150 Years | Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial
Attractions
Tennessee Civil War Attractions
Use the tabs above to learn more about trails, markers and other interpretive sites; battlefields, and the many Civil War-related museums and other attractions designed to help travelers understand the legacy of the war in Tennessee.
Tennessee's Civil War history is a study in contrasts: a secessionist state with staunch Union loyalties, divided cities held by both Union and Confederate troops, constant danger and hardship, and nagging uncertainty about friends, neighbors and families, about who was friend or foe.
Tennessee's Civil War tale is one of divided loyalties, crucial battles, and the wide-reaching devastation of "total war." People throughout the state were completely immersed in the economic, social, and physical effects of the conflict, subject to violence and terror, disease and malnutrition, heartbreak and loss, and military rule by both sides. The stories of the Underground Railroad and Emancipation bring out the other side of war in the African American struggle for freedom and citizenship. Many grim reminders of the war—as well as hopeful symbols of heroism and kindness—stand today as testament to how the war transformed Tennessee.
Affair at Travisville
September 29th., 1861 marks the date of what has become known as the Affair at Travisville. Until the events of this day transpired, people locally had assured themselves that they were too far off the beaten paths to see any fighting. The event of that particular Sunday, one hundred and forty one years ago, represents the first military action in Tennessee during the Civil War. Only in the past several years has Travisville been acknowledged as the official beginning of the conflict and the struggle for control in Tennessee.
Call 1-888-406-4704 or e-mail info@theborderlands.com for more ...more
Region: Upper Cumberland
City: Byrdstown, TN
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Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
The site marks the home of the 17th president, who succeeded Lincoln and oversaw Reconstruction.
Born in 1808, Andrew Johnson ran away from home with his brother to Greeneville, Tennessee, at age 16, where he became a tailor. Johnson and his wife, Eliza McCardle, had five children. Eliza tutored her husband in arithmetic, algebra, basic literacy and writing skills.
Johnson organized a worker's party and was elected alderman and, later, mayor. He became a spokesman for farmers and mountaineers against the wealthy, elite planters who had controlled the state and nation. In 1843, he became the first Democrat elected from Tennessee's ...more
Region: Northeast
City: Greeneville, TN
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Arts Center of Cannon County
The award winning Arts Center of Cannon County is a unique model for rural arts organizations. Situated in an underserved rural area in a town of 2,000 and a county of 12,000, The Arts Center annually commands a worldwide audience of 40,000 through its facility and over 100,000 through web sites, publications, and recording projects. Drawing on the blue-collar roots of its community, the organization focuses on self-sufficiency, fiscal responsibility and social ...more
Region: Upper Cumberland
City: Woodbury, TN
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Battle of Hartsville Civil War Driving Tour & Memorial Park
Across courthouse, signs direct you to trail that overlooks battlefield. Graves of Civil War soldiers and monument with all names ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Hartsville, TN
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Battle of Hartsville Memorial Park
17-stop self guided driving tour and Battle of Hartsville Memorial ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Hartsville, TN
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Battle of Island No. 10 Monument
This monument commemorates the Battle of Island No. 10, which occurred April 8, 1862. The monument contains a map and a description of what happened at the fort. It was erected by a committee from Lake County, in cooperation with the Tennessee Historical Commission, in 1956.
Follow the signs in downtown Tiptonville to find this Civil War site, about a mile outside of town. Island No. 10, now underwater, was once located on the New Madrid Bend of the river and provided a strong Confederate defensive position. In 1862, Union gunboats attacked the island and
started a weeks-long struggle, eventually ...more
Region: Northwest
City: Tiptonville, TN
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Battle of Nashville Monument
<p>The 1926 statue by Giuseppe Moretti has recently been restored and rededicated on a small tract of the battlefield where the clash of Dec. 15-16, 1864, took place. Nearby, Confederate forces under General Hood reached their furthest advance in their failed attempt to retake Nashville. Somewhat unusual in that it was designed to memorialize both Union and Confederate soldiers, this was also a peace monument to honor the Americans who fought and died in World War ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Nashville, TN
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Battle of Parkers Crossroads Self-Guided Driving Tour
The Battle of Parkers Crossroads was fought Dec. 31, 1862. The Parkers Crossroads Battlefield Park offers a self-guided driving tour, two miles of paved walking trails with interpretative signs and battlefield ...more
Region: Southwest
City: Parker's Crossroads, TN
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Beech Grove Confederate Cemetery & Park
Home of Hoover's Gap Civil War Battlefield. Site brochures and interpretive signs of one of the South's earliest Confederate ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Beech Grove, TN
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Beech River Cultural Center & Museum
Chronicles the history of Henderson County. Displays pertain to geology, native inhabitants, early settlers and wars. Reconstructed log cabin ...more
Region: Southwest
City: Lexington, TN
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Beechwood Plantation Historical Marker
The house which stood at this site, was built for Colonel Andrew Erwin, Jr. and his family in 1826. It served as Confederate headquarters for General Hardee during the Tullahoma ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Wartrace, TN
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Belle Meade Plantation
Once one of the largest private estates in Nashville encompassing 5,400 acres and home to five generations of the Harding-Jackson family, Belle Meade Plantation today is a 30-acre historic site 6 miles west of Nashville. Before the Civil War, Belle Meade flourished; today bullets from the Battle of Nashville scar the house, used as Confederate Gen. Chalmers' headquarters.
Known as "Queen of the Tennessee Plantations," Bell Meade was known world-wide for its thoroughbred horses.
Experience frontier life of 1819 through living history demonstrations at the Harding Cabin. Demonstrations available every Friday and Saturday April through October. Guided tour of the 1853 Greek ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Nashville, TN
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Big Black Creek Historical Society
The Big Black Creek Historical Association (BBCHA) was founded in 2006 with the express purpose to identify, preserve and promote historical sites with the communities of Denmark, Mercer, Leighton and Woodland, all small towns West of Jackson, TN.
The BBCHA meets on the last Thursday of each month at the Mercer Presbyterian Church in Mercer, TN at 7:00 p.m. You don’t need to be a member to join them as they preserve the history of these important ...more
Region: Memphis & Surrounding Areas
City: Denmark, TN
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Bills-McNeal Historic District
Some of Bolivar's oldest and most historically significant homes are found in this district. Structures include the McNeal house and the ...more
Region: Southwest
City: Bolivar, TN
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Bledsoe's Fort Historic Park
Eighty-acre park. Includes archaeological site, Isaac Bledsoe's fort c. 1780s. Also features restored log cabin and stone Irish ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Castalian Springs, TN
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Britton Lane Civil War Battlefield
Site of 1862 battle. Restored log cabin used as a hospital on battlefield site. More than 5,000 troops met in ...more
Region: Southwest
City: Denmark, TN
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Buck Lodge Fortifications (Fort Mitchell)
The Buck Lodge site was another federal stockade meant to protect the vital Louisville and Nashville railroad line. Manned by the 13th Indiana Field Artillery and the 106th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, the fortifications protected two bridges as well as a water tank. The site is not open to the ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Gallatin, TN
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Carnton Plantation
Carnton is the restored home of John and Carrie McGavock. The house once a vibrant plantation home, served as field hospital to hundreds of wounded and dying Confederate soldiers following the Battle of Franklin in 1864. The house, grounds and garden are open for tours ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Franklin, TN
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Castalian Springs
The famous historic homes and landscapes of Castalian Springs were deeply affected by the Civil War and Reconstruction. From 1862 to 1865, a federal garrison made camp about one-half mile southwest of Wynnewood, the National Register-listed log tavern and home located at 210 Old Highway 25. After the war, the Wynne family asked the federal government for $6,540 in damages, but the claim was denied. The National Register-listed Cragfont plantation, located at 200 Cragfont Road, was home to the Winchester family and about 100 African American slaves. Cragfont never recovered from wartime damage and the economic impact of emancipation; the ...more
Region: Middle Tennessee
City: , TN
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Cedar Creek Iron Furnace
The only remaining "double stack" furnace in the western rim of Tennessee, which ceased operation during the Civil War. The location is now a ...more
Region: Nashville & Surrounding Areas
City: Linden, TN
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