Toll roads and toll bridges.

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
In another post I talked about no train tracks having been laid to the capital city of Michigan and the only real road to Lansing was a 20 mile long toll plank road. This made me wonder how common toll roads and toll bridges were at the start of the Civil War. In my mind I see a toll keeper overjoyed when a couple of regiments paid a toll for each soldier to use the road. A couple of Corps would have been a huge payday for a toll road keeper.
 
In Middle Tennessee, toll roads were officially called turnpikes, but 'pike' was & is the common usage . The pike was a reference to the pole that blocked the road at toll points. Tollroads were private ventures commissioned by the State of Tennessee. The soil in this area turns into a goo when wet. There is a scientific reason for that, take my word for it, the slick as grease, bottomless, clinging nature of our heavy clay mud is impossible to exaggerate. In response to that, Macadamized turnpikes were constructed.

Nashville Pike.jpeg
The McAdamized Nashville-Murfreesboro-Shelbyville Pike, in its modern form is still a straight road following the original roadbed.
In 1860-65, it was the equivalent of a four lane interstate highway.
Compared with the wandering game trail, cow paths that shunpikers followed, it was a wonder of the world.

Scottish engineer John McAdam pioneered the use of angular crushed stones of a singe sized compacted in layers for road construction. Those of you who live in states with farm to market gravel roads will recognize how McAdam's insight revolutionized all weather cross country movement. During Rosecrans' advance from Nashville toward Murfreesboro on December 26, 1862 one axis was on the Macadamized Nashville Pike & the on the dirt Nolensville Pike.

The Battle of Stones River was focused around control of the Nashville Pike for the simple reason that it was a wet weather road. Thomas' wing of the 14th Army Corps was bogged down for days, advancing five miles at a time because of the muddy road. The roads that shunpikers (People who went round about to avoid tolls.) used were all but impassible during wet weather. So, controlling the pikes was essential.

To directly answer the question about how ubiquitous pikes [tollroads] were, here are the names of pikes in the Nashville & Murfreesboro/ Davidson County / Rutherford County area: Nolensville, Brick Church, Salem, Nashville -Murfreesboro-Shelbyville, Franklin, Smith Springs, Liberty, Louisville-Nashville, White's Creek, Gallatin, Porter, Richland, Nashville & Portland, Mill Creek Valley, Lebanon, Stewart's Ferry, Louisville & Nashville Branch, Nashville & Hillsboro, Franklin College & Stones River, Hyde's Ferry, Buena Vista, Granny White, Owen & Winstead, Dry Fork & Vaughn Turnpikes.

<nashvillehistory.blogspot.com>Turnpikes & Bridges in Davison County, Tennessee.

Armies did not pay tolls.

Suspension bridge Nashville.jpeg

The very modern looking suspension Toll Bridge over the Cumberland River between Nashville & Edgefield.
The retreating CS army destroyed it in 1862, much to the annoyance of local residents.

Thanks for asking this question. Many "Pikes" still have their historic names here in Middle Tennessee. I knew there were a lot of them, but had no idea how many there really were.
 
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I had not realized that there were so many pikes in Tennessee. I had read some accounts where Confederate officers were complaining during the Gettysburg Campaign about the Northern Roads being covered with stone were hard on the horses hooves, and many a poorly shod infantryman (on both sides) complained of the macadamized roads. I also recall quotes from William Seward during a pre-war trip to the South where he complained about the poor quality of the roads. All of this combined to lead to what was apparently an incorrect inference on my part that toll roads were less common in the South in the mid-nineteenth century. I am re-thinking that thanks to Rhea Cole's post.

Of the ten roads leading into and out of the town of Gettysburg, two were macadamized, toll roads. The Chambersburg Pike headed WNW from the town towards Chambersburg (today's U.S. Route 30). It was used by 7 of Lee's 9 infantry divisions as they marched toward Gettysburg. Many credit the first shot of the battle to Union cavalry posted along the Chambersburg Pike. There was a dirt lane that ran parallel to the Chambersburg Pike in the area of the McPherson Farm. This was used by farmers for draught animals, not only to avoid the toll during day to day work in the fields, but also because it was easier on the animals feet. Frequent use had given it the character of a sunken lane, which was utilized by the 149th Pa. Infantry when they were taking artillery fire from two directions.

The other toll road at Gettysburg was the Baltimore Pike leading south out of the town. The residence of the toll collector is a stone house on the east side of the road, still occupied as a private residence today. The Baltimore Pike became the major link for the Army of the Potomac to access its supplies at Westminster, MD. It was also the route for taking captured Confederate prisoners to Westminster, where they could be loaded onto trains. On the night of July 2d, Confederates from Johnson's Division were likely only a few hundred yards from the Baltimore Pike, but did not know it in the darkness.
 
On top the Shenandoah Mountain where the battlefield is was a toll that had to be paid going and coming.
It is said General Jackson worked out a deal with the owner on his way to McDowell.
 
Regarding the effect of Macadamized road surface on horses, I asked a very experienced farrier about that. When a horse takes a step, the hoof naturally turns while in contact with the ground. According to the late Larry Mullins, about 1/3rd the 125 (+/-) horses of an artillery battery that were traversing dirt roads & going cross country for 30 days would need to be reshod. After traveling the 30 mile Macadamized Nashville to Murfreesboro Pike, about 75 of the horses would require new shoes upon arrival in Murfreesboro. A number of the tires on the wheels of the vehicles in the battery might well need replacement as well.

Larry demonstrated what would have happened with two shoes that he had replaced that day. One, showing little wear, had been on a horse kept in a pasture & had lasted three months. The other was a well worn down shoe taken from a show horse after three weeks. Show horses are exercised on sandy indoor surfaces. The twisting of the hoof essentially sands down the steel shoe.

The sharp gravel of a Macadamized Road would have ground down the soft iron of CW era horse shoes at a great rate. It is directly analogous to coarse grit & fine grit sandpaper. In this area, it is not uncommon for draft animals that do not travel on paved surfaces not to be shod. The horses & mules that pull carriages around downtown Nashville are always shod. I consider that a confirmation of Larry Mullins' expert analysis.
 
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The Battle of Stones River was focused around control of the Nashville Pike for the simple reason that it was a wet weather road. Thomas' wing of the 14th Army Corps was bogged down for days, advancing five miles at a time because of the muddy road. The roads that shunpikers (People who went round about to avoid tolls.) used were all but impassible during wet weather. So, controlling the pikes was essential.

Okay, first: this is an awesome point! And as a Western Theater enthusiast, I love how you were able to summarize this.

And, on toll roads: I don't know much about their quantity or use during the Civil War; another vital, juicy historic detail that's left out of prominent period films. But, I did know they existed, and a good reference for how some of them got started can be found in Eric Sloane's "Diary of an Early American Boy" based on a transcribed journal of an individual from 1802. One chapter features the family decision to upgrade their bridge, which happens to sit on a road used by the public, into a toll bridge, as the influx of persons heading West (this is set in New England) makes this decision prudent. It goes into some general detail how they did it, how they operated the bridge, what they charged for passengers to cross, ect.
 
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