The U.S. Military Railroad

The railroad in front of you was part of a vital transportation network for the Federal army during the Civil War. W.H.Crutcher had purchased 533 acres and constructed a sixteen-by-sixteen foot log structure here in December 1860. After occupying the region in the spring of 1862, Union officers needed a reliable, efficient transportation link between the steamboats docked at Johnsonville on the Tennessee River and the major Union base at Nashville. They seized the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad that ran to Kingston Springs with plans to extend the tracks to Johnsonville. They completed it two years later as a Federal military railroad.

Free blacks and former slaves impressed by the Union Army constructed the military railroad. The 12th and 13th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiments defended the railroad from Confederate cavalry and guerrilla attacks. These 78 miles of rail became vitally important after Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan burned the south tunnel of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in Sumner County, thus delaying southbound Federal supplies to Nashville.

Union Gen. William T. Sherman later stated, "The Atlanta campaign would simply have been impossible without the use of railroads." After the military railroad was completed in 1864, army supplies were transported south by ship to the port facility at Johnsonville. From there, supplies were transferred from ships to railcars and transported through Mile Post 42 (present-day Dickson) to Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta.

(captions)
Tennessee railroad map, from Civil War Atlas
Johnsonville Depot - Courtesy Library of Congress
Trestle, Sullivan's Branch Bridge No. 2 Courtesy Tennessee State Library and Archives

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.

Show me all markers in:  Dickson, TN  |  Dickson County  |  37055  |  Tennessee  |  United States of America

Civil War Railroad
Frank Goad Clement
First National Bank
World War I 1917-1919, a War Memorial
Dickson, Tennessee,100 Years 1899-1999
1950 Korean Conflict 1955/1964 Vietnam Era 1975, a War Memorial
World War II 1940-1946, a War Memorial
War Memorial Building
Cowan Lumber Company
Irish Shanty

• GPX
• KML
• LOC

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