Wooten, Jerry T. Johnsonville

Union Supply Operations on the Tennessee River and the Battle of Johnsonville, November 4-5, 1864

"Johnsonville doesn't mean much to most students studying the Civil War. However, its contribution to the Union's victory in the Western theatre of war can hardly be overestimated, and its history is complex, fascinating and largely unknown. Johnsonville: Union Supply Operations on the Tennessee River and the Battle of Johnsonville, November 4-5, 1864" remedies this omission with the first comprehensive study of the subject. Wooten has unearthed a wealth of new material that sheds light on the creation and strategic role of the Union supply depot, the use of railroads and logistics, and the defence of the depot. His study covers the emergence of a civilian town around the depot and the role all of this played in the Union victories we all know. This monograph also contains the best and most detailed account of the Battle of Johnsonville. The fighting took place in the wake of one of the most daring campaigns of the war, when Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest led his cavalry on a 25-day campaign through western Tennessee and Kentucky. On 4 and 5 November 1864, Forrest's troops attacked the depot, shelled the town and destroyed tons of valuable supplies. The complex land-water operation nearly destroyed Johnsonville's supply depot, severely hampered General George Thomas's army in Nashville and hindered his operations against John Bell Hood's Confederate army. Previous works on Johnsonville have focused on Forrest's operations, but Wooten's thorough research in the archives uncovers decades of history and reveals much more about this battle and life in and around the area, both for soldiers and civilians.