Observations of a Yankee in May 1865

Nashville to Chattanooga, Account of a Journey Southward

Published June 4, 1865

Article provided by the NC&StL Preservation Society

CHATTANOOGA, Thursday, May 25, 1865.

I left Nashville at 1 o'clock yesterday, and, without accident, arrived here at 6 this morning Distance, 151 miles; time, bad -- wretchedly bad.

The first place of any account upon the Nashville and Chattanooga Road is Lavergne, sixteen miles from the former place. Before the war this place had a population of nearly a thousand people, and upward of a hundred houses and several saw mills. During the progress of the battle of Stone River our soldiers along the road were fired upon from the windows, whereupon our men retaliated by burning the town, and there is at present but one house left standing.

After leaving Lavergne the battle-field of Stone River is soon presented to the view. I recollect that terrible Wednesday night, when MCCOOK's corps was driven back four miles. With the exception of a grave-yard, here and there, and one line of rifle pits which has not yet been ploughed down, very little of interest presents itself. There is being a cemetery laid out, however, which is going to be a fine thing. Already a huge monument marks the resting place of the soldiers who fell in Gen. HAZEN's brigade. Another is projected which shall perpetuate the fame of the entire collection of honored dead who fell in the defence of their country on the banks of Stone River.

Murfreesboro, thirty-one miles from Nashville, is a handsome town, situated upon a beautiful plain, and surrounded by a healthy and fertile country. From the year 1817 to 1827 this place was the capital of the State, when the State-house was consumed by fire, and the seat of government subsequently removed to Nashville. The capture of Murfreesboro in July, 1862, by FORREST, was on unpardonable Federal mishap. The commanding officers of the two regiments quarreled and separated themselves some two miles apart, and FORREST stepped in and gobbled first one and then the other. In all he captured 1,500 infantry and 600 cavalry and a battery of artillery. Gen. NELSON soon after moved his division into town, and held it until Gen. BUELL made his retrogade movement, when FORREST again took possession. The latter tried the same dodge during the battle of Nashville, but was whipped and driven off by Gen. ROUSSEAU. Murfreesboro has always been an exceedingly disloyal town, and at present is far from having experienced a sound recovery of the secession fever.

Forty-two miles from Nashville is Christiana. It obtains its name from Christian Creek, denominated thus, because its flow, like Christmas, comes but once a year," and at that festive period. The region is timbered with red cedar, and the products before the war were chiefly stock and cotton.

Fosterville is forty-six miles from Nashville, and is destined to be a neat town. The surrounding country is agreeably diversified in surface, highly productive, liberally watered, and extensively cultivated.

Wartrace, fifty-five miles from Nashville, was named after Wartrace Creek, and is situated in Bedford County. It is surrounded by a great cattle-raising country, and I am informed that before the war, one hundred thousand head of hogs were fattened there annually.

Near Wartrace, on a branch road, is the delightful town of Shelbyville -- a place I visited in company with President JOHNSON, a little more than a year ago. This town has been an oasis of loyalty in the great rebellious desert of Middle Tennessee. It is situated on the northeast bank of Duck River, considerably elevated, but on rather an uneven and rocky surface, surrounded by cedar groves. In 1830 Shelbyville was almost entirely demolished by a storm, in which nearly a hundred persons were killed and injured. In 1833, the cholera raged with great malignancy, and about one-tenth of the population fell victims to the scourge. At the breaking out of the rebellion, it had a population of about three thousand five hundred souls, and supported two newspapers. Shelbyville is celebrated for its beautiful women.

The next place upon the railroad is Tullahoma, distance from Nashville seventy miles. Gen. ROSECRANS, in July, 1863, fought a desperate fight at this place, and killed Gen. STEARNS, of BRAGG's army, dislodged the enemy, and sent him in disorder to Bridgeport. Tullahoma is located on what may be termed as the first bench of the Cumberland range, from which the railroad has a descending grade for five miles to Duck River. Tullahoma is noted for the purity and excellence of its chalybeate and limestone waters. It must ever be important as a railroad station on account of its being the intersecting point of the Manchester and McMinnville Railroad, which extends to the latter point, a distance of 35 miles. Manchester and McMinville both have been great guerrilla nests, and the scenes of a multiplicity of conflicts between some of our Generals and the late JOHN MORGAN. There is a great curiosity near Manchester -- an old natural stone fort, which presents a solid wall in the fork between the rivers, and incloses about forty acres of land. It presents indications of great antiquity, as the venerable trees growing upon it are computed to have withstood the storms of five centuries. There are several superb watering places in close proximity.

Estelle Springs, a little place seven miles from Tallahoma, obtains its name from one WILLIAM ESTELLE, who formerly resided in the neighborhood. There are a number of spring's which afford the varieties of sulphur, chalybeate and free stone waters.

The traveler now passes through a beautiful country, with magnificent prospects on every hand. Mountains, valleys and streams of a varied and picturesque character dazzle the eye of the lover of nature. We dash through Allisonia and Deckerd, and soon arrive at Cowan, a little pet town located at the foot of the western slope of the Cumberland Mountain. Beautiful mountain scenery delights the vision of the tourist looking toward the northeast and south. Gen. BUELL had his headquarters here in August, 1862, and the orders for the retrograde movement of his army were dated here. At this time Gen. THOMAS was at Deckerd, NELSON was at Murfreesboro, MITCHELL was at Huntsville, NEGLEY was at Columbia, and CRITTENDEN and MCCOOK were at Battle Creek. One month later, and Nashville was beleagured by BRECKINRIDGE's infantry and FORREST's and JOHN MORGAN's cavalry, and BUELL and BRAGG, with the bulk of their armies, were in Kentucky. This event will ever be memorable in the history of the rebellion.

>From Nashville to Cowan is 87 miles, and from thence to Stevenson is 26 miles. There are three small villages in this run, of a straggling nature -- Tantallion, Crow's Nest and Anderson. Located between Cowan and Tantallion, is the Cumberland Tunnel, which is a great structure. It is nearly 3,000 feet in length, 14 feet wide and 20 high. It penetrates through solid rock, and required three years' time in its construction.

Stevenson, 113 miles from Nashville, perpetuates the name of the traitor V.K. STEVENSON, who was, at the breaking out of the rebellion, President of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. Stevenson is located at the base of a spur of the Cumberland range, about three miles from the Tennesse River, and contained, before the war, a population of over three hundred people. The scenery is rendered sublime by the presence of three extensive chains of mountains. It is the intersecting point of the Memphis and Charleston and the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroads, and must necessarily become in time, an important railway centre. The surrounding country is a clay soil, rather broken. Among the natural curiosities in the vicinity is the Nickajack Cave, which has been explored several miles.

>From Stevenson to Chattanooga the distance is 38 miles -- 151 from Nashville to the latter place. The road passes along the bank of the Tennessee and the base of Lookout Mountain, affording views grand, picturesque and beautiful. We pass through four towns. Bridgeport, where an immense structure spans the Tennessee River. This was just no town at all before the war; now there are hundreds of government buildings, and a great many stores and private dwellings. Two gunboats and six steamboats have been built here since the capture of Chattanooga. Shell Mound is the next place; but there are few visible evidences of its existence. It was so called from the great number of fossils and shells discovered here. The views, both up and down the river from this point, are among the finest on the route. Whitesides borrows its name from JAMES A. WHITESIDES, one of the former directors of the road. Near by is an ugly creek, or mountain cut, which is spanned by a trestle bridge nearly two hundred foot high. It totters, croaks and shakes as the train slowly crawls over, and causes one to draw a long breath when he finds himself safely across. Six miles from Chattanooga is Lookout, which obtains its name from the neighboring mountain, where HOOKER fought in the clouds.

Our train brought down nearly a thousand paroled rebels, most of whom belong in Georgia. I had a seat with, and made the acquaintance of Gen. WILLIAMS, better known as "Cerro Gordo Williams," who was on his way to Chattanooga to recover some horses which he had left there. He is not quite as big as all out doors, but he is the hugest specimen I have over seen born of woman. He must be six foot six and built in proportion. He has a head like a lion, a heart like a country fire-place, and a belly like a boiler. His legs would make good underpinnings for a water tank, while his feet looked like minature gunboats, constructed upon the same plan that canal-boats are built in Maine -- by the mile, and cut off to suit purchasers. He seemed to be a pretty clever fellow, and smacked his lips with great satisfaction after a tremendous pull at my debilitated pint of traveling fluid. He was a Kentucky lawyer at the breaking out of the rebellion, and was celebrated for his bravery, hospitality, and love of horseflesh. He informed me yesterday that he owned a farm in Indiana, and that at the breaking out of the rebellion, he had over two hundred mules, twenty blooded horses, a hundred head of cattle, and two hundred thousand bushels of grain. He is very profane in conversation, and describes the Mexican war as a skirmish compared with the battles of the rebellion.

A large portion of the rebel soldiers upon the train had been attached to DIBRELL's command, and were all well provided with specie. It was amusing to hear them relate about their forcing JEFF. DAVIS to pay them after their arrival at Washington, Ga. Before the entire command were paid off they say the money-chests presented a dismal appearance and poor old Jefficoats looked blue. Their specie is mostly in the shape of Mexican dollars, with an occasional American silver piece and gold coin. I bought four of the former for one dollar and a quarter apiece.

The country all along the railroad between Nashville and Tullahoma is well adapted for farming purposes. Between Nashville and Murfreesboro the land is about equally divided between cotton and corn. From Murfreesboro to Tullahoma it is about three-fourths cotton. In old times all the help were negro slaves -- now it is divided into four classes; white men, negro women and white and black children -- very few or no colored men to be seen at all.

I noticed that the Sewanee Coal Mines were being worked, and learned that a squad of engineers and others were hunting for oil. From Tullahoma to Chattanooga the valleys are nearly all put to grain. The corn is fearfully behind, and cotton and corn both, in many cases, are drowned out, owing to the heavy rains during the post Spring.

The main track of the Chattanooga Railroad, with the exception of some ten or fifteen miles, may be, is in excellent condition. Most of the side tracks, however, are prettly badly worn, and splintered. There is an abundance of water tanks, all of which, with their machinery, are in good order. There is enough wood along the road to last the company, in ordinary times, five years, while upward of two hundred thousand dollars' worth of rails, wheels, &c., &c., lie uncared for along the line of the road. The bridges are all improved structures, and are in good condition. New block-houses are being built at all important points. The garrisons have been cut down considerably during the past four months, and some of the prominent works along the road have been dismantled.

There are two fine chances for hotels on this line of road -- Wantrace and Stevenson. There is a thing at Stevenson called the Alabama Hotel, and an arrangement at Wantrace called an eating-house. At the latter place I took supper. We all knew the institution, and few ventured into the dollar-a-head-slush-establishment. At the extreme end of the dining hall, while I was in the act of disentangling my molars from a plug of jerked beef, I observed a dilapidated specimen of female antiquity disemboweling an aged hen, and jamming its entrails through a crack in the floor with her bare feet. At this juncture, her better half, who was a split between a herring and a shoe-string, came round for the almighty D.

Embosomed amid fair woods and hills, watched over by the lofty Lookout, and lovingly girdled by the beautiful and swift-running Tennessee, lies Chattanooga -- the old "Ross Landing" of the early Indian times, when the Cherokee was lord of the soil, and played the brigand and assassin at all the passes of his mountain domain. It is the eastern terminus of the Chattanooga and Nashville Railroad. The town was laid out in 1839, and contained, before the war, a population of 4,000 inhabitants. The facilities afforded by the uninterrupted navigation of the river at all seasons contributed immensely to the growth of Chattanooga, and made it a conspicuous stopping point for East and Middle Tennessee. In addition to its merchandising, the place contained various industrial establishments, among which was an extensive car and locomotive factory and two steam slaughter-houses, where as many as 125,000 hogs have been killed in one season. Operations had also commenced for the manufacture of iron, based upon the deposits of stone-coal and iron ore contained in the surrounding mountains. The region being also liberally supplied with timber and water-power, created an active trade in lumber. Up to the time of the Federal occupation of Chattanooga, the war had produced no great change. No improvements were made, while very little devastation followed. Now, the old residents can hardly recognize their home.

One year ago, it was probably the finest city in the country, Nashville not excepted. Nearly half a million of rations a day were arriving by rail, and great numbers of soldiers were arriving and departing North and South daily.

Upward of twenty-five thousand men were engaged daily upon the fortifications, for three months, while probably five thousand a day have been engaged at that kind of work since. The fortifications at this place are among the hugest and best in the country. Fort Sherman is an immense work, and so is Fort Creighton, and the works on Cameron and Crutch-field Hills. I met with the Chief Engineer this morning, who informs me that nothing more than labor will be expended on the works that are not finished.

The government has erected thousands of feet of buildings, spanned the Tennessee at this point with a draw-bridge, and built a fine machine-shop, and placed in it the machinery which was taken at Atlanta. There is a ship-yard here which has built eleven stern-wheel steamers, and two gunboats. There are two hotels and a daily newspaper here, which I shall speak of presently.

I am highly indebted to Capt. SMITH, Chief Quartermaster, for information. He tells me that out of six thousand men in his employ, four thousand have been discharged.

I must devote a little space to the military cemetery, which is being elevated near this city. The entire thing is under the able superintendence of Chaplain THOMAS B. VAN HORN, and its projection, and its elevation thus far, reflects great credit upon him. The entire cemetery covers eighty acres of ground, and is inclosed by a neat stone wall, about four feet in height. There are already six thousand Federal soldiers buried here, representing twenty-one States. No citizen, government employe or Confederate soldier will be interred here. The grounds are laid out in sections, but the bodies will be placed under ground indiscriminately. Some of the sections are arbitrary, while others are natural. It is presumed that twelve thousand honored dead will slumber in this silent abode before the close of the present year. All the dead from Chattanooga to Atlanta will be searched for. An excellent macadamized road runs around the grounds near the wall, from which run a multiplicity of avenues and walks. Four of the sections are sodded and complete, one of which is arbitrary, and shaped like a shield.

There are already a few handsome monuments upon the ground. One hundred and forty men work the grounds daily. Nothing but labor has so far been spent, but it is believed that its cost in cash will reach half a million of dollars, which sum, it is conjectured, can easily be raised by the States by subscription and legislation. The different corps, seven in all -- the Fourth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-third -- will be represented by monuments located on plots of ground shaped like the respective corps badges. The grand monument, as projected, will be a pyramid in shape, eighty feet square at the base, eighty feet high, with a circular chamber 40 feet in diameter and 50 feet high, with appropriate inscriptions. This will be elevated in the centre of the ground, the location having been already raised.

All kinds of indigenous trees, plants, flowers, vines and shrubbery, and many varieties from the North have already boon planted. The sections are varied, but graceful in contour, and the avenues and walks are laid out with taste.

BENJAMIN C. TRUMAN.

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