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Dickson in Dickson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
 

Mile Post 42

The U.S. Military Railroad

 
 
Mile Post 42 Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, July 24, 2013
1. Mile Post 42 Marker
Inscription. The railroad in front of you was part of a vital transportation network for the Federal army during the Civil War. W.H. Crutcher had purchased 533 acres and constructed a sixteen-by-sixteen foot log structure here in December 1860. After occupying the region in the spring of 1862, Union officers needed a reliable, efficient transportation link between the steamboats docked at Johnsonville on the Tennessee River and the major Union base at Nashville. They seized the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad that ran to Kingston Springs with plans to extend the tracks to Johnsonville. They completed it two years later as a Federal military railroad.

Free blacks and former slaves impressed by the Union Army constructed the military railroad. The 12th and 13th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiments defended the railroad from Confederate cavalry and guerrilla attacks. These 78 miles of rail became vitally important after Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan burned the south tunnel of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in Sumner County, thus delaying southbound Federal supplies to Nashville.

Union Gen. William T. Sherman later stated, "The Atlanta campaign would simply have been impossible without the use of railroads." After the military railroad was completed in 1864, army supplies were transported south by ship to the port
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facility at Johnsonville. From there, supplies were transferred from ships to railcars and transported through Mile Post 42 (present-day Dickson) to Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.

(captions)
Tennessee railroad map, from Civil War Atlas
Johnsonville Depot - Courtesy Library of Congress
Trestle, Sullivan’s Branch Bridge No. 2 Courtesy Tennessee State Library and Archives

 
Erected by Tennessee Civil War Trails.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Railroads & StreetcarsWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical month for this entry is May 1864.
 
Location. This marker has been replaced by another marker nearby. It was located near 36° 4.525′ N, 87° 23.327′ W. Marker was in Dickson, Tennessee, in Dickson County. Marker was on Frank Clement Place west of Center Avenue (Tennessee Route 48), on the right when traveling west. The marker is in front of the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum. Touch for map. Marker was at or near this postal address: 100 Frank Clement Pl, Dickson TN 37055, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. Civil War Railroad (a few steps from this marker); a different marker also named Mile Post 42
Mile Post 42 Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, July 24, 2013
2. Mile Post 42 Marker
Map as shown on the marker in the lower left side.
(a few steps from this marker); Craig Morgan (a few steps from this marker); Frank Goad Clement (a few steps from this marker); Francis Craig (within shouting distance of this marker); John Rich (within shouting distance of this marker); First National Bank (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); War Memorial Building (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dickson.
 
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. New CWT Marker Near This Location also titled "Mile Post 42".
 
Also see . . .  Clement Railroad Hotel Museum. (Submitted on May 2, 2023.)
 
Mile Post 42 Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, July 24, 2013
3. Mile Post 42 Marker
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on May 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 1, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 847 times since then and 18 times this year. Last updated on May 1, 2023, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on October 1, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024