The Civil War and Its Aftermath

By 1860, four out of ten people in Rutherford County were enslaved African Americans. The county’s free Black population had remained about 200 since 1810. Much of Rutherford County’s economy depended on the unpaid labor of the enslaved. In addition to working on farms and plantations, African Americans worked as skilled blacksmiths, weavers, cooks, builders, and laundresses.

Citizens of Rutherford County were originally opposed to joining other southern states in secession, but after Confederates fired on Fort Sumter in April 1861, Rutherford County voted overwhelmingly for secession. Residents took up arms on both sides of the war. Twenty-five companies were formed in Rutherford County: twenty-one Confederate companies, and two white companies in the United States forces. After U.S. troops occupied Murfreesboro in 1863, Black residents formed two regiments of the United States Colored Troops.

Murfreesboro’s position along the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad and along Rutherford County’s turnpikes made the town an important asset with access to vital supply lines. The N&C Railroad was a focal point in the Battle of Stones River.

Five military engagements took place in Rutherford County during the war, with the Battle of Stones River by far the largest and most significant. The battle occurred just a few miles from Murfreesboro’s public square between December 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863. After Confederate forces retreated, the Army of the Cumberland celebrated a strategic victory and began its occupation of Murfreesboro, which lasted until the end of the war in April 1865. In October 1865, Chaplain William Earnshaw and the men of the 111th United States Colored Infantry began relocating the remains of United States soldiers killed in the Battle of Stones River to the new cemetery, which was located within the battlefield. The N&C Railroad had a platform at Stones River Cemetery, and the line was used both to transport remains and visitors to the cemetery.

After the Civil War, recently freed African Americans formed their own schools, churches, cemeteries, and fraternal lodges. These include Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, which organized in 1866, and Bradley Academy, which opened in 1884 and took African American education to a level beyond the smaller schools created after the war.

When the fighitng ended, many families continued to farm for their livelihood. However, many people, especially young people, began to migrate from rural areas of Middle Tennessee to larger towns like Murfreesboro in search of new job opportunities. Around the turn of the century this migration from rural areas to urban areas increased.