Crossroads of War

Crossroads of War. The Southern Cumberland Mountains. Monteagle is an important crossroads in the southern Cumberland Mountains, where roads and railroads crisscross rugged, scenic terrain. In the summer of 1862, Union and Confederate forces raced for advantage among these transportation corridors., In August, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg marched his army north from Chattanooga to invade Kentucky. Union Gen. Don Carlos Buell deployed his army throughout Franklin, Marion, and Grundy counties and made his headquarters west of here in Franklin County, along the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad at Decherd. After he learned that Bragg's army was moving north, Buell instructed his commanders to stop the Confederates while they were in the mountains. He told Gen. George Thomas on August 22, “If we advance to Altamont we may thwart” Bragg but the “great difficulty is in moving in the mountains with our trains.” When Thomas reported from Altamont, he despaired of the situation, telling Buell, “It will be as difficult for us to march across the mountains to Sequatchie Valley as for the enemy to come … to Altamont.… I would not advise concentrating here except for battle, or for an advance into East Tennessee.”, The multiple reports Buell heard from his commanders in the three counties left him confused about how to respond. Buell sent orders on August 23 for his forces to move from Jasper, McMinnville, and Tracy City and concentrate at Altamont. It was too late. Bragg's army marched to the north and east without significant opposition to the Kentucky border before the Federals had negotiated the rutted, difficult roads., Captions(left to right): , . Gen. Braxton Bragg Courtesy Library of Congress , . Gen. Don Carlos Buell Courtesy Library of Congress , . Gen. George Thomas Courtesy Library of Congress , . Tennessee, 1863- Courtesy Library of Congress