DEVIL ON THE RIVER

Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest with Morton's Battery at Johnsonville, Tennessee

November 4, 1864.

By RICK REEVES

It was November 1864 and for the Confederacy the war continued its turn for the worse. Tennessee and now Georgia, along with other sections of the Southern Heartland, had fallen to the invading Union forces.

Atlanta had been lost and General John Bell Hood and his still proud Confederate Army of Tennessee were working their way north, back into the state of Tennessee, with the hope that once again, the Southern forces could gain the offensive initiative.

At the same time massive Federal forces under the command of William Tecumseh Sherman prepared for the infamous march to the sea, which would as Sherman stated, "make Georgia howl." His army required vast, continuing supplies. A major line of supply was by water up the Tennessee River to Johnsonville.

Tennessee, and then by wagon train to his army. Johnsonville was the critical supply depot in this supply

Sherman had earlier quipped that he could whip the Southern infantry but that the Confederate cavalry was another story. Led by Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, operations conducted to the rear of the Union lines by the Confederate cavalry reaped devastating results. Forrest was not just a thorn to prick the side of the Union juggernaut but more like an Enfield bayonet that could open gaping wounds, any one of which might just bleed its victim to death. Forrest intended to open such a wound at Johnsonville.

Moving north from Mississippi under orders from General Richard Taylor. Forrest with a total force numbering less than 3,000 men reached Johnsonville on the rd of November. The Federal supply depot was located on the right or east bank of the Tennessee River, about 75 miles northwest of Nashville. The position was protected by a fort and various dug fortifications and defended by about 2,000 Union soldiers. The garrison consisted of acres of stacked supplies, filled warehouses, and loaded transports and barges.

Early on the morning of the 4th Capt. John W. Morton, Forrest's Chief of Artillery, consulted with Forrest on the selection of the site for the placement of his artillery. Morton had realized that an up-river position was an outstanding location to engage the fort. as well as the gunboats. The position proved to be elevated enough and at such an angle that the gunboats could not raise their guns to reach Morton's position; and the fort on the opposite bank was so elevated that its guns could not be depressed enough to effectively duel the Southern cannons.

At the ordered time the Confederate artillery opened fire on the unsuspecting Union garrison. In forty minutes the artillery cannonade transformed the entire bank on the Union side into a solid sheet of flame. The gunboats were bombarded so badly that they had to be run aground and deserted. Although the fort returned the fire, it proved ineffective. In two short hours the attack was over and Johnsonville ceased to exist. Forrest had destroyed, in addition to the garrison, 3 gunboats, 8 transports, and 17 loaded barges. Standing on the west bank, Forrest told Morton,

"John, if they would give you enough guns and me enough men, we would whip

Sherman off the face of the earth.

Rick Reeves print Devil on the River focuses on the successful bombardment of the Johnsonville garrison. Forrest and two of his senior officers Abraham Buford and Tyree Harris Bell were so taken by the success of the moment they joined in the firing of one of the cannons.

As General Sherman reported to General Grant thereafter: "That devil Forrest was down about Johnsonville, making havoc among the gunboats and transports.

Jim Day

Rome, GA