Army of the Cumberland

Civil War period map of eastern Tennessee and adjacent states with the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad highlighted.
Places where stationed and letters written are underlined in red.

Commentary

The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The 107th was transferred from that Army to the Army of the Cumberland in September 1863, right after William Graham rejoined his regiment on the Rappahannock River in Virginia.

During the American Civil War the Rappahannock River provided a recurring barrier and defensive line for the movement of troops. It was an especially difficult barrier for Union troops in attempts to advance into southern Virginia. Control of the river changed hands multiple times during the course of the war. Significant battles fought along the river include the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Rappahannock Station, fought in 1862. The defensive line of the river was finally circumvented by Ulysses S. Grant in the Overland Campaign of 1864, resulting in the final Union victory in the war.

A railroad engine under the control of the US Military Railroad

The Tennessee letters begin on October 4, 1863, the day after William arrived in Tennessee to carry out railroad guard duty. This guard duty in Tennessee would last from October 1863 until April 1864.

William would not be joining the 11th Corps in Chattanooga to reinforce Rosecrans as he expected. His brigade in its guard duties would support the success of the Army of the Cumberland, but luckily for William, in a less lethal way than that of their comrades.

Guarding of the railroad supply line was crucial to the Union cause and not an easy task as indicated by this excerpt from Ulysses S. Grant's Memoirs: "Sherman had started from Memphis for Corinth on the 11th of October. His instructions required him to repair the road in his rear in order to bring up supplies. The distance was about three hundred and thirty miles through a hostile country. His entire command could not have maintained the road if it had been completed. The bridges had all been destroyed by the enemy, and much other damage done. A hostile community lived along the road; guerilla bands infested the country, and more or less of the cavalry of the enemy was still in the West. Often Sherman’s work was destroyed as soon as completed, and he only a short distance away."

The 107th Regiment probably traveled in similar boxcars to Tennessee

The railroad journey to Tennessee took 10 days from September 24, 1863 to October 3, 1863 and extended over 1200 miles. The sights seen on that journey were quite an eye opener for a poor farmer from rural Ireland. Given the railroad track routes existing at the time, William may have been a bit optimistic about the number of state capitals they passed through. Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana were the most likely.

The journey was initiated on September 23, 1863 when President Lincoln ordered the 11th and 12th Corps detached from the Army of the Potomac and sent to Tennessee to reinforce the Army of the Cumberland. When traveling through southern states, the US Military Railroad carried the troops and their equipment. The two Corps were sent to the Western Theatre  after the disastrous Union defeat at the battle of Chickamauga. They were placed under command of General Hooker.

Brig. General Alpheus Williams

The 107th Regiment was in the 1st division of the 12th Corps, That division was under the command of Brig. General Alpheus Williams. In Tennessee, the 1st division was stationed along the railroad from Murfreesboro to Bridgeport. The 2nd division of the 12th Corps moved to the front at Chattanooga under Geary.

Decherd

William's initial letter was mailed from Decker Station (a misspelling of Decherd), a town on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad which the 107th Regiment was charged with guarding.  The places where William was stationed during his period of guard duty per his letters are underlined in red on the map at the beginning of this post.

Decherd was founded in the mid 1800's. 'Decker' was most likely Decherd Station, and 'Decker' was a phonetic representation of what was originally a French word.

Decherd owed its beginning to the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad which was completed in 1851 through what was to become the town of Decherd. The town was named for Peter S. Decherd, who gave the rights-of-way to the railroad company with the provision that a depot be located near the "Decherd Plantation". Mr. Decherd came to Franklin County from Virginia in the early 1800's.

The Civil War dominated life in Decherd in the 1860s. No major battles were fought in the area, but several skirmishes were fought over control of the railroad and the Elk River.

Federal General Don Buell established headquarters in Decherd in August, 1862 before moving north to encounter Confederate forces under the command of General Braxton Bragg.

In 1863 Federals under Colonel John T. Wilder drove a Confederate force from Decherd and destroyed about 300 yards of the railroad. Telegraph and commissary stores of the Confederate forces were burned in the raid.

Battle of Hoover's Gap (June 23)

During the end of June 1863, three months prior to this letter, and before the arrival of the 107th Regiment in Tennessee, the Battle of Hoover's Gap with a Union victory occured in this area.

Gen. William Rosecrans

Union forces were under the command of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans. General Braxton Bragg was commander of the opposing Confederate Army of Tennessee. Rosecrans’s superiors, fearing that Bragg might detach large numbers of men to help break the Siege of Vicksburg, urged him to attack the Confederates.

On June 23, 1863, Rosecrans deployed forces to feign an attack on Shelbyville while massing forces against Bragg's right. Although slowed by rain, Rosecrans moved forward, forcing Bragg to give up his defensive line and fall back to Tullahoma. Bragg evacuated his forces from Middle Tennessee and withdrew to the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Rosecrans followed and captured that city on September 8, 1863.

Rosecrans' pursuit of Bragg ended during the bloody Battle of Chickamauga, where his unfortunately worded order mistakenly opened a gap in the Union line and Rosecrans and a third of his army were swept from the field. But for the saving action of Union Maj. Gen. William Thomas, all of the Union forces might have been lost. Besieged in Chattanooga, Rosecrans was later relieved of command by Grant.

Commentary

 

Shelbyville 

Shelbyville is in Middle Tennessee on a Highland Rim limestone bluff upon the banks of Duck River, which flows around the southern and eastern sides of town.

Shelbyville, the only Union town of Tennessee
Harpers Weekly, Oct. 18, 1862

Shelbyville and Bedford County were divided on issues related to the civil war. When an election was held June 8, 1861 to vote for or against separation from the Union and representation in a Confederate Congress, the county voted to remain in the Union by a majority of nearly 200. When the time came for military action, the county furnished almost as many soldiers to the Northern as to the Southern army.

So loyal was Shelbyville to the Union as to earn for the town the name of "Little Boston." Being on the line of march of both armies, Shelbyville witnessed many movements and counter-movements of large bodies of troops. Some residents asserted that though much damage was sustained to property and not a few lives lost, the consequences were no more serious than could have been expected in time of war.

In 1863 a lively skirmish occurred between the Fifth Tennessee Cavalry and the Confederate Cavalry under Gen. Wheeler at nearby Wartrace. Subsequently, Gen. Wheeler again had a brush with the Federal Cavalry (between 3,000 and 4,000 men being in the fight) two miles west of Shelbyville, in which quite a number were killed and wounded.

In May, 1864, twelve soldiers belonging to the Fourth Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Federal), were captured by Robert B. Blackwell while guarding the Shelbyville depot, which was stored with hay. Blackwell was the head of a company of bushwhackers, The depot and contents were burned, and the twelve soldiers escorted a short distance from town and shot.
 

Chattanooga (Fall 1863)

Abraham Lincoln was keenly aware of the importance of the City of Chattanooga. The President had said that, "...taking Chattanooga is as important as taking Richmond." Rails from the city linked major distribution centers of the Confederacy. It was a key link in his plan to "divide and conquer" the Confederacy.

Maj Gen George H. Thomas

After their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, Union forces under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans retreated to Chattanooga. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee besieged the city, threatening to starve the Union forces into surrender. Bragg's troops occupied Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, both of which had excellent views of the city, the river, and the Union's supply lines. Confederate troops launched raids on all supply wagons heading toward Chattanooga, which made it necessary for the Union to find another way to feed their men.

Lincoln ordered reinforcements to the city and gave Ulysses S. Grant command of all forces west of the Appalachians. Grant relieved Rosecrans of his command and replaced him with Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas (known as "The Rock of Chickamauga") as commander of the 40,000 troops in Chattanooga. From Virginia, Joseph Hooker moved 20,000 men. From Mississippi, William Tecumseh Sherman came with another 20,000. Grant's first priority upon reaching Chattanooga was to resupply the Union army.  

While William Graham was marching back and forth near Shelbyville, the Battle of Wauhatchie finally opened the supply lines to the besieged city of Chattanooga. 

Battle of Chattanooga - Charge near Orchard Knob on Nov. 24, 1863

A Union force had seized Brown's Ferry on the Tennessee River, opening a means to supply the Union army in Chattanooga. Confederate forces attempted to dislodge the Union force defending the ferry and again close this supply line but were defeated.

Wauhatchie was one of the few night battles of the Civil War. Victory was assured when Union forces charged up a steep hill in the face of the enemy and using bayonets drove James Longstreet's veterans out of their entrenchments.

Later that Fall, the Battle of Chattanooga (including the Battle of Lookout Mountain and the Battle of Missionary Ridge) was fought November 23–25, 1863. A part of the 11th Corps under Maj General Joseph Hooker was actively engaged at Missionary Ridge. In coordination with William T. Sherman's forces it helped bring about the rout of Bragg's army, ending the siege of Union forces in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

As a result of these battles, one of the Confederacy’s two major armies was routed. Union forces held Chattanooga, the “Gateway to the Lower South" for the remainder of the War.  Chattanooga became the supply and logistics base for Sherman’s 1864 Atlanta Campaign. After this battle the 11th Corps was ordered to East Tennessee for the relief of Knoxville.