Rachel Carter Craighead

Rachel Carter Craighead. December 11, 1837 - February 1, 1924. Rachel Carter's diary is the source of her varied experiences in Nashville during the war. Her father, Daniel Carter, was a bank president. The Carter home was at the corner of High Street (now 6th Avenue) and Union. Rachel and her husband, Thomas Craighead, resided with her parents., The fall of Fort Donelson in February 1862 led to the surrender of Nashville to U.S. forces. Andrew Johnson was installed as military governor. The citizens were terrorized by demands that they take the loyalty oath to the U.S. government. City council members refused and were unseated. Newspapers were shut down when their editors refused. Likewise, churches were confiscated when their ministers declined the oath. Bankers were the next group to be sent to the penitentiary. Carter finally relented, apparently feeling his first duty was to the bank. Rachel's husband was also imprisoned, and manipulated into signing the oath., During the summer of 1861, Confederate forces began a bold advance toward Kentucky thinking that the state was anxious to he liberated from U.S. control. This accelerated efforts by the U.S. Army to fortify Nashville. Eight servants belonging to the Carters were forced to build structures such as Fort Negley. On October 8, 1862, Rachel's brother, John Carter, was wounded and captured in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky. Rachel and her mother received word and traveled north to nurse him. John passed away on January 18, 1863, and is also buried here., Rachel's diary entry for September 29, 1863, recorded one of the worst disasters in Nashville's history. The Maxwell House Hotel was still under construction when it was confiscated by the U.S. government to serve as a prison. About 126 Confederate soldiers were marched down a four-flight staircase. It collapsed, killing 45 and wounding many more. When local ladies came with bandages, U.S. troops drove them back with bayonets., For over two years the Carters could sit in their parlor and see cannon on Capitol Hill pointed at their house. Likewise, guns at Fort Negley were pointed toward town. On the 1st, Rachel wrote that Fort Negley looked like an illuminated city. Finally, the Confederate Army of Tennessee made one last attempt to liberate Nashville in December, 1864. With about 22,000 men, that army stretched a thin line across the south side of the city. Over 70,000 U.S. troops won the battle on the 15th and 16th.