Struggling Through the Mountains

Struggling Through the Mountains. Civil War in the Southern Cumberlands. The beautiful but rugged landscape of the Southern Cumberlands created a transportation nightmare for both Union and Confederate commanders as they struggled to move men and supplies through the area. The Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad provided the most efficient means of transport, but it was uncomfortable and slow. A Memphis Daily Appeal reporter traveled the route in March 1862 and described the experience vividly: "The cars were crowded to suffocation, and it was with difficulty one could get a seat, or retain it after he had got it. The further we advanced, the greater the difficulty of proceeding, owing to the number of returning trains laden with stores, sick and disabled soldiers, and women and children seeking a place of safety." The railroad passed through the Cumberland Mountain Tunnel (on present-day U.S. Route 64 near Cowan) that slaves and white workers carved through the rock in the 1850s. Union Gen. William S. Rosecrans's men took control of the railroad and tunnel in 1863 after the Tullahoma Campaign and guarded them until the war ended. , Between here and Cowan, in Sewanee, is the University of the South, which was founded in 1857. The cornerstone was laid in 1860, and Episcopal bishop and future Confederate general Leonidas Polk consecrated it. The university was founded to espouse Southern principles, and John Armfield, co-owner of the Franklin and Armfield slave-trading firm, was a major contributor. In 1863, Union troops blew up the cornerstone, and no further construction occurred until 1866. Former Confederate generals Josiah Gorgas and E. Kirby Smith played essential roles in the university's postwar revival.