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

Civil War Walking Trail Start/End Kiosk

 
 
Civil War Walking Trail Start/End Kiosk Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 25, 2022
1. Civil War Walking Trail Start/End Kiosk Marker
Inscription. For the citizens of the State of Tennessee during the early 1860's, the violence and bloodshed of combat were not faraway abstractions, nor were they empty statistics in a textbook. The soldiers who fought and died were not anonymous heroes, distantly fighting in far off foreign lands. For the citizens of the State of Tennessee, the American Civil War was instead a terrifying everyday reality that could, and often did, sweep away homes and livelihoods, civilians and soldiers, sons and fathers.

Tennessee was an area of crucial strategic, political and military significance to both sides during the Civil War. This reality is evident in the numbers: more than 2,900 military actions took place on its soil during the course of the war. Tennessee provided more soldiers for the Confederacy than any other state except Virginia, while at the same time providing more men for the Union cause than the rest of the Confederacy combined. Its rivers, and railroads as well as its industry and agriculture made it, in President Lincoln's words, “the key to the Southern arch.”

Equally evident was the war's impact on those who lived here
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and found themselves caught in the middle of forces beyond their control. Collierville was one of many communities in Tennessee, and indeed throughout the South, that were engulfed by the war. Collierville was considered to be of exceptional strategic importance for both sides, and was occupied by Federal forces from 1862 until the conclusion of hostilities in 1865. During the interim it was the scene of a number of military actions featuring some of the most notable names of the era. As a consequence, the Town and its homes and businesses were almost completely destroyed by war's end.

This Civil War tour was designed to walk you through significant locations of the Battle of Collierville, and to tell the stories of the soldiers that occupied, fought, and died here. As you enjoy this tour however, please remain mindful that the cost of war lies not in the abstraction of mere statistics, but instead in the suffering and loss of real human beings.
 
Erected by Town of Collierville • Tennessee Wars Commission.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. A significant historical year for this entry is 1862.
 
Location. 35° 2.613′ N,
Civil War Walking Trail Start/End Kiosk Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 25, 2022
2. Civil War Walking Trail Start/End Kiosk Marker
89° 40.01′ W. Marker is in Collierville, Tennessee, in Shelby County. It is on Walnut Street north of West Mulberry Street, on the left when traveling north. Marker is on the southern edge of Tom Brooks Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 151 Walnut ST, Collierville TN 38017, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in West Tennessee and in Greater Memphis. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, in the Upper South, in the Mississippi Delta, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Battle of Collierville (a few steps from this marker); Chalmers's Collierville Raid (a few steps from this marker); Treating the Wounded (within shouting distance of this marker); Tom Brooks Park
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(within shouting distance of this marker); Fort/Stockade (within shouting distance of this marker); First Baptist Church (within shouting distance of this marker); Presbyterian Church of Collierville (within shouting distance of this marker); Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Collierville.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 26, 2022. It was originally submitted on June 26, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 373 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on June 26, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
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Jul. 6, 2026