Civil War in Lewis County
Foragers and Guerrillas
During the war, many Lewis Country men enlisted in Confederate regiments, including the 3rd, 24th, and 48th Tennessee Infantry and the 9th, 10th, and 19th Tennessee Cavalry. Almost all of the young men marched away to war, leaving the elderly, women, and children behind to farm. The few local slaves largely disappeared when Union forces first arrived in mid-1862.
Federal control, however, was tenuous, and foragers from both sides pestered local residents. In December 1863, Union authorities took "money, cotton, or stock" form the county's "known rebels" to pay $800 in damages that Perry Nicks suffered from "guerrillas, citizens, &c." Even with Union detachments from Columbia patrolling the country's roads, confederate sympathizers found numerous ways to aid Southern efforts.
Riverside residents, for example, provided safe haven for Gen. Nathan B. Forrest's troops during his withdrawal from Middle Tennessee in 1863.
Confederate Col. Duncan B. Cooper's guerrillas wreaked havoc on railroad tracks and bridges, stole Federal horses, mules, and cattle, and harassed local Unionists. In February 1864 of the 7th Iowa Infantry surprised and captured Cooper and ten of his men on Swan Creek. Cooper spent the rest of the war in prison. He returned to Tennessee to launch a successful business and newspaper career.
The only time that a large body of Federal troops appeared here was in January 1865, after the Battle of Nashville. Union Gen. Jacob D. Cox marched 20,000 men through the county en route to the Tennessee River at Clifton. There, the soldiers boarded transports and steamed north.
Marker is on North Park Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
