Crutchfield House

Crutchfield House (HM1B8I)

Location: Chattanooga, TN 37402 Hamilton County
Buy Tennessee State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 35° 2.732', W 85° 18.638'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 1184 views
Inscription

Headquarters and Hospital

— Chattanooga Campaign —

(preface)
After the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863, Union Gen. William S. Rosecrans retreated to Federal-occupied Chattanooga, a strategically vital rail center, where Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg laid siege from Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant took command in October and began his efforts to break the siege. Bragg detached forces under Gen. James Longstreet to attack Knoxville as a diversion. After Gen. William T. Sherman reinforced Grant in November, the Federals attacked the heights and Bragg retreated. The Union army held the city for the rest of the war.

(main text)
On January 21, 1861, Jefferson Davis, traveling home to Mississippi after resigning from the United States Senate, stayed at the Crutchfield House. It was Chattanooga's first major railroad hotel, having opened in 1856. Located in the city's center across from the Union Depot, the hotel served travelers on both the Western and Atlantic and the Nashville andChattanooga Railroads. It was a focus of Chattanooga's bustling economic and social activity. Davis delivered a speech there on the sectional crisis described by others as brief and moderate. As he left the room, William Crutchfield, brother of hotel owner Thomas Crutchfield and an "uncompromising Union man," made a heated reply in which he called Davis a traitor and denounced secession. Davis returned to find pistols drawn and tensions high. Seeking satisfaction, Davis asked if Crutchfield was "responsible and reputable." No duel took place, but the incident was reported as an example of the tensions that tore the nation apart.

During 1862, the hotel served as a Confederate headquarters for the garrison in and around Chattanooga. The commander, Gen. Samuel Jones, turned the hotel into a hospital in the winter. When Union troops occupied the town on September 9, 1863, the 92nd Illinois Mounted Infantry planted its regimental colors "on the third story of the Crutchfield House, the first to float over the evacuated town." During the occupation, the hotel served as hospital for Union soldiers wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga.

The Crutchfield House survived the war but burned in 1867. In 1926, Dr and Mrs. John T. Read constructed the ten-story Georgian Revival-style Read House Hotel on the Crutchfield House hotel site in front of you.

(caption)
Crutchfield House, 1864, seen behind the Adams Express Company building. The passenger depot is at left Courtesy Library of Congress

(sidebar)
Crutchfield House, ca. 1864 — Courtesy Chattanooga History Center
A visitor just before the war described a typical scene there: "The hotel swarmed with people arriving and departing with the trains, east, west, north, and south, hurrying to and fro with eager and excited looks, as if lives, fortunes, and sacred honor hung upon the events of the next hour."
Details
HM NumberHM1B8I
Series This marker is part of the Tennessee: Tennessee Civil War Trails series
Tags
Placed ByTennessee Civil War Trails
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, October 24th, 2014 at 5:39pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)16S E 654079 N 3879397
Decimal Degrees35.04553333, -85.31063333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 35° 2.732', W 85° 18.638'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds35° 2' 43.92" N, 85° 18' 38.28" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)423, 931
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 901-967 Broad St, Chattanooga TN 37402, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. What historical period does the marker represent?
  2. What historical place does the marker represent?
  3. What type of marker is it?
  4. What class is the marker?
  5. What style is the marker?
  6. Does the marker have a number?
  7. What year was the marker erected?
  8. This marker needs at least one picture.
  9. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  10. Is the marker in the median?