Saturday, November 8, 2014

November 3, 1864---THe Battle of Johnsonville, TN



NOVEMBER 3, 1864:        

The Battle of Johnsonville. Nathan Bedford Forrest, his troopers, and his scratch navy, attack the Union supply depot and Johnsonville, Tennessee. Forrest is forced to scuttle his “flagship” the C.S.S. (lately U.S.S.) UNDINE ending his brief naval “career.” Other than that the Johnsonville Raid is a magnificent success. Forrest reported only 2 men killed and 9 wounded. He described the Union losses as 4 gunboats (including the U.S.S. KEY WEST, which was sunk), 14 transports, 20 barges, 26 pieces of artillery, $6,700,000 worth of property (ammunition, food, and supplies), and 150 prisoners. The supply depot was destroyed in a sheet of flame by his artillery bombardment, and control of the Tennessee River became contested. General George H. Thomas U.S.A.’s Army of The Cumberland, which had been shadowing John Bell Hood, found its main supply source cut off. This slowed, but ultimately did not stop Union actions in the Tennessee River region. As for Forrest, he and his men set off a three week rampage through the area. 



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