Caught in the Crossfire

Lebanon, because of its proximity to the Cumberland River and its position as a turnpike crossroads, was soon caught in the crossfire of the Civil War. Federal troops first appeared early in 1862. An engagement on the Lebanon Square in May between Union General Ebenezer Dumont's command and Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan's cavalry resulted in a Union victory. However, the town escaped the worst of the war. Union Gen. Alvin C. Gillem reported in August 1864: "Wilson County shows but slight signs of the war... In Lebanon everything indicates peace. The houses have never been disturbed"

A monument to Confederate soldiers, Including Gen. Robert H. Hatton, is at the town square. Hatton, who organized the 7th Tennessee Infantry, died at the Battle of Seven Pines, Virginia, in 1862. Cedar Grove Cemetery at 609 South Maple Street, contains the graves of Hatton and 152 other Confederates, including nine who died in the May 1862 engagement.

The Robert L. Caruthers House, at 241 West Main Street, was home to an important local leader who represented Tennessee in the Provisional Confederate Congress of 1861. He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1863, but was never inaugurated because of Federal occupation and the appointment of Andrew Johnson as Union military governor.

Cumberland University, at 218 South Greenwood Avenue, had its historic campus damaged by Federal troops in 1863. Late in 1864 Confederates burned it completely. Alexander P. Stewart, later a general in the Army Of Tennessee, was a professor there when the War began. He returned to teach in 1867.

Pickett's Chapel Methodist Church is at 209 East Market Street. In 1866, recently emancipated African Americans bought the Methodist church and established their own congregation. The Rev. Calvin Pickett first minister.

(captions)
John Hunt Morgan and wife Courtesy Library of Congress
Robert H. Hatton Courtesy Tennessee State Library and Archives

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Show me all markers in:  Lebanon, TN  |  Wilson County  |  37087  |  Tennessee  |  United States of America

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