East Tennessee bridge burnings

Transcription

(ANNOUNCER OFF CAMERA) TENNESSEE CIVIL WAR 150 IS BROUGHT TO YOU IN PART BY TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, TENNESSEE CIVIL WAR SESQUICENTENNIAL COMMISSION, AND TENNESSEE CIVIL WAR NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA. (VAN WEST) YOU FIND THE RIVERS YOU FIND THE RAILROADS YOU FIND WHERE MOST OF THE BATTLES IN TENNESSEE TOOK PLACE. (BRIAN MCKNIGHT) ULTIMATELY, WHOEVER CONTROLS THE RIVERS AND THE RAILS PARTICULARLY IN TENNESSEE WINS THE WAR. (NARRATOR) AS A MILITARY STRATEGY, IT IS STRAIGHTFORWARD AND SIMPLE. BUT CONTROLLING THE RIVERS AND RAILS IN THE CIVIL WAR GOES OUTSIDE THE LINES OF BATTLES TO BRING MALICE AND MISERY TO ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT TO LIVE IN PEACE. (WAYNE MOORE) CIVILIANS SUFFERED INORDINATELY FROM THE WAR BECAUSE OF THE OCCUPATION OF HOSTILE TROOPS. (NARRATOR) A POTTER FEELS FORCED INTO MAKING A PATRIOTIC CHOICE THAT BRANDS HIM A TRAITOR... THE DREAMS OF A TEENAGE GIRL IN A RIVER TOWN ARE DISRUPTED BY INVASION AND LOSS. THE CHALLENGE ALSO MAKES MEN INTO HEROES... LIKE THE VOLUNTEERS WHOSE RISKY RIDE ON THE RAILS LEADS TO A MEDAL OF HONOR, BUT ALSO AN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE EXECUTIONER. IT STILL COMES DOWN TO ONE THING. (FRED PROUTY) THE RIVERS IN TENNESSEE HAVE BEEN COMPARED TO DAGGERS PLUNGING INTO THE HEART OF THE SOUTH... AND THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE. IT WAS AN OPEN ARTERY INTO THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE CONFEDERACY. (NARRATOR) IT IS THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF THE SOUTH, AND TENNESSEE IS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. THREE GREAT RIVERS CARVE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE STATE AS STEAMBOATS CARRY COTTON, CORN, CATTLE, IRON AND COPPER UP AND DOWN THE RIVER. (VAN WEST) TENNESSEEE PROSPERED AS IT NEVER HAD BEFORE IN THE TEN YEARS BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR. (NARRATOR) PLANTATION OWNERS NEED MORE WORKERS TO MEET THE GROWING DEMAND FOR THEIR PRODUCTS. (FRED PROUTY) THE SLAVE POPULATION WAS ACTUALLY OUTGROWING THE STATE WHITE POPULATION AT THE TIME. (NARRATOR) AND BUSINESSMEN LIKE SAMUEL DOLD MORGAN RIDE THE WAVE OF A BOOMING ECONOMY. MORGAN OWNS A DRY GOODS STORE IN DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE AND RUNS TWO THRIVING COTTON MILLS. (RUTH WARNER) HE WAS SO WELL LIKED BY HIS PEERS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT THEY BEGAN TO CALL HIM THE MERCHANT PRINCE OF NASHVILLE. (NARRATOR) MORGAN HAD BEEN APPOINTED BY THE LEGISLATURE AS PRESIDENT OF A CITIZENS COMMITTEE IN CHARGE OF BUILDING THE NEW TENNESSEE STATE CAPITOL. (RUTH WARNER) HE HAD A VISION FOR THE STATE CAPITOL TO BE THIS OUTSTANDING GREEK REVIVAL MONUMENT YOU KNOW ON THE HILL THE HIGHEST POINT IN NASHVILLE. (NARRATOR) NOW, IN THE BOOM OF THE 1850S, SAM MORGAN WRITES THE CHARTER FOR THE VERY FIRST SUCCESSFUL RAILWAY SYSTEM IN THE STATE. FROM THE DOCK TO THE DEPOT, SAMUEL MORGAN AND OTHER MERCHANTS CAN NOW SHIP GOODS FASTER, FURTHER AND CHEAPER. (DR. CARROLL VAN WEST) CERTAINLY, IF NASHVILLE IS THE CENTER OF THIS GREAT RAILROAD NETWORK THAT IS STARTING TO BIND TOGETHER THE EAST AND THE WEST AND THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH ANYONE SMART ENOUGH TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT AND CREATE WHOLESALE BUSINESSES WOULD PROFIT IMMENSELY. AND SAM MORGAN WAS ONE OF THOSE. [CANNON FIRING] BOOM! (NARRATOR) BUT NOTHING CAN BE THE SAME AFTER THE HISTORIC ATTACK ON FT. SUMTER BY THE CONFEDERATE ARMY, APRIL 12, 1861. SAMUEL MORGAN'S OLDEST SON, ST. CLAIR MACINTOSH MORGAN, IS BELIEVED BY SOME TO HAVE FIRED THE FIRST SHOT. A YOUNGER SON AND NAMESAKE OF HIS FATHER, SAM MORGAN, JOINS THE KENTUCKY CAVALRY TO SERVE WITH HIS COUSIN, THE SOON TO BE LEGENDARY BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN HUNT MORGAN. THE CONFEDERATE HERO WILL AGGRAVATE THE UNION ARMY BY ATTACKING THE VERY RAILROADS THAT HELPED MAKE HIS UNCLE SUCCESSFUL. AND SAMUEL MORGAN HIMSELF STARTS A BRAND NEW BUSINESS THAT ONCE AGAIN RELIES ON THE RIVERS AND RAILS. (RUTH WARNER) HE MANUFACTURED PERCUSSION CAPS IN SOUTH NASHVILLE WHICH WERE USED AT THE BATTLE OF MANASSUS. (NARRATOR) SO, THOSE SAME RIVERS AND RAILS THAT HAD TRANSPORTED PROSPERITY TO TENNESSEE AND THE SOUTH WILL NOW BECOME LIFELINES FOR MOVING MEN, AMMUNITION AND SUPPLIES TO A WAR THAT SPLITS THE NATION. (BRIAN MCKNIGHT) WE DON'T THINK VERY MUCH ABOUT IT TODAY BECAUSE WE CAN DROP PARATROOPERS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD BUT BACK THEN YOU HAD TO TRANSPORT 30, 40, 50 THOUSAND MEN PER SIDE AND YOU DIDN'T DO THAT BY PUTTING THEM ON A TRAIL AND GETTING THEM TO WALK IN A SPECIFIC DIRECTION. YOU HAD TO PUT THEM ON RAIL CARS OR YOU HAD TO PUT THEM ON BOATS, AND YOU HAD TO GET THEM TO THE FIELD. (NARRATOR) IN THE ROCKY REGION OF EAST TENNESSEE WHERE COTTON IS NOT KING, PEOPLE LIKE CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER HAUN FIND OTHER WAYS TO MAKE A LIVING. (DON BIBLE) HE WENT BY THE INITIALS C.A. OR ALEX. MOST PEOPLE CALLED HIM ALEX. HE WAS PROBABLY, IF NOT THE FINEST POTTER THAT TENNESSEE EVER PRODUCED, HE WAS ONE OF THE FINEST. (NARRATOR) IN 1861, ALEX HAUN, A FATHER OF FIVE CHILDREN, WORKS AND LIVES IN A COMMUNITY CALLED POTTERSTOWN, WHICH IS OCCUPIED BY THE CONFEDERATE ARMY. LIKE MOST OF HIS NEIGHBORS, HE IS A SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION CAUSE. (DON BIBLE) THEY FELT THAT THE UNION HAD BEEN CREATED BY THEIR FOREFATHERS AND THEY, THEY DIDN'T WANT TO SEE IT DISSOLVED. (NARRATOR) WILLIAM CARTER, A FORMER MINISTER, COMES UP WITH AN IDEA TO BURN RAILROAD BRIDGES ACROSS EAST TENNESSEE TO SLOW THE MOVEMENT OF SOUTHERN SOLDIERS. GENERAL GEORGE THOMAS HELPS ARRANGE A RENDEZVOUS RENDEZVOUS IN WASHINGTON WITH THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF. (DON BIBLE) THEY HAD A MEETING UP THERE AND LINCOLN APPROVED THE PLAN AND PROMISED THEM THAT FEDERAL FORCES WOULD INVADE AS SOON AS THE BRIDGES WERE BURNED. (NARRATOR) AMONG THE SECRET CONSPIRATORS ON THAT EARLY MORNING, NOVEMBER EIGHTH, 1861, IS ALEX HAUN. HE IS JOINED BY A NEIGHBOR, JACOB HARMON AND HIS TWO SONS, HENRY AND TOM. A POTTERS ASSISTANT, 21-YEAR-OLD JACOB HINSHAW, AND HENRY FRY, A SHOEMAKER, ARE ALSO A PART OF THE PLOT. (DON BIBLE) IT WAS A COLD NIGHT AND THE SEVEN CONFEDERATE BRIDGE GUARDS WERE IN A TENT. AND THEY HAD GUNS ON THEM BEFORE THE MEN EVEN KNEW THEY WERE THERE. (BRIDGE BURNERS) GET ON OUT OF THERE WE'LL SHOOT YOU WHERE YOU LAY! PUT YOUR HANDS UP! PUT YOUR HANDS UP! GET ON OUT OF THERE! (DON BIBLE) THEY HAD THEM OUTSIDE AND ALL THE TIME THE BRIDGE WAS BEING SET ON FIRE... ...THE STORY IS THAT THERE WAS A DISCUSSION. I SAY WE KILL EM... (DON BIBLE) SOME OF THEM WANTED TO KILL THEM ON THE SPOT SO THERE WOULD BE NO WITNESSES, OTHERS SAID NO... NO, WE CAN'T DO THAT. IT'S ONE THING TO KILL A MAN IN A FIELD OF FIRE. BUT THESE MEN ARE UNARMED. WE CAN'T KILL THEM IN COLD BLOOD. (DON BIBLE) THAT POSITION FINALLY PREVAILED WITH THE STIPULATION THAT THE MEN WOULD TAKE AN OATH THAT THEY WOULDN'T REVEAL ANYTHING THAT THEY SAW OR HEARD THAT NIGHT OTHER THAN THAT THE BRIDGE WAS BURNED. (NARRATOR) THE CONFEDERACY RESPONDS TO THE BRIDGE BURNING RAPIDLY AND RUTHLESSLY. ALEX HAUN IS ARRESTED THE VERY NEXT AFTERNOON ALONG WITH JACOB HARMON AND HIS SONS. CONFEDERATE WAR SECRETARY JUDAH P. BENJAMIN OFFERS NO MERCY. ALL SUCH AS CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN HAVING BEEN ENGAGED IN BRIDGE-BURNING ARE TO BE TRIED SUMMARILY BY DRUM-HEAD COURT MARTIAL, AND, IF FOUND GUILTY, EXECUTED ON THE SPOT BY HANGING IN THE VICINITY OF THE BURNED BRIDGES. (BRIAN MCKNIGHT) THE CONFEDERACY WAS TERRIFIED OF WHAT THE WAR MIGHT BECOME IF EAST TENNESSEE UNIONISTS BECAME TOO BOLD. (NARRATOR) JACOB HINSHAW AND HENRY FRY GO ON THE RUN BUT ARE CAPTURED WITHIN A FEW DAYS. AFTER A QUICK CONVICTION, THE TWO MEN ARE HANGED FROM AN OAK TREE NEAR THE GREENVILLE RAILROAD DEPOT. ALEX HAUN AND THE HARMONS ARE LIKEWISE FOUND GUILTY. HAUN IS PUBLICLY HANGED FROM A GALLOWS ON DECEMBER 10TH. HE LEAVES A LETTER FOR HIS PREGNANT WIFE... I HAVE THE PROMISE THAT MY BODY WILL BE SENT HOME TO YOU. OH LIVE FOR HEAVEN, OH MY BOSOM FRIEND AND CHILDREN. LIVE FOR HEAVEN, I PRAY. MY TIME IS ALMOST OUT, DEAR FRIENDS, FAREWELL TO THIS WORLD...FAREWELL TO EARTH AND EARTHLY TROUBLES. (NARRATOR) JACOB HARMON AND HIS SON HENRY ARE HANGED JUST A FEW DAYS LATER. (DON BIBLE) HENRY HARMON WAS PUT ON THE GALLOWS FIRST AND THE ROPE BROKE. AND HIS HALF LIFELESS BODY FELL TO THE GROUND AND THEY HAD TO HANG HIM AGAIN AND, OF COURSE, HIS FATHER SAW ALL OF THAT. (NARRATOR) LINCOLN'S ARMY HAS BEEN A NO-SHOW. (DON BIBLE) SOMEBODY, WITHOUT LINCOLN'S KNOWLEDGE, DECIDED THAT THE ARMY WAS TOO STRONG IN THE KNOXVILLE AREA FOR THEM TO INVADE EAST TENNESSEE AND THEY GOT HERE TWO YEARS LATER AFTER THE FIVE MEN WERE HANGED AND THEIR FAMILIES HAD BEEN TAKEN OF BASICALLY EVERYTHING THAT THEY HAD AND RUN OUT OF THEIR HOMES AND SO FORTH. (NARRATOR) THE RAILROAD BRIDGES ARE QUICKLY REPAIRED. BUT THE UNION ARMY IS MOVING TROOPS THROUGHOUT KENTUCKY, AND THE CONFEDERACY HAS MORE THAN 300 MILES OF TENNESSEE BORDER TO PROTECT. THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OFFERS THE FEDERALS A HIGHWAY TO MEMPHIS. SO, SOUTHERN GENERAL ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON PUTS UP A ROADBLOCK. (FRED PROUTY) THE COLUMBUS FORTIFICATIONS ON THE HIGH BLUFFS IN COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY WERE THE GIBRALTAR OF THE CONFEDERATE FORTIFICATION IN TENNESSEE, OR THAT'S WHAT THEY HAD PLANNED THEM FOR. (NARRATOR) UNION GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT USES CONFUSING MILITARY TACTICS TO CONVINCE HIS ENEMIES HE PLANS AN ATTACK ON COLUMBUS TO ACCESS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. BUT THEN HE MAKES AN UNEXPECTED MOVE THAT WILL DRIVE HIS ARMY AND THE NAVY STRAIGHT INTO THE SOUL OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE. (FRED PROUTY) HE WENT UP RIVER TO PADUCAH, CAME DOWN ON THE TENNESSEE... SENT TROOPS DOWN ON THE TENNESSEE AND THE CUMBERLAND RIVERS WHICH WERE PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND ATTACKED FT. HENRY... AND THEN FT. DONELSON. (BRIAN MCKNIGHT) IF YOU TAKE FT. HENRY AND YOU MOVE SOUTH WHICH IS ACTUALLY UP THE TENNESSEE RIVER YOU WILL EVENTUALLY END UP IN MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA BEFORE REENTERING TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA. IF YOU FOLLOW IT EVEN FURTHER UPSTREAM, YOU WILL GO THROUGH EAST TENNESSEE EVEN INTO VIRGINIA SO THAT'S HOW IMPORTANT THE TENNESSEE RIVER WAS. IF YOU ENTER THE CUMBERLAND AT FT. DONELSON IT WILL TAKE YOU INTO DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE. (NARRATOR) FT. HENRY IS ALREADY FLOODED BY THE RISING RIVER AND FALLS QUICKLY. UP NEXT IS FT. DONELSON, WHERE THE FEDERALS ATTACK WITH BOTH GROUND TROOPS AND GUNBOATS IN A VICIOUS FIVE-DAY ENCOUNTER. IT IS HERE WHERE U.S. GRANT EARNS THE NICKNAME "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER." (WAYNE MOORE) I THINK THE ABILITY OF PEOPLE LIKE ULYSSES GRANT TO RECOGNIZE EARLY ON IN THE WAR THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RIVERS IN SECURING THE MID-SOUTH IS REALLY THE CRUCIAL BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGICALLY. (NARRATOR) AMONG THE MANY CONFEDERATES TAKEN PRISONER AT DONELSON ARE ST. CLAIR MORGAN AND ANOTHER YOUNG SOLDIER NAMED ROBERT HASKINS OF CLARKSVILLE, WHERE UNION FORCES ARE HEADED NEXT. ROBERT'S LITTLE SISTER MARTHA IS A WELL-EDUCATED SOUTHERN TEENAGER KNOWN AS NANNIE TO HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS. HER DIARY DESCRIBES THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF WAR IN A RIVER TOWN. THE CITIZENS WERE RUNNING. THERE WERE ALREADY TWO HOSPITALS HERE WHICH WERE FILLED WITH THE SICK. AND THEY, POOR FELLOWS, THEY WERE CRAWLING OUT FROM ALL OVER THE PLACE. WALKING, GOING ON HORSEBACK AND WAGONS... (MINOA UFFELMAN) THE VERY FIRST ENTRY THAT NANNIE WRITES IS ABOUT HOW PANICKED EVERYONE WAS, THEY WERE CAUGHT OFF GUARD, THAT THEY THOUGHT FORT DEFIANCE MIGHT PROTECT THEM AND THEN WHEN FORT HENRY AND FORT DONELSON FELL AND THE UNION TROOPS CAME IN,PEOPLE WERE PANICKED. INDEED THEY WENT ANY WAY TO GET OUT OF REACH OF THE YANKEES FOR IT WAS NOT KNOWN AT WHAT MOMENT THAT THE VANDALS WOULD BE HERE. (WAYNE MOORE) THAT TYPE OF WARFARE LEADS TO AN ENORMOUS EFFORT BY THE ARMIES TO, TO KEEP THE CIVILIAN POPULATION UNDER CONTROL. AND THEY DO IT WITH THESE HUGE BUREAUCRACIES, PROVOST MARSHAL, THEY ARE MAKING CITIZENS TAKE LOYALTY OATHS, THEY'RE PUNISHING THEM FOR TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES, THEY ARE CONFISCATING THEIR PROPERTY IF THEY FIND OUT THEY ARE SUPPORTING THE CONFEDERACY. THESE ARE VERY REAL BURDENS DAMAGES AND LOSSES THAT PEOPLE SUFFERED. THIS IS WHY MOST TENNESSEANS GO TO FIGHT FOR THE CONFEDERACY, NOT NECESSARILY BECAUSE THEY ARE PRO-SLAVERY BUT BECAUSE THE UNION ARMY INVADES TENNESSEE AND DOES SO BY THE RIVERS. (NARRATOR) NANNIE HASKINS GETS WORD THAT HER BROTHER ROBERT HAS DIED IN A PRISON CAMP. AND IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT AT 16 YEARS OLD SHE CAN'T STAND THE SIGHT OF A YANKEE. THOSE HATEFUL GUN BOATS! THEY LOOK LIKE THEY ARE FROM THE LOWER REGIONS. NOW, THIS IS THE SECOND NIGHT THAT FOUR OF THEM HAVE BEEN ANCHORED IN THE RIVER OPPOSITE OUR HOUSE. I KNOW THEY ARE FRIGHTENED; THEY HAVE PLACED THEIR GUNBOATS SO THAT IF AN ATTACK IS MADE, THEY CAN SHELL THE TOWN. POOR COWARDS, I CAN JUST TURN MY HEAD NOW AND SEE THEM CRAWLING ABOUT THE BOATS LIKE SO MANY SNAKES. (NARRATOR) BUT THE FEDERAL INVASION OF TENNESSEE IS JUST BEGINNING. GRANT NOW HAS NASHVILLE IN HIS SIGHTS. AND THE PANIC IN CLARKSVILLE PALES IN COMPARISON WITH THE ONE IN THE STATE CAPITAL, SUNDAY MORNING FEB. 16, 1862... (VAN WEST) IMAGINE HOW YOU WOULD FEEL, YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE SAFE AT HOME MAYBE GOING TO CHURCH, PLANNING ON A SUNDAY DAY AND SUDDENLY YOU HEAR... "THE YANKEES ARE COMING"... (VAN WEST) AND THEY'RE COMING IN FORCE. DON'T PANIC. YOU NEED TO GO TO YOUR HOMES. (VAN WEST) PEOPLE PANICKED. HURRY, THE YANKEES ARE COMING. (VAN WEST) THEY WONDERED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THEIR TOWN AND THEY DIDN'T THINK ABOUT IT LONG. THEY STARTED TO PACK AND LEAVE... THOUSANDS OF NASHVILLE CITIZENS HEADING OUT OF TOWN AWAY FROM THE ARMIES. (NARRATOR) ANNIE SEHON QUICKLY SENDS A MESSAGE TO HER SISTER... BELIEVING IT MAY BE HER LAST. WE ARE IN HOURLY EXPECTATION OF HEARING THE APPROACH OF THE NORTHERN ARMY... BUT MAY GOD PROTECT US AND IF WE NEVER MEET ON EARTH MAY WE MEET AT LAST IN HEAVEN. (NARRATOR) BUT NOT EVERYONE IS FRIGHTENED. THE ARRIVAL OF UNION TROOPS IN THE CITY BRINGS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SLAVES TO BE FREE. AS THEY WATCH IN DISBELIEF... THEIR MASTERS RUN AWAY. (VAN WEST) IMAGINE HOW IT WAS FOR THEM TO SEE THAT. THEY HAD NEVER SEEN THAT IN THEIR LIFE THESE WERE DOMINATING DOMINEERING FIGURES AND SUDDENLY THEY ARE FLEEING. (NARRATOR) BY THE TIME YANKEE GUNBOATS ROLL IN ON THE CUMBERLAND RIVER, THERE IS NO ONE THERE TO FIGHT THEM, AND NASHVILLE BECOMES THE FIRST MAJOR TRANSPORTATION CENTER TO FALL. RATHER THAN MAKE A STAND, CONFEDERATE GENERAL ALBERT SYDNEY JOHNSTON GATHERS HIS TROOPS TO ABANDON THE CITY. (VAN WEST) THEY WEREN'T THOSE PROUD YOUNG MEN IN UNIFORMS THAT HAD BEEN SENT OFF TO THE WAR A FEW MONTHS BEFORE. THEY WERE GUYS RUNNING FOR SHELTER, RUNNING FOR COVER, MOVING SOUTH...I THINK SO MANY CITIZENS NEVER THOUGHT THAT NASHVILLE WOULD FALL WITHOUT A DETERMINED STAND TO PROTECT THE CITY... BUT IT DID. (NARRATOR) CONFEDERATE GENERAL ALBERT SYDNEY JOHNSTON HAS TAKEN HIS TROOPS OUT OF NASHVILLE TO TRY AND PROTECT ANOTHER IMPORTANT RAILROAD JUNCTION FARTHER SOUTH. GENERAL GRANT IS CLOSE BEHIND, MOVING HIS MEN WEST BY TRANSPORT BOAT ON THE TENNESSEE RIVER TO PITTSBURGH LANDING. THE TWO SIDES MEET APRIL SIXTH, 1862, IN A FIELD SURROUNDING SHILOH CHURCH. IT IS THE WORST BATTLE IN THE WAR SO FAR AS MASSES OF MEN DIE, BRINGING THE RECOGNITION THIS WILL BE A LONG AND BRUTAL WAR. (VAN WEST) PEOPLE OFTEN ASK WHY DID THEY FIGHT FOR JUST A CHURCH. WELL, THEY WEREN'T FIGHTING FOR SHILOH CHURCH EVEN THOUGH THAT'S THE NAME OF THE BATTLE. THEY WERE FIGHTING TO PROTECT THE CORINTH RAILROAD JUNCTION WHERE LINES FROM THE NORTH PRIMARILY THE MOBILE AND OHIO RAILROAD CONNECTED WITH THE MEMPHIS AND CHARLESTON RAILROAD. THIS WAS A CRUCIAL JUNCTION AND ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON WANTED TO PROTECT IT AT ALL COSTS. (NARRATOR) IT LOOKS AS IF THE CONFEDERATE GENERAL JOHNSTON MIGHT SUCCEED AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF FIGHTING. BUT UNION REINFORCEMENTS SEND THE CONFEDERATES BACKTRACKING TO CORINTH, WHERE THE UNION WILL SOON TAKE CONTROL OF THE RAILROAD JUNCTION. LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER SHILOH COMES A DRAMATIC EVENT THAT IS FAMOUSLY KNOWN AS THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE. A BRAVE BAND OF YANKEE VOLUNTEERS HIJACKS THE GENERAL, WHICH TODAY IS ON DISPLAY AT THE SOUTHERN MUSEUM OF CIVIL WAR AND LOCOMOTIVE HISTORY IN KENNESAW, GEORGIA. THE STORY STARTS WITH JAMES ANDREWS, A HOUSE PAINTER AND MUSIC TEACHER, WHO IS NOW AN UNDERCOVER AGENT. (MELINDA SENN) HE WAS SMUGGLING QUININE TO THE CONFEDERATE FORCES. AND WHILE HE WAS BEHIND CONFEDERATE LINES HE WAS GATHERING INFORMATION TO TRADE BACK THE OTHER WAY. SO SOME PEOPLE CONSIDERED HIM A DOUBLE AGENT. (NARRATOR) ANDREWS' RAIDERS ARE POSING AS PASSENGERS AND TAKE CONTROL OF THE LOCOMOTIVE WHILE THE CREW IS HAVING BREAKFAST AT A HOTEL IN BIG SHANTY, GEORGIA. THEIR PLAN IS TO SABOTAGE TRACKS AND TUNNELS THAT HAVE BEEN PROVIDING EASY TRANSPORT OF CONFEDERATE TROOPS AND SUPPLIES BETWEEN ATLANTA AND CHATTANOOGA. (MELINDA SENN) THE MEN FIND A SMALL SAW AND THEY USE THAT SAW TO CUT THE TELEGRAPH WIRE. ACCOUNTS ALSO SAY TOWARD THE END OF THE CHASE THEY ARE AFFIXING THE TELEGRAPH WIRE TO THE REAR BOXCAR AND PULLING THE WIRE AS THE TRAIN CONTINUES TO HEAD UP NORTH. (NARRATOR) THE RAIDERS CHUG NORTH TO MEET UP WITH THE ADVANCING TROOPS OF GENERAL ORMSBY MITCHELL, WHO HOPES TO CAPTURE CHATTANOOGA. BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENS. (JIM OGDEN) ANDREWS IS DELAYED AT KINGSTON, GEORGIA WAITING FOR A SOUTHBOUND TRAIN AND THIS ALLOWED A VERY TENACIOUS CONDUCTOR WILLIAM FULLER TO MAKE UP GROUND, FIRST ON FOOT, AND THEN WITH A PUSH CAR, AND THEN WITH A SMALL YARD LOCOMOTIVE AND THEN WITH A LARGER LOCOMOTIVE. (MELINDA SENN) AFTER APPROXIMATELY 90 MILES, THE UNION RAIDERS FIND THEMSELVES VERY LOW ON FUEL. THEY HAVE NO OTHER OPTION BUT ABANDON THE GENERAL AND TO MAKE FOR THE WOODS. (NARRATOR) EVERY ONE OF THEM IS CAUGHT. NINETEEN OF THE RAIDERS WILL BECOME THE FIRST IN HISTORY TO RECEIVE THE MEDAL OF HONOR. AS A CIVILIAN, ANDREWS IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE COMMENDATION. BUT HE IS AMONG EIGHT OF THEM WHO ARE HANGED. BACK IN WEST TENNESSEE, THE UNION INVASION CONTINUES AS UNION FORCES AND NAVY GUNBOATS ARE JOINED BY A FLEET OF STEAMBOATS CONVERTED INTO RAMMING SHIPS BY COLONEL CHARLES ELLET JR. (MARY VIRGINIA ELLET CABELL) THEY CARRIED NO GUNS; THEY WERE IN MY FATHER'S OPINION AND WORDS: "MERE SUBSTITUTES FOR RAMS. ALMOST CERTAIN IN AN ENCOUNTER WITH A POWERFUL AND COURAGEOUS ADVERSARY TO GO TO THE BOTTOM BUT STRONG ENOUGH TO CARRY WITH THEM TO THE BOTTOM ANY ADVERSARY THEY MIGHT ENGAGE. (NARRATOR) ELLET'S FLEET IS A FAMILY AFFAIR, WITH TWO BROTHERS COMMANDING SHIPS AND HIS SON SERVING AS A MEDICAL CADET. ELLET HAS THE CONFIDENCE OF SECRETARY OF WAR EDWIN STANTON, AND ANSWERS ONLY TO HIM. THE TEST COMES JUNE SIXTH, 1862, IN THE BATTLE OF MEMPHIS. (MARY VIRGINIA ELLET CABELL) HE INSTANTLY ORDERED HIS THREE LARGEST RAMS TO FOLLOW HIM AND LED THE WAY ON THE QUEEN OF THE WEST, RUNNING DOWN AT FULL SPEED. THE QUEEN CRASHED INTO THE FOREMOST BOAT, CUTTING HER ALMOST IN TWO AND SINKING HER. (FRED PROUTY) THE BATTLE OF MEMPHIS ON THE RIVER WAS NOT MUCH OF A BATTLE. THE FEDERAL FLEET HAD REALLY WELL MANNED, WELL-ARMED VESSELS. THE SOUTH HAD EIGHT SMALLER BOATS, SEVEN OF WHICH WERE SUNK. (MARY VIRGINIA ELLET CABELL) MY BROTHER, ACCOMPANIED BY THREE MEN OF MY FATHER'S COMMAND, REMOVED THE REBEL FLAG FROM THE POST OFFICE IN MEMPHIS AND HOISTED THE UNITED STATES FLAG THERE MORE THAN TWO HOURS BEFORE THE CITY WAS FORMALLY SURRENDERED. (NARRATOR) BUT IN THE COURSE OF BATTLE, CHARLES ELLET JR. TAKES A BULLET FIRED FROM AN ENEMY SHIP. AND THE BATTLE OF MEMPHIS WOULD BE NOT ONLY HIS FIRST, BUT ALSO HIS LAST. (VAN WEST) THEN MEMPHIS BECAME THE BASE FOR EVERYTHING DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. MEMPHIS WAS AN IMPORTANT LOGISTICAL BASE IT WAS THE HEADQUARTERS BASE AND THEN IT BECAME THE BASE FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN FREEDOM... BECAUSE THE HUGE CONTRABAND CAMPS THAT OPENED UP THERE FOR ESCAPED SLAVES COMING TO THE UNION LINES FOR PROTECTION. (NARRATOR) AND NOW, THE RIVERS AND RAILS OF BOTH MIDDLE AND WEST TENNESSEE ARE UNDER THE CONTROL OF FEDERAL FORCES, WHILE EAST TENNESSEE REMAINS A CONFEDERATE STRONGHOLD. THE NICKNAME FOR CHATTANOOGA SAYS IT ALL. IT'S BEEN CALLED THE CHOO CHOO FOR YEARS...A CITY WHERE TRAINS RUN IN EVERY DIRECTION... JUST AS THEY DID AT THE TIME OF THE CIVIL WAR. (JIM OGDEN) HOW DO YOU GET A UNION ARMY FROM THE NORTH TO CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL ALABAMA BUT THROUGH THE GATEWAY TO THE DEEP SOUTH. AND THAT IS CHATTANOOGA. AND IN 1863 THE FOCUS WOULD BE ON THIS GATEWAY CITY. (NARRATOR) IT WILL TAKE A SERIES OF FOUR BATTLES ENGAGING MORE THAN 150,000 MEN FOR THE UNION TO TAKE CONTROL OF CHATTANOOGA. (JIM OGDEN) WITH THE CONFEDERATE DEFEAT ON LOOK OUT MOUNTAIN AND MISSIONARY RIDGE IN NOVEMBER OF 1863, THE CONFEDERATES LOSE ANY HOPE OF ANY LONGER KEEPING THE DOORWAY, GATEWAY, PASSAGEWAY, TO THEIR MILITARY INDUSTRIAL HEARTLAND CLOSED AND BARRED SHUT. (NARRATOR) THEN COMES THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA... EVEN MORE DISASTROUS THAN SHILOH. (OGDEN) IN THE END, IT IS ONE OF THE MOST COSTLY CAMPAIGNS OF THE CIVIL WAR. IN THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA ITSELF, 28 PERCENT OF THE TROOPS ENGAGED HAVE BECOME CASUALTIES. IT'S THE SECOND BLOODIEST BATTLE OF THE WAR. (NARRATOR) ST. CLAIR MORGAN HAD OBTAINED FREEDOM FROM PRISON AFTER HIS CAPTURE AT FT. DONELSON. HE IS AMONG THE DEAD AT CHICKAMAUGA. (OGDEN) SIMPLY BY LOOKING AT THE CASUALTIES YOU CAN SEE ANOTHER WAY TO JUDGE JUST HOW IMPORTANT CHATTANOOGA WAS IN THIS STORY OF OUR NATION'S CIVIL WAR AND THE STRUGGLE HERE FOR CONTROL OF THIS IMPORTANT TRANSPORTATION CENTER, THIS RIVER AND RAIL TOWN. (VAN WEST) THE FALL OF CHATTANOOGA FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED THE CIVIL WAR. THE UNION ARMY CONTROLLED ALL OF TENNESSEE. IF THEY CONTROLLED TENNESSEE THAT MEANT THAT THEY CONTROLLED ALL OF THOSE TRANSPORTATION LINKS TO THE NORTH AND TO THE SOUTH. SO THEY WERE TOTALLY POISED, READY TO MOVE ON ATLANTA. ATLANTA FALLS AND SHERMAN IS READY FOR HIS MARCH TO THE SEA. SO, THE FALL OF CHATTANOOGA CHANGED THE COURSE OF THE WAR IN FUNDAMENTAL WAYS THAT MEANT THE DEATH KNELL OF THE CONFEDERACY WAS ALMOST UPON US. (NARRATOR) CONFEDERATE GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE SURRENDERS ON APRIL NINTH OF 1865. THE WAR WILL OFFICIALLY BE OVER IN AUGUST...BUT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WON'T LIVE TO SEE IT. ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS ASSASSINATED APRIL 14TH, 1865. HIS BODY IS TAKEN FROM WASHINGTON TO HIS HOME IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS... BY TRAIN OF COURSE. THE RAILS AND RIVERS WILL GO BACK TO THEIR PEACEFUL PURPOSE OF PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE. BUT THE WAR IS NOT FINISHED WITH THEM YET. TWO WEEKS AFTER LINCOLN'S MURDER, HOMEWARD BOUND UNION SOLDIERS PACK THEIR WAY ON TO A CROWDED STEAMBOAT. (ACTOR AS EDWARD F. HEDRICK) WHEN WE BOARDED THE SULTANA AT VICKSBURG, WE WERE A JOLLY CROWD. TWO THOUSAND OF US HAD JUST BEEN RELEASED FROM A SOUTHERN PRISON. WE WERE SO HAPPY. (WAYNE MOORE) PROBABLY BECAUSE OF SOMEBODY'S GREED, THEY OVERLOADED THE SHIP. THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF MEN, EVERY AVAILABLE INCH OF DECK SPACE WAS COVERED, YOU CAN SEE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SULTANA IN PORT AT MEMPHIS BEFORE IT LEFT THAT IT WAS JUST COVERED WITH MEN. MANY OF THEM WERE WOUNDED OR EMACIATED FROM THEIR STAY IN PRISON WAR CAMP. (NARRATOR) AS THE SULTANA FLOATS PAST MEMPHIS... A LEAKING BOILER EXPLODES. (ACTOR AS LOUIS SCHIRMEYER) I FOUND MYSELF BEING HURLED UPWARD THROUGH THE AIR. I MUST HAVE GONE UP 20 OR 25 FEET. IN FALLING I STRUCK THE SHATTERED PILOT HOUSE. MY FACE WAS CUT AND BLEEDING... (ACTOR AS EDWARD F. HEDRICK) THE PASSENGERS WERE SHOUTING AND SCREAMING AND JUMPING INTO THE RIVER ON ALL SIDES. (WAYNE MOORE) THE LOSS OF LIFE WAS HUGE, IT WAS 15-HUNDRED PLUS MEN DIED IN THAT EXPLOSION OR DROWNED IN THE RIVER AFTERWARDS AS THE BOAT SANK. (NARRATOR) IT IS THE WORST MARITIME DISASTER IN THE NATION'S HISTORY... AND WILL NOT BE SURPASSED EVEN BY THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC. THE SULTANA IS A SAD, BUT IRONIC EVENT IN WHICH RIVERS AND RAILS FIRST CARRIED ECONOMIC PROSPERITY... THEN GRIEF AND SUFFERING THROUGHOUT THE STATE. (VAN WEST) TENNESSEE WAS THE GATEWAY TO THE CONFEDERACY. OF COURSE MANY BATTLES WERE FOUGHT IN VIRGINIA; THEY WERE TRYING TO TAKE THE CAPITOL OF RICHMOND AND KILL THE CONFEDERACY AT ITS HEART. BUT IN MANY WAYS TENNESSEE WAS THE SOUL OF THE CONFEDERACY BECAUSE THROUGH IT RAN THE ARTERIES THAT KEPT THE WHOLE BODY ALIVE. (NARRATOR) WHEN THE WAR IS OVER, SO MANY YOUNG MEN HAVE BEEN KILLED THAT NANNIE HASKINS... THE CLARKSVILLE TEENAGER WITH DREAMS FOR HER FUTURE... CHOOSES TO MARRY A WIDOWER TWENTY YEARS OLDER WITH FOUR CHILDREN. TOGETHER, THEY HAVE SIX MORE. THE WHOLE FAMILY IS NOW BURIED IN A CLARKSVILLE CEMETERY. BY ORDER OF A CONFEDERATE GENERAL, BRIDGE BURNERS JACOB AND HENRY HARMON ARE BURIED OUTSIDE THE FAMILY CEMETERY IN POTTERSTOWN AFTER THEIR EXECUTION. (DON BIBLE) HE TOLD THE FAMILY, "I DON'T WANT THEM BURIED IN THE CEMETERY WITH DECENT PEOPLE, BURY THEM OUTSIDE THE CEMETERY." THERE WAS A RAIL FENCE AROUND THE CEMETERY AT THE TIME AND THEY WERE BURIED OUTSIDE. AND LATER ON, THE CEMETERY WAS ENLARGED TO TAKE IN THE GRAVES. AS YOU CAN SEE NOW, IT GOES JUST A LITTLE PAST THE GRAVES. (NARRATOR) NASHVILLE BUSINESSMAN SAMUEL DOLD MORGAN'S SUCCESS USING THE RIVERS AND RAILS IS OVERSHADOWED BY GRIEF FOR HIS TWO SONS. THE MEMORY OF MORGAN AND HIS FAMILY IS PRESERVED IN THE SOUTH WING OF THE STATE CAPITAL BUILDING WHERE HE IS BURIED. (RUTH WARNER) MY GRANDMOTHER WAS GIVEN A ROSE SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL AND SHE DROPPED THE ROSE IN HIS TOMB BEFORE IT WAS SEALED. SHE WAS BORN IN 1872 AND HERE WAS THIS MAN WHO WASHER GREAT GRANDFATHER AND SHE TOLD ME THAT STORY AND THAT'S REMARKABLE HOW THIS KIND OF CONNECTION TO HISTORY CONTINUES DOWN THE GENERATIONS. (NARRATOR) THE LATEST GENERATIONS IN TENNESSEE STILL RELY ON THE CONVERGENCE OF WATER AND STEEL FOR PROSPERITY... AND FOR THE CONTINUING PROGRESS OF OUR BIGGEST CITIES. BUT THERE'S ALSO ANOTHER RELEVANT ROLE FOR RIVERS AND RAILS... AS A REMINDER OF OUR HISTORY. (WAYNE MOORE) YOU HAD THIS COLOSSAL MILITARY STRUGGLE THAT KILLED ALMOST 700,000 AMERICANS BUT BESIDES THE PEOPLE THAT IT KILLED YOU HAD THREE TIMES THAT MANY WHO WERE MAIMED AND WOUNDED, YOU HAD A LOSS OF A WHOLE GENERATION OF YOUNG MEN AND IT PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED EVERYBODY IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY - IN TENNESSEE, IT WAS FOUGHT IN THEIR BACKYARDS, THEY SUFFERED DIRECTLY FROM THE WAR. (ANNOUNCER OFF CAMERA) TENNESSEE CIVIL WAR 150 IS BROUGHT TO YOU IN PART BY TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, TENNESSEE CIVIL WAR SESQUICENTENNIAL COMMISSION, AND TENNESSEE CIVIL WAR NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA.