Railroad-Related Military Events Sorted by Date
11/8/1861 Skirmish at Strawberry Plains Bridge Union attempt to burn bridge which was thwarted by Confederates
11/8/1861 East Tennessee Unionist Bridge Burnings The Hiwasee, Strawberry Plains, Watauga, and two bridges over the Chickamauga were hit.
11/10/1861 Skirmish near Bristol Bridge near Bristol burned, skirmish, won by CSA, ensues nearby, threats of burning Watauga bridge
2/6/1862 Destruction of railroad tracks by men from the USN "Tyler"
2/8/1862 Destruction of Memphis & Bowling Green RR Bridge Destruction of railroad bridge by USN and two companies of sharpshooters, Rebels had abandoned
2/18/1862 Clarksville railroad bridge burned Confederates destroyed bridge as they retreated back to Nashville
3/13/1862 Destruction of Beach Creek Bridge Destruction of bridge located between Bethel and Brown Station, W TN
3/15/1862 Taking of the station at Gallatin Morgan raided Gallatin destroying the fed train supplies he could find there
3/25/1862 Destruction of rails near Tullahoma
3/31/1862 Capture of Union City Union fired two cars after the two locomotives there had escaped
4/7/1862 Pittinger's Raid on Georgia State Railroad
4/11/1862 Skirmish at Wartrace Skirmish so alarmed Union that they stopped running trains on the N & C for awhile
4/29/1862 Raid on the Mob & O near Bethel Station Union troops destroyed 2 bridges and captured a locomotive and train men
5/4/1862 Action near Bethel Union cavalry, under enemy fire, burned 3 bridges, destroyed a portion of track and telegraph wire
5/9/1862 Skirmish on Elk River, near Bethel 1st KY Cavalry attacked Union guards at trestle work on Elk river, capturing it and its guards
5/30/1862 Cypress Creek Bridge burned Confederates burned a great deal of railroad equipment as they retreated south
6/7/1862 Attack on Chattanooga by James S. Negley Union forces attacked a Confderate forse, putting them to flight. The Rebels torched 2 bridges
6/25/1862 Affair near La Fayette Station Rebels attacked a train that had derailed, capturing a handful of Union passengers
7/13/1862 Destruction of Murfreesboro depot and railroad Forrest attacked Murfreesboro, destroying the railroad and depot there. Retreated to McMinnville
7/21/1862 Destruction of bridge near Nashville Forrest went down the Lebanon road to within 5 miles of Nashville and burned a bridge & trestle work
7/25/1862 Attack on Grand Junction Wheeler attacked and destroyed the railroad at Grand Junction.
7/26/1862 Attack on rail near Bolivar Wheeler burned some bridges between Bolivar and Jackson
8/12/1862 Morgan at Gallatin Morgan destroyed a tunnel, bridge, trestle work, and cars, as well as captured Gallatin and 220 men
8/19/1862 Raid on L & N While attacking Gallatin, Morgan sent some men to burn the trestles at Saundersville
8/27/1862 Skirmish at Reynold's Station, N & D RR No circumstantial reports filed
8/29/1862 Forrest's attack on Guest Hollow Stockade Forrest attacked federal stockade and was repulsed. He burned bridges on retreat
8/30/1862 Armstrong's raid on Medon Station Armstrong's men attacked Medon and cut the railroad at this point
9/5/1862 Skirmish near Humboldt at Burnt Bridge Rebels attacked Burnt Bridge setting it on fire. They are later repulsed and the bridge is saved.
10/5/1862 Skirmish at Chewalla Small skirmish took place at the water-tank.
10/7/1862 Skirmish at LaVergne Negley repulsed Forrest in this contest, capturing and destroying 3 railroad cars.
10/23/1862 Skirmish at Shelby Depot Rebels set fire to bridge. Upon dispersement of the rebels, the federals put out the fire.
10/25/1862 Cox's Raid on Henderson's Station Rebels moved into Henderson's Station, drove off federals, and fired the station & bridge
10/31/1862 Skirmish at "Dead Horse Trestle" Morgan engaged the federals, routing them, then burned trestles to prevent RR use by feds.
11/25/1862 Henderson's Station Bridge May be same event as 10/25/62 raid: women bucket brigade save bridge after rebels fire it
12/18/1862 Destruction of Webb's Station Col. Dibrell was sent to Webb's Station to tear up track and destroy telegraph wire
12/19/1862 Affair at Carroll Station Forrest destroyed the track around Carroll Station and fired upon a passing train
12/20/1862 Attack at Humboldt Stanes' detachment of Forrest's Brigade captured both railroads running into town, destroying them
12/21/1862 Destruction of bridges near Moscow and over the Obion River Forrest destroyed the bridge over the bayou near Moscow and the bridges over the Obion River
12/21/1862 Destruction of Trenton Station Forrest fired Trenton Depot after having captured the city
12/21/1862 Destruction of track between Trenton and Kenton After destroying Trenton, Forrest moved toward Union City destroying all track until Kenton
12/23/1862 Destruction of railroads around Union City After capturing Union City, Forrest destroyed track on both the Mob & O and N & NW
12/24/1862 Destruction of railroad from McKenzie Station to Union City Forrest spent Christmas Eve & Christmas Day destroying the railroad line form McKenzie to Union City
12/30/1862 Destruction of the Holston and Watauga railroad bridges Carter made a raid into East TN and destroyed the Watauga and Holston Bridges as he went.
1/25/1863 Burning of train near Antioch Confederate guerillas attacked a train at Mill Creek Bridge, begin burning it, but are stopped
3/19/1863 Skirmish at Richland Station Confederate guerillas attacked a passenger train, knocking it from the track, were stopped by union
3/21/1863 Attack on a railroad train, Grand Junction Confederate guerillas derailed a construction train and unsuccessfully tried to capture a pay train.
3/25/1863 Attack on Brentwood Forrest attacked Brentwood burning the bridge and capturing the command stationed there.
3/29/1863 Affair at Moscow Guerillas attacked a passenger train, robbing the passengers and capturing the soldiers on board.
4/9/1863 Affair near Antioch Ferrill, under Wheeler's command, attacked a train, firing into it, killing 100 men, freeing 40 rebs
4/9/1863 Affair near Nashville Wheeler attacked a train northeast of Nashville. Unable to cross the river, he shot cannon at it.
4/10/1863 Affair at Antioch Station Rebel cavalry attacked a train near La Vergne, routed the guard, and set fire to seven cars.
4/10/1863 Skirmish at La Vergne A guerilla force attacked a train near La Vergne, the cars were destroyed.
4/20/1863 Destruction of M & M RR not available
5/21/1863 Destruction of trestle near Clarksville 20th KY Infantry noticed trestle had been burned while scouting around Clarksville
6/19/1863 Destruction of railroad between Lenoir Station and Knoxville Col. Sanders had the ET & G destroyed every mile or so between Lenoir Station and Knoxville
6/20/1863 Destruction of bridges near Strawberry Plains Col. Sanders destroyed the small bridges between Knoxville and Strawberry Plains during his raid.
6/21/1863 Destruction of railroad around Mossy Creek Bridge While moving through the Mossy Creek region, Col. Sanders had the railroad destroyed if convenient.
6/29/1863 Destruction of Tracy City Railroad track After moving into the area, Col. Wilder destroyed the Tracy City RR.
7/13/1863 Bridge across Big Hatchie River discovered burned Union troops scouting around Bolivar discovered the Big Hatchie Bridge burned
7/18/1863 Track damaged near Germantown Rebels tore up track two miles from Germantown.
7/30/1863 Burning of trestle near Middleton Col. Richardson had his men burn a trestle and tear down telegraph wire as a memento of passing by.
8/21/1863 Burning of Nickajack Bridge Union troops fired the Nickajack Bridge in order to break reb communications along N & C RR.
9/2/1863 Capture of Knoxville When Burnside captured Knoxville, his troops came into possession of 2 locomotives and several cars.
9/6/1863 Capture of train near Morristown Burnside captures a train outside Morristown as he moves through East Tennessee
9/19/1863 Occupation of Bristol by Federal troops After occupying Bristol, the feds tore up the railroad and burned bridges 2 miles above the town
10/4/1863 Wheeler attacks McMinnville Wheeler spent the evening of October 4 destroying the railroad around McMinnville
10/5/1863 Wheeler attacks Murfreesboro After moving to Murfreesboro, Wheeler captures a bridge across Stones River and destroys it.
10/5/1863 Affair at Christiana Colonel Harrison moved his troops into Christiana, capturing the town and destroying RR material.
10/9/1863 Affair at Cowan
10/11/1863 Operations on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad Burrow's cavalry unit drove the Feds away from White's station and then destroyed much of the RR
10/15/1863 Occupation of Zollicoffer Upon occupying Zollicoffer, Union cavalry proceeded to destroy much of the RR surrounding the city.
10/26/1863 Guerilla Attack on train at Gallatin Tunnel Guerillas placed a torpedo on the track just south of Gallatin Tunnel, which later wrecked a train.
10/28/1863 Burning of bridge at Wauhatchie As the rebels retreated from the advancing federals, they burned a railroad bridge.
11/3/1863 Destruction of track at Collierville During the battle, rebels commenced with destroying track around Collierville at 3 am on Nov. 5
11/24/1863 Raid on ET & G RR 11/25- Kitchell tore up track near Tyner's Station in 7-8 places, 26-destroyed track near Cleveland
11/25/1863 Burning of Ooltewah Bridge Fourth Michigan Cavalry spent the morning of 11/25 destroying the Ooltewah Bridge.
11/26/1863 Burning of Chickamauga Station Upon retreating from Chickamauga Station in the face of Sherman's advance, rebs fired the depot.
11/29/1863 Destruction of bridges at Calhoun During his retreat, Col. Carter was ordered to destroy the bridges near Calhoun to stop fed advance.
12/2/1863 Track destruction at Saulsbury Lee descended upon Saulsbury, destroyed 2 miles of track and bent the rails.
12/4/1863 Trestle Work at La Fayette Forrest destroyed 100 yards of trestling on his move from La Fayette to Moscow.
12/6/1863 Affair near Fayetteville Rebels attack a guard to a working party taking up rails at Fayetteville and burn a bridge at Salem
12/25/1863 Burning of Train near La Vergne Rebels attacked and fired a train. Federals drove them off and saved all but one car.
12/27/1863 Bridge at Collierville
3/16/1864 Raid on N & C RR, near Tullahoma Rebels forced train off track and fired it. Federals drove them off and saved all but 3 cars.
6/23/1864 Attack on train near La Fayette Guerillas fired on a train near La Fayette, killing and wounding several people.
8/15/1864 Raid on the N & NW RR Guerillas attacked the N & NW destroying 600 cords of wood and capturing some of the employees.
8/17/1864 Wheeler's Raid on Cleveland After being repulsed in his attack on Cleveland, Wheeler cut the telegraph wire and tore up track
8/24/1864 Skirmish at Strawberry Plains Bridge (1864) On the night of 8/24, Wheeler's men tried to burn the bridge, but were foiled by the garrison there.
8/30/1864 Skirmish at Tracy City Wheeler attacked and drove in a small force at Tracy City, and destroyed a railroad bridge.
9/1/1864 Destruction of Railroad near Campbell's Station Wheeler destroyed 5 miles of track near Campbell's Station during his retreat from Rosecrans
9/2/1864 Stopping of a train near Murfreesboro Rebels stop a train by piling wood on the tracks. Retreat when feds on train open fire.
9/4/1864 Action near Elk River Bridge Wheeler destroyed a portion of the track and telegraph line before retiring toward Sulfer Branch.
9/26/1864 Forrest's raid on Elkton Forrest found the Elkton block-house deserted and had it destroyed along with surrounding materials.
9/27/1864 Destruction of RR between Pulaski and Columbia Forrest moved toward Columbia and proceeded to destroy all railroad and track to Columbia.
9/28/1864 Destruction of RR near Tullahoma Forrest ordered the N & C above and below Tullahoma to be cut by Boone and Kelleher.
10/1/1864 Action near Columbia Forrest marched toward Columbia, burning all block-houses and bridges he came across.
10/10/1864 Affair at South Tunnel, Gallatin Confederates attacked the South Tunnel, driving away the guard, and tore up the track there.
10/16/1864 Skirmish at Mossy Creek Confederates attack bridge and route guard, but due to small force size was unable to fire bridge.
10/18/1864 Raid on the N & NW RR (1864) Guerillas attacked the N & NW, destroying the tracks, and burning a train and firing into others.
10/21/1864 Destruction of RR near Russellville Palmer moved toward Russellville, destroyed all track in the vicinity, and returned to Bull's Gap.
11/5/1864 Attack on Johnsonville Forrest attacked Johnsonville and burned many RR buildings there.
12/2/1864 Operations against stockades and block-houses on the N & C RR Rebels attacked block-houses and stockades up and down the N & C.
12/6/1864 Lyon's raid on RR near Clarksville Lyon made an attempt on Clarksville. Finding it well defended, he tore up track near it.
12/13/1864 Attack on railroad train near Murfreesboro Rebels set fire to track, stopping and firing on a train. Feds clear the track and save the train.
12/15/1864 Capture of railroad train near Murfreesboro Rebels cut the track near Murfreesboro, capture a train, and burn it after routing its guard.
2/16/1865 Attack on Railroad at Athens and Sweet Water Vaughn attacked the railroad at Athens and Sweet Water, capturing the garrison at both places.

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Last update:  April 19, 2000