johnsonville: union supply operations on the tennessee river and the battle of johnsonville, november 4-5, 1864

Wooten’s study includes the best and most detailed account of the battle of Johnsonville, when Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest led his cavalry through western Tennessee on a 23-day raid. On November 4-5, 1864, Forrest’s troopers attacked the Federal supply depot at Johnsonville, Tennessee, destroying tons of invaluable supplies. The complex land-water operation nearly wiped out the supply depot, severely disrupted Gen. George Thomas’s army in Nashville, and impeded his operations against John Bell Hood’s Confederate army.

As the first full-length study on Johnsonville, Wooten 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 its defense by U.S. Colored Troops. His study covers the emergence of a civilian town around the depot, and the role this played in making possible the Union victories with which we are all familiar.

Johnsonville: Union Supply Operations on the Tennessee River and the Battle of Johnsonville, November 4-5, 1864 is a fresh and original contribution to the war’s historiography.