Book News: Johnsonville

Mention the word "Johnsonville" and some people think sausage and brats, but others think of the Civil War's only example of a major supply depot destroyed by ranged artillery fire. In late 1864, Nathan Bedford Forrest was roaming around West Tennessee on another trademark cavalry raid. He captured some Union shipping as October turned to November and repurposed two vessels as Confederate gunboats for an attack on the massive Union supply base at Johnsonville. The gunboats were lost to separate action, but on November 4-5 Forrest's shore batteries, which were positioned on the opposite shore of the Tennessee River, opened up on the densely packed Johnsonville wharf. Through an incendiary combination of shell fire and self-destruction aimed at keeping any surviving supplies out of enemy hands, a huge material loss was incurred (the estimated value of which ranged from $2 million to $6+ million).

Currently, the only book-length study of these events is Donald Steenburn's Silent Echoes of Johnsonville: Nathan B. Forrest, Rebel Cavalry & Yankee Gunboats (1994, rev. 2001) and my 2007 review cautiously recommended it primarily on those grounds. Recently, however, news has arrived of another study that promises much improvement and a wider scope. Authored by former Johnsonville State Historic Park manager Jerry Wooten, Johnsonville: Union Supply Operations on the Tennessee River and the Battle of Johnsonville, November 4-5, 1864 will hopefully be released sometime this year from publisher Savas Beatie.

Steenburn's history of the operation is presented primarily from the Confederate perspective, but Wooten's approach will be much broader. In researching 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 roll all of this played in making possible the Union victories with which we are all familiar." The book promises to be "the best and most detailed account of the Battle of Johnsonville" with research that "peels back the decades to reveal significantly more on that battle as well as what life was like in and around the area for both military men and civilians." Sounds like another one to add to the must-read list.