the book will captivate railroad enthusiasts as well as readers interested in the Civil War.