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Civil War
Nashville and Union Occupation
 With
the fall of Ft. Donelson to the Union Army in mid-February of
1862, the gateway to Nashville was open. The city was a
primary objective of the Federal Army and they seized the
opportunity to capture one of the South's main transportation
hubs. On February 25th Union gunboats, led by the U.S.S.
Cairo, moved down the Cumberland River to take control of the
first Southern capitol to fall in the war. The Union
maintain control of Nashville until mid-1867.
 When
Andrew Johnson was appointed Military Governor in March 1862, he
campaigned for fortifications to be built to defend the city
against the possibility of Confederate attack. Under the
command of General Don Carlos Buell, the Union Army designed and
built, using impressed freed slaves and black refugees from
surrounding plantations, a series of defenses that ringed the
southern boundary of Nashville. The largest, Fort Negley,
was four-acres in size and could garrison over 1000 men.
When completed, the installation was the largest inland masonry
fortification in North America, and Nashville the most heavily
fortified city outside Washington D.C.
Purchase a "Battle
for Nashville" DVD
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