5 History 2 - Tennessee History for Kids

FIFTH GRADE
Part Two: Volunteer State divided

Tennessee History for Kids has created a video about African Americans in the Civil War. In "The Lost Soldier," History Bill wanders through the Nashville National Cemetery, wishing he had a tour guide to tell him about the people buried there. Along comes someone who tells his story. Click here to see it using Windows Media Player; here using Quicktime.

Now we're going to talk about the bloodiest war in American history and one of only a few wars to have ever taken place on Tennessee soil.

A re-enactment at Shiloh

Might we suggest that you ask your teacher or parents to take you to one of the battlefields in Tennessee – Ft. Donelson, Shiloh, Stone’s River, Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga, Fort Pillow, or Johnsonville. If you click on the links, you'll be taken to the Tennessee History for Kids virtual tours of these incredible places.

We suggest you pick one battle and study it in some detail. If you go to a battlefield, take the guided tour and listen closely, as you will hear some of the most important things to know about this war.

Before we talk about Tennessee, let's tell you some things about the Civil War that might not be in your textbook:

For example:

* The war had many causes. For many people, the cause was state's rights, or the preservation of the Union. For some, the cause was the abolition of slavery, or the preservation of slavery. And some Southerners saw the cause as self-defense. Click here to read two primary sources related to the cause of the Civil War.

* During the Civil War, FAR more people died of disease than of wounds.

* During the Civil War, when people were injured, they often had to have their arms and legs amputated (cut off) without the benefit of anesthesia (the drug that knocks you out before surgery so you won't feel it).

The tomb of a drummer boy at Shiloh

* Most kids stayed home during the war. But there were some children in both Confederate and Union uniforms. Drummer boys, who would stand along with soldiers and beat drums that helped the soldiers march and load weapons in unison, were as young as 10.

* When you see movies, you often get the impression that the war was organized. But during the Civil War, battles were so loud, bloody, and unpredictable that the generals had a hard time figuring out what was happening. The first Confederate general from Tennessee killed in the war (Felix Zollicoffer) was killed when he accidentally rode up to the wrong troops. And we now believe that Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston was accidentally killed by his own troops at the Battle of Shiloh.

* During the Civil war, there were people on both sides who shot and killed unarmed civilians (people not in the military). One of the worst was Tennessean Champ Ferguson, who was executed after the war for murdering at least 53 people. Click here to read about him.

Tennessee's war

Here are important things to know about the Civil War in the Volunteer State:

The railroad depot in Nashville
PHOTO: Library of Congress

* More battles took place in Tennessee than in any other state except Virginia.

* Middle and West Tennessee, in general, favored the Confederacy, while East Tennessee was mostly pro-Union. But there were pro-Union and pro-Confederate people in every county. Neighbor often fought neighbor, and, in some cases, brother fought brother.

* Young men generally didn't stay home during the Civil War. For example: In 1860 there were about 2,700 people in Perry County of all ages, about half of them men. 800 of them went to fight the Civil War -- about 600 for the South and about 200 for the North.

Union soldiers near Chattanooga
PHOTO: Library of Congress

* When people signed up for this war, they were sent as a group to the same place (something the U.S. Army doesn't do today). Because of this, some areas lost a lot more men than others. In Wilson, Sumner and Trousdale counties, for instance, close to a thousand men left home as the Seventh Tennessee Infantry. They were sent to Virginia and fought in every major battle there. When the war ended, 47 of the original thousand were still alive and serving.

* Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and the first state to come back into the Union.

This is the way the Union Navy was greeted when it came up the Cumberland River toward Fort Donelson.

* The Union victories at Forts Henry and Donelson were extremely important to the Union cause. With Fort Henry, the Union Army took over the entire Tennessee River in West Tennessee. With the victory at Fort Donelson, Nashville was left practically undefended by the Confederate Army. Soon after the fall of Fort Donelson, the Union Army took Nashville without having to fire a shot. It was during the fight over Fort Donelson, by the way, that Ulysses S. Grant earned his nickname "Unconditional Surrender."

A mass grave at Shiloh

* Americans were horrified by the Battle of Shiloh, which took place in Hardin County on April 6 and 7, 1862. More Americans died at the Battle of Shiloh than in all the American wars up to that point. Read that sentence again, and think about how people must have felt when they heard this news.

Although the Civil War is no laughing matter, one of the better ways to learn about the Battle of Shiloh is through this comic book, which kids seem to love and which tells the story of the Battle of Shiloh with surprising accuracy. If you would like to buy a copy of this book, we have found this link.

* There were several bloody battles in and near Chattanooga, eventually resulting in Union victories on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. The result of this was that the state of Georgia lay open to invasion from General William T. Sherman's army, which proceeded to march, fight and burn its way all the way from Chattanooga to Savannah, Georgia.

A statue of Nathan Forrest in Memphis

* The man considered by both armies to be the most effective soldier and general to come from Tennessee was Nathan Bedford Forrest, a cavalry officer who narrowly escaped death several times and whose legacy today is heavily influenced by what he did after the war. Click here to read more about this man.

Johnson
PHOTO: Library of Congress

* When President Lincoln ran for re-election in 1864, he wanted his running mate to be a Southerner who had remained loyal to the Union. He picked a man from Greeneville, Tennessee, named Andrew Johnson -- a former U.S. Senator who by that time was the military governor of Tennessee. When Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson became president.

This was a hard time to be president, and Johnson did not do well. In general, Johnson wanted to help the South recover from the war, while many people in Congress wanted to punish the South. Because of these disagreements Johnson nearly became the first president ever removed from office.

Elsewhere on Tennessee History for Kids: Click here for a tour of the Andrew Johnson Historic Site; here to read about Abraham Lincoln's special connection to Tennessee; here to read about Admiral David Farragut (the first admiral in American naval history); and here to read about Sam Davis, the "Boy Hero of the Confederacy."

QUIZ

1) (TRUE OR FALSE) The number one cause of death during the Civil War was gunshot wound.
2) What does the word "amputate" mean?
3) (TRUE OF FALSE) Tennessee was the last of the Southern states to secede from the Union.
4) What is the name of the battle that took place in Tennessee on April 6 and 7, 1862, where more Americans were killed, missing and wounded than in all the battles that had taken place before that time?

Click here for the quiz answers.

And click here to read about what happened after the war.