Unlike the Confederacy, the Federal government took a very strong role in the wartime control of railroads.  Although Federal forces were authorized (by an Act of Congress on January 31, 1862) to seize any railroad when necessary to support the successful conduct of military operations, actual seizure was generally limited to former enemy railroads captured through military conquest.  Early Federal railroad operations in the western theater (including Tennessee), generally under the auspices of the Quartermaster Department, supported basic railroad operations but sometimes proved chaotic (instigating investigations in spring of 1863).  Eventually the U.S. Military Railroads (USMRR), utilizing railroad management practices perfected in the eastern theater, established (under the leadership of D. C. McCallum) a more effective organizational structure for managing construction and operational activities on the seized railroads in Tennessee using its own personnel (usually experienced railroad men drawn from private companies).

The map depicts Tennessee railroads that were under Federal control.  The solid blue lines indicate rail lines that were associated with the USMRR in 1864 and 1865.  The dotted blue lines indicate other railroads in west Tennessee that had fallen under control Federal control by 1862, but most received scant attention after Federal strategists shifted their attention to the middle Tennessee region to focus on the advance toward Atlanta.  The Louisville and Nashville apparently retained a somewhat independent operational status throughout the war, perhaps benefiting from the its prewar efforts to maintain links with both north and south.

Please select the corresponding railroad name in the table below for detailed information about each USMRR line.  Because the USMRR actively employed photographers to document railroad activities, many period photographs have survived to give us a fascinating look at Civil War railroading in Tennessee.
 

To study the many military events related to these USMRR lines, go to Railroad-Associated Military Events of the Civil War

For general information about Federal railroads, refer to Thomas Weber's The Northern Railroads in the Civil War, 1861-1865 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1952, reprinted 1999).  Specific information in these pages about Tennessee's Federal railroads was drawn from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and other works listed in the railroad bibliography along with research in primary resources currently housed in vertical files at the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation.

  Tennessee Civil War Railroads  |  Civil War Technology & Industry in Tennessee

Last updated:  May 15, 2000