Nashville as capital?

[larry_cockerham]

Would anyone have an opinion on what the outcome or impact of Nashville's being selected as the Confederate capital rather than Montgomery and Richmond? Certainly the early occupation by Union troops would have been postponed if not diverted.

 

[Admiral_Porter]

The confederates had no fleet to stop Foote's flotilla. It could have just been another Vicksburg with the Federal gunboats running the shore batteries and then ferrying Grant's and Buell's men across the river.

 

[larry_cockerham]

The Cumberland was not very friendly to incoming boats in 1861. It was and still is very narrow. There were at least three locks in place in the Nashville area prior to the Cheatam and Old Hickory reservoirs being constructed in the mid 20th century. Had Nashville been fortified as a Confederate capital, the supply route for the Union army linking to Chattanooga by rail would have been far later in developing if at all. Sherman would not have been able to cross Tennessee so easily from Shiloh to Chickamauga. The Atlanta campaign would have been far different in population and schedule. Lincoln might have been given the boot as a result.

 

[milhistbuff1]

Chattanooga would have better, its rail connections made it easier to retreat into Georgia if need be but still close enough to Nashville to prevent it from falling if necessary.
Respectfully,
Matt

 

[gary]

The war would have ended sooner. Holding Tennessee depends on holding Fort Donelson. Once that fell, Nashville would have been untenable. Loss of the capital so soon in the war would have caused many foreign powers to blink and withhold support and perhaps even commerce.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Why you say 'after Fort Donelson felt, Nashville would have been untenable'?
If Nashville had achived "capital" status, it would have been fortified and considerably more Confederate defenders would have been in place. The Cumberland would have been very easy to block or otherwise defend. The mountain slopes to the immediate north would have made "invasion" from Kentucky quite difficult. The fact Nashville is well west of the Appalachian mountain barrier would have been a bigger problem. Communication with the army in Virginia would have been darn near impossible. Sending supplies east or west between Richmond and Nashville also essentially impossible. One of the major deficiencies of the Confederacy was a split army.

 

[milhistbuff1]

Larry, Since Nashville held approx. 1/3 of the south's industrial might there is no question it was vital, but to place the CSA capital that far north would be to invite disaster. Ifthe federals managed to side-step the AOT and break through, Jeff Davis would be caught inside a mountainous fishbowl with little other choice but due south towards Chattanooga. as i said in post #4 that would be a better choice. Although not as close to each other as Richmond -Petersburg were, it was far more defendable and able to aid the AOT.
Respectfully,
Matt

 

[larry_cockerham]

I think your'e a bit confused, particularly about Nashville having 1/3 of the south's industrial might? Good railroads, but little else. Nashville's location is far more accessible than Chattanooga, not to mention easy to leave. Chattanooga was and is a good place to fight, but not much else. The proximity to Richmond and Washington and/or a lack thereof, was just as much a problem for Montgomery or even more so than it would have been for Nashville. Columbia might have been a better choice geographically or even Milledgeville, Georgia.

 

[milhistbuff1]

Ok, my source must be wrong then, thank you.

 

[Admiral_Porter]

Nashville had important cannon foundries.

 

[larry_cockerham]

I don't wish to debate this point. I merely stated that our industry is minimal even today (not counting auto industry and the Ford glass plant). Nashville would have been very minimal compared to several Virginia cities, Augusta, Selma, Montgomery and Charlotte.

 

[Admiral_Porter]

Nashville's capture early in the war didn't allow the Confederacy to take advantage of its industrial output. This is also true of New Orleans; the Crescent City was one of the most industrialized cities in the Confederacy but since it was captured in early 1862 it never gained the notoriety of cities like Atlanta and Richmond.

Nashville and Selma had cannon foundries. Augusta had an armory. What did Montgomery and Charlotte have?

 

[larry_cockerham]

Not so sure about Montgomery myself. Charlotte was a railroad hub, large maintenance facility. The Catawba river ran close by town, must of had some foundries. I lived in Charlotte for a couple of years but noticed no remnants except for the railroad some of which was also at Spencer. Trains were (locomotives) stored in Charlotte to protect them from Sherman in 1864. I'm tracking the Army of Tennessee after the retreat from Tennessee in 1864/65. I've haven't made it to Montgomery quite yet. The path goes from Florence to Tupelo to Meridian to Selma to Demopolis to Montgomery to Macon, Milledgeville, Augusta, Columbia, Charlotte and Raleigh. Most of these were Confederate arsenals of one sort or another. I'm collecting data on as much of this path as possible, so I'm interested in all these locations. I found a good bit on Selma, Macon and Augusta so far, but not much on the others.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Augusta, as you probably know was the source of most of the Confederacy's gun powder. There may have been a bit of that at Nashville where the DuPont plant is located on the Cumberland east of town.

 

[larry_cockerham]

After considerable web surfing, I've reached the conclusion that if there was any war related industry in Montgomery, they don't know about or have forgotten it. Just the capital as best I can tell. I did find this reference to the large foundry at Selma which was destroyed by Wilson's 4th Cavalry during the April 2, 1865 battle and also to the fairly signifigant ironworks at Birmingham which grew into their steel industry of today.

from the net:

In the final weeks of the war, Union General James Harrison Wilson commanded the largest cavalry force of the war. His objective was to destroy important ironworks at Tannehill and Brierfield and the great foundry in Selma, a vital producer of the South's cannons and munitions. He would also attack General Forrest's troops. These raids left Alabama's important military objectives a smoldering ruin and greatly impaired the South's ability to make war. Forrest finally surrendered his troops in Gainesville, Ala., nearly a month after General Lee had surrendered at Appamattox. Forrest's men were the last troops of the Confederacy to lay down their arms.

 

[richard]

Larry, contact Allen Pitts on the Alabama civil war board about Montgomery. He in Montgomery and has a lot of knowledge of the area.

 

[whitworth]

Importance of Virginia

Virginia was too important to the Confederacy. I doubt the Confederacy would last two years without Virginia seceding.
It was an important industrial base. The Confederacy needed Tredegar for its output.
The big deficit for Richmond was, as the war continued, it became more and more difficult to supply. It was at the end of the line for Confederacy. In light of their deteriorating railroad system, that was a great disadvantage.

 

[whitworth]

Richmond was more than a capital

Richmond was selected because it was the great Confederate supply center, as indicated by Tredegar Ironworks.
If Richmond had fallen early in the war, that would have virtually ended the war, as the rest of Confederacy could not make up for the logistic shortage resulting.