Why was there so much fighting in Tennessee? The Confederacy wanted to control Tennessee and its resources. Tennessee had many farms that produced food and animals, such as horses, that armies needed. It had some factories that made war supplies such as the Brennan Foundry in Nashville that produced cannons for the Confederate army. Important railroads, rivers, and roads ran through Tennessee into southern states like Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
The Union wanted to control Tennessee to keep the Confederates from using the state’s wealth. But, more importantly, the Union army wanted to go through Tennessee to conquer other states like Georgia. For this plan to work, some Union soldiers would have to stay in Tennessee to hold or occupy it while most of the army moved south into other states.
Civil War battles were terrifying experiences for the soldiers who fought and died in them and for local residents who found their homes and farms transformed into hospitals or even battlefields. Many recalled the horror of their experiences after the battle.
Many soldiers died in Tennessee Civil War battles, and these events forever changed the lives of the soldiers and civilians who survived.
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