They were assigned to the 13th Tennessee at Nashville. In July 1863, some 200 local ex-slaves were among the first in the state to volunteer for the United States Colored Troops (USCT), enlisting at the Gallatin public square. In 1864 schools were set up in the camp to teach both children and adults to read and write. The ex-slaves were provided food and housing, and put to work. The Army established a contraband camp here. Įven before the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, many enslaved African Americans freed themselves by leaving farms and plantations with their families to join the Union troops in Gallatin and other parts of the state. The long occupation, in which the troops lived off the land, disrupted civil society in the region. Others were taken to the river and shot there. Alice Williamson, a local 16-year-old girl, kept a diary during 1864 and described Paine's execution of alleged spies without trial, some in the public square. Paine was notoriously cruel and was replaced in command before the end of the war because of his behavior. Paine retook the town, and Union troops occupied it throughout the remainder of the war and into 1867. In November 1862, Union General Eleazar A. In July 1862, General John Hunt Morgan recaptured Gallatin and held it until October, when the Confederate forces fell back to Chattanooga. Gallatin was strategic both because of the railroad, which ran east-west through the state, and its location on the Cumberland River, both of which the Union Army sought to control. The Union Army captured Gallatin in February 1862, following Ulysses S. Once the fighting began, however, they gave almost unanimous support to the Confederacy and volunteered to serve in defense of their state. In the mid-20th century, it operated under a charter established by a 1953 Private Act of the State Legislature.ĭuring the secession crisis just before the American Civil War, the citizens of Gallatin hoped to remain neutral they were opposed to secession from the Union. In 1803, the first county courthouse and jail were built on the central town square. Jackson founded the first general store in Gallatin. The town was built around a traditional plan of an open square. Andrew Jackson became one of the first to purchase a lot when the town was surveyed and platted in 1803. The town was named after Albert Gallatin, Secretary of Treasury to Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Gallatin was established in 1802 as the permanent county seat of Sumner County, in what is called the Middle Tennessee region of the state. In 2017, Gallatin was ranked as "The Nicest Place In America" by Reader's Digest. The city is also the site of Volunteer State Community College, a two-year college with more than 70 degree programs. Gallatin was formerly the headquarters of Dot Records. Several national companies have facilities or headquarters in Gallatin, including Facebook, Gap, Inc., Beretta and Servpro Industries, Inc. It is located about 30.6 miles northeast of the state capital of Nashville, Tennessee. Named for United States Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, the city was established on the Cumberland River and made the county seat of Sumner County in 1802. The population was 30,278 at the 2010 census and 44,431 at the 2020 census. Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |