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Like Bell Buckle and Wartrace, Tullahoma,
in Coffee County, was another creation of the Nashville
and Chattanooga Railroad. It began, in part, as a
railroad labor camp during the construction phase of the
project. It also became the junction point for the spur
up through Manchester to McMinnville. The town grew
from here, becoming the site of the Lincoln Hotel, a
place where rail passengers could stay overnight (until
the war, trains did not run at night). After the war,
the town became part of New South industrialization,
being home to a woolen mill, a hub, spoke and rim
factory, and a shirt-making establishment, among other
businesses.
During the Tullahoma Campaign, the town
served as General Bragg’s main headquarters and supply
depot. On the northern edge of town, Southern troops
built Ft. Raines, moving supporting entrenchments around
the town from there. The Southern commander located his
headquarters in the summer home of United States Supreme
Court Justice John Catron. Reflecting the divided
loyalties of the region, the Justice had simply refused
to go along with secession (he did not resign from the
Court), which fact prompted Tennessee secessionists to
exile him from the state, and impelled Bragg to use his
house. Jefferson Davis visited Bragg while
headquartered here. Then, Union General Rosecrans
occupied the town briefly as he started his fruitless
chase of the Southern army. Although the Confederate
force had entrenched in Tullahoma, Bragg drew off before
Rosecrans could engage him. Finally, after the Union
army left, the town became the headquarters of the
Northern Provost Marshal, the officer acting as the head
of the military police of any post, camp, city of other
place in military occupation, or district under the
reign of martial law. The Provost Marshal records
reveal that Tullahoma became the sad centerpiece in a
bitter, brutal guerilla war that would not end until two
years after the death of the Confederacy.
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Tullahoma
town grid showing
Ft. Raines near the upper
right corner. The railroad
connecting Tullahoma to
Wartrace runs down the
center of the map. |
Historic and Historical Civil War Resources:
Confederate Section at Maplewood
Cemetery
– Over 400 Confederate soldiers are
buried here, many believed to have died from disease and
wounds received in the Battle of Stones River when the
Army of Tennessee was headquartered in Tullahoma in
spring 1863.
Site of Ft. Raines
– Built to defend the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad
through Tullahoma in 1863, Ft. Raines was a bastion
fortification. The fort's layout was outlined in an
1864 Union map prepared under the direction of Colonel
William Merrill. The fort was destroyed after the war
to make way for widening of the railroad and home
construction.
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