On This Day 1864: Battle of Johnsonville

  On this day in 1864 was the Battle of Johnsonville, Tennessee, in the Civil War.
~~Old Johnsonville(quoted from historical marker)~~

   This town was named for Andrew Johnson, military governor of Tennessee(1862-65). Although the community had been a steamboat landing prior to the Civil War, it was not until the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad was completed by the Union Army in May 1864, that is gained prominence as a major supply depot. Confederate General Nathan B Forrest destroyed the supply depot on Nov 4, 1864, but there still remain near the town two Union redoubts built for the defense of the depot. The guns in the earthworks were inadequate, and Forrest destroyed the supply base and defending gunboat flotilla as well. After the war, Johnsonville thrived for nearly forty year as a river-rail transfer point, but severe flooding stopped its growth. TVA then purchased the land for Kentucky Lake and in 1945 the town ceased to exist.

   Located in Humphreys County in Tennessee is the small Johnsonville State Historic Park. There are still signs of the Union supply depot and redoubts. You can also see the remains of the abandoned rail line as the railroad's path was rerouted to the south when town was inundated by Kentucky Lake. The town of New Johnsonville now sits a few miles southwest of the old town along the new rail line.