Louisville and Nashville Railroad
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, among Tennessee's most strategically important lines, closely followed Mansker Creek here, and a railroad bridge stood two miles downstream. To protect the railroad and the bridge, several companies of Union soldiers camped along Mansker Creek beginning in 1862.On August 20, 1862, Confederate Col. John Hunt Morgan and his brigade pursued a detachment of 300 Union cavalrymen along the railroad in this vicinity. The Federals had arrested nearly all the male citizens—boys and old men—of Gallatin and were marching them along the tracks to Nashville. Morgan chased the cavalrymen down, killed most of them (allegedly shooting some after they surrendered), and attacked a nearby guard stockade. Morgan succeeded in freeing most of the civilian prisoners.
The next month, Union Col. William B. Stoke and the 5th Tennessee Cavalry returned the favor, raiding a Confederate position near Goodlettsville and surprising Confederate Col. James D. Bennett's 9th Tennessee Cavalry (Morgan's command). Numbering only 150 against Bennett's 400, Stokes and his men galloped, shooting into the Confederate camp. Bennett's men returned fire as they scattered in all directions, and the Federals chased them for at least three miles. Bennett lost 40 killed or wounded and 39 prisoners, while the Federals suffered no casualties. Stokes reported, "The way was strewn with clothing, arms, &c., showing it was a complete rout."
(sidebar)
Union Gen. William Bowen Campbell (1807-1867) was born on Mansker Creek in 1807, either in a house on the bank about a hundred yards to your left, or in the larger brick house to your right. When the war came, both United States and the Confederate governments offered a general's commission to Campbell, who was a Mexican War hero and former governor of Tennessee. President Abraham Lincoln commissioned him a brigadier general of volunteers in 1862, but Campbell resigned later that year because of ill health. After the war, Campbell served briefly in the U.S. Congress.
(captions)
(lower left) Louisville and Nashville Railroad
(upper center)Stockade for U.S. guard on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Harper's Weekly, Feb 7, 1863
(upper right) Gov. William B. Campbell Courtesy Historic Mansker's Station Museum
| HM Number | HM1ETX |
|---|---|
| Series | This marker is part of the Tennessee: Tennessee Civil War Trails series |
| Tags | |
| Placed By | Tennessee Civil War Trails |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Monday, October 6th, 2014 at 11:28pm PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 16S E 527924 N 4019657 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 36.32153333, -86.68890000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 36° 19.292', W 86° 41.334' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 36° 19' 17.52" N, 86° 41' 20.04" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 615 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 934-1556 Caldwell Dr, Goodlettsville TN 37072, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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