Hallowed Ground

Tullahoma was the headquarters and logistics center of the Confederate Army of Tennessee for the first six months of 1863 after the Battle of Murfreesboro. At least three hospitals here treated soldiers wounded during Gen. Braxton Bragg 1862 and 1863 engagements or who suffered from disease, illness or injury.



More than 500 soldiers from virtually every state in the Confederacy who were killed or died near Tullahoma are buried here. At first, wooden headboard marked the graves, but soon all vestiges of individual markers were lost in what became essentially a mass grave.



On August 10, 1889, Col. Matthew Martin, 23rd Tennessee Infantry (CSA), deeded this property to a board of trustees to maintain the cemetery. The deed stipulated that each trustee must be either be a "true Confederate soldier or a descendant of a sympathizer." It also provided that no one was to be buried in the cemetery after 1889 unless they were "killed or died in actual service of the Confederate States of America whose remains their friends wished moved and buried in this grave-yard.



In 1900, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected the iron entrance gate and fence. The Tennessee Civil War Centennial Commission erected the main monument in 1964. The Benjamin F. Cheatham Camp No. 72, Sons of Confederate Veterans, began in 1992 to research the soldiers buried here using muster rolls and other records and ultimately identified more than 380 of the men. The Tullahoma Confederate Association continues to maintain the cemetery to this day.



(captions)

(upper left) Col. Matthew Martin, Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans (1888)

(lower right) Sketch map of wartime Tullahoma, Pvt. William A. Smith, June 18, 1863. Last Resting Place: Tullahoma Confederate Cemetery (1995)

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Show me all markers in:  Tullahoma, TN  |  Coffee County  |  37388  |  Tennessee  |  United States of America

Confederate Memorial
Tullahoma Campaign
Confederate Cemetery
Army of Tennessee
Isham G. Harris
Tullahoma Campaign
Camp Forrest
Tullahoma Campaign
Baillet Sisters
Coffee County / Franklin County

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