Strategic Location

Strategic Location. Hendersonville in the Civil War. Hendersonville's strategic location on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad made it a prime target for Union and Confederate armies seeking control of Middle Tennessee. After the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862, Union troops pressed on toward Nashville and soon occupied Hendersonville to control the rail lines from Kentucky. The Federals used the Methodist church, located on Gallatin Pike and Walton Ferry Road overlooking Drakes Creek, as an observation post. They maintained barracks and headquarters there for the rest of the war. Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan launched several small attacks to disrupt Federal communication lines, but the Louisville and Nashville Railroad remained under Union control., The town's residents suffered losses from soldiers on both sides. Union troops occupied several nearby houses and farms, including Rock Castle and Hazel Path. Confederate Gen. Davis S. Donelson, Hazel Path's owner and a nephew of Andrew Jackson, is buried in the First Presbyterian Church cemetery. Monthaven, known during the war as Liberty Hall, served as a hospital for both Confederate and Union soldiers., Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant issued orders to build camps for refugees in August 1862, and land owned by Confederate officers and soldiers were treated as vacant and available for the purpose. By 1864, Hendersonville was the location of a camp for refugee slaves (called contrabands) who received shelter, food, clothing, medical necessities, and employment as laborers for the army. After the war, many newly freed African Americans established churches, schools, and homes in the area.