Cherry Mansion | |
Location | 265 Main St., Savannah, Tennessee, US |
---|---|
Coordinates | 35°13′32″N88°15′24″W / 35.22556°N 88.25667°W |
Area | 7 acres (2.8 ha) |
Built | 1829 |
Built by | David Robinson |
Architectural style | Georgian |
NRHP reference No. | 77001274 [1] |
Added to NRHP | August 16, 1977 |
Cherry Mansion is a historic antebellum house in Savannah, Tennessee, located on a bluff overlooking the east bank of the Tennessee River. It has historical significance for its role as General Ulysses S. Grant's headquarters at the time of the Civil War Battle of Shiloh.
Cherry Mansion is a white Georgian building with a two-level porch on its west front, which faces the Tennessee River. A series of terraces descends from the house to the river. [2] The house sits atop the site of a palisaded prehistoric settlement, established some 2000 years ago, that is marked by Indian mounds that were largely obliterated by later construction. [3]
The house was built by David Robinson, who was among Hardin County's early settlers and owned extensive acreage on both sides of the Tennessee River. [2] [4] Sources differ on the date of the house's construction. Most accounts state that it was built around 1829–30 as a wedding gift for Robinson's daughter Sarah and her husband, William H. Cherry. [2] [4] Analysis for the Historic American Buildings Survey found evidence that the house was not completed until around the time of Robinson's death in 1849, and that ownership was transferred to Cherry in 1855. [2]
During the American Civil War, Cherry was sympathetic to the Union side. [5] From March 13 to April 29, 1862, before and after the Battle of Shiloh, his house served as headquarters for Union Army Generals Ulysses S. Grant, C. F. Smith, Don Carlos Buell, and W. H. L. Wallace. [2] [4] According to Cherry family accounts, General Grant and his staff had just sat down at the breakfast table on April 6, 1862, when they heard distant cannon fire indicating that the battle had begun about 7 miles (11 km) up the river. They boarded a steamboat at the landing below the house to travel to the site of the battle, leaving their meals uneaten. [2] [6] Generals Smith and Wallace died in the house in the aftermath of the battle. [2] [7]
The Cherry family continued to own the house until 1935. [2] Queen and Alex Haley, the grandparents of writer Alex Haley, worked for the family at Cherry Mansion after the Civil War. Queen was a domestic worker in the house and her husband operated a ferry for the Cherry family. Haley's novel Queen: The Story of an American Family and related television miniseries were based on Queen Haley's life. [8]
In the late 19th century, the Cherry family made alterations to the building, replacing some of the house's original porticoes with woodwork of Victorian design. The next owner, Bob Guinn, undertook in 1935–36 to restore the porticoes to their original design, based on recollections of living members of the Cherry family. The restoration of the porticoes was part of a more extensive restoration and remodeling project, based on design plans by Memphis architect Hubert T. McGee, that included addition of a new kitchen and bath facilities, replacing weatherboard on the east wall with brick, and adding emphasis to the house's west front. [2] [9]
The house remains in private ownership and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. [1] It is opened to visitors by advance arrangement. [4]
Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,831. The county seat is Savannah. Hardin County is located north of and along the borders of Mississippi and Alabama. The county was founded in November 1819 and named posthumously for Col. Joseph Hardin, a Revolutionary War soldier and a legislative representative for the Province of North Carolina; the State of Franklin; and the Southwest Territory. Hardin County was the site of the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil War.
Savannah is a city in and the county seat of Hardin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 7,213 at the 2020 census. Savannah is located along the east side of the Tennessee River.
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought on April 6–7, 1862. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield is located between a small, undistinguished church named Shiloh and Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. Two Union armies combined to defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi. Major General Ulysses S. Grant was the Union commander, while General Albert Sidney Johnston was the Confederate commander until his battlefield death, when he was replaced by his second-in-command, General P. G. T. Beauregard.
William Joseph Hardee was a career U.S. Army and Confederate States Army officer. For the U.S. Army, he served in the Second Seminole War and in the Mexican–American War, where he was captured and exchanged. In the American Civil War, he sided with the South and became a general. Hardee served in the Western Theater and quarreled sharply with two of his commanding officers, Braxton Bragg and John Bell Hood. He served in the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 and the Carolinas Campaign of 1865, where he surrendered with General Joseph E. Johnston to William Tecumseh Sherman in April. Hardee's writings about military tactics were widely used on both sides in the conflict.
Alex Haley's Queen is a 1993 American television miniseries that aired in three installments on February 14, 16, and 18 on CBS. The miniseries is an adaptation of the 1993 novel Queen: The Story of an American Family, by Alex Haley and David Stevens. The novel is based on the life of Queen Jackson Haley, Haley's paternal grandmother. Alex Haley died in February 1992 before completing the novel. It was later finished by David Stevens and published in 1993. Stevens also wrote the screenplay for the miniseries.
The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River.
Shiloh National Military Park preserves the American Civil War Shiloh and Corinth battlefields. The main section of the park is in the unincorporated town of Shiloh, about nine miles (14 km) south of Savannah, Tennessee, with an additional area located in the city of Corinth, Mississippi, 23 miles (37 km) southwest of Shiloh. The Battle of Shiloh began a six-month struggle for the key railroad junction at Corinth. Afterward, Union forces marched from Pittsburg Landing to take Corinth in a May siege, then withstood an October Confederate counter-attack.
William Hervey Lamme Wallace, more commonly known as W.H.L. Wallace, was a lawyer and a Union general in the American Civil War, considered by Ulysses S. Grant to be one of the Union's greatest generals.
Shiloh is an unincorporated community in Hardin County, Tennessee.
Shiloh Indian Mounds Site (40HR7) is an archaeological site of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture. It is located beside the Tennessee River on the grounds of the Shiloh National Military Park, in Hardin County of southwestern Tennessee. A National Historic Landmark, it is one of the largest Woodland era sites in the southeastern United States.
The Rhea–McEntire House, also known as the Rhea–Burleson–McEntire House, is a historic antebellum Greek Revival mansion located along the shoreline of the Tennessee River's Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Alabama.
Pittsburg Landing is a river landing on the west bank of the Tennessee River in Hardin County, Tennessee. It was named for "Pitts" Tucker who operated a tavern at the site in the years preceding the Civil War. The landing helped connect the west side of the river to a road on the east that went back to Savannah. The landing was home to many families of settlers that migrated from about 1840 to 1860. It is located at latitude 35.15222 and longitude -88.32278 with an elevation of 482 feet (147 m). The aforementioned tavern was on the site that is now Shiloh National Military Park Visitor Center and Shiloh National Military Park/Pittsburgh Landing Graveyard.
The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Shiloh of the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is shown separately. Order of battle compiled from the army organization, return of casualties and reports.
Ulysses S. Grant was the most acclaimed Union general during the American Civil War and was twice elected president. Grant began his military career as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1839. After graduation he went on to serve with distinction as a lieutenant in the Mexican–American War. Grant was a keen observer of the war and learned battle strategies serving under Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. After the war Grant served at various posts especially in the Pacific Northwest; he was forced to retire from the service in 1854 due to accusations of drunkenness. He was unable to make a success of farming and on the onset of the Civil War in April 1861, Grant was working as a clerk in his father's leather goods store in Galena, Illinois. When the war began his military experience was needed, and Congressman Elihu B. Washburne became his patron in political affairs and promotions in Illinois and nationwide.
The Savannah Archaeological Site in Hardin County, Tennessee, is a prehistoric complex of platform mounds and village of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture, a regional variation of Mississippian culture.
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th president of the United States (1869–1877) following his success as military commander in the American Civil War. Under Grant, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and secession, the war ending with the surrender of Robert E. Lee's army at Appomattox Court House. As president, Grant led the Radical Republicans in their effort to eliminate vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery, protect African American citizenship, and pursued Reconstruction in the former Confederate states. In foreign policy, Grant sought to increase American trade and influence, while remaining at peace with the world. Although his Republican Party split in 1872 as reformers denounced him, Grant was easily reelected. During his second term the country's economy was devastated by the Panic of 1873, while investigations exposed corruption scandals in the administration. Although still below average, his reputation among scholars has significantly improved in recent years because of greater appreciation for his commitment to civil rights, moral courage in his prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan, and enforcement of voting rights.
The Civil War Trust's Civil War Discovery Trail is a heritage tourism program that links more than 600 U.S. Civil War sites in more than 30 states. The program is one of the White House Millennium Council's sixteen flagship National Millennium Trails. Sites on the trail include battlefields, museums, historic sites, forts and cemeteries.
William Ruben Rowley, was a lieutenant colonel and Military Secretary on the staff of General Ulysses S. Grant during the American Civil War later being brevetted a brigadier general. After moving from New York to Galena, Illinois, he taught in the local school, while also becoming involved in local politics. While living in Galena, Rowley was a neighbor and good friends with Ulysses Grant and John Rawlins before and at the time the Civil War broke out. Under General Grant he fought in the Battle of Shiloh and during the siege at Vicksburg. He was one of nine Civil War generals that came from Galena. After serving in the Union Army he returned to Galena and service in political life. Rowley was among several officers who wrote letters for and rigorously defended Grant against accusations from rivals and reporters that Grant was drinking at the Battle of Shiloh, a battle that he brought to victory. On other occasions during his military and political career Rowley stood by Grant during times of controversy.
The Mosby-Bennett House is a historic house in Memphis, Tennessee. It was built in the Antebellum era. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
William Sillman Hillyer was an American lawyer and Union officer who advanced through the ranks to Brevet Brigadier General during the American Civil War. Before the war he practiced law in Saint Louis where he met Ulysses S. Grant. During most of the Civil War he served under General Grant and was with him at the Battle of Fort Donelson, Battle of Shiloh and the Siege of Vicksburg. Hillyer was chosen by General Grant to be a member of his staff, and was one of its original members and the last surviving member of the original staff. After the war he served as a Treasury agent under presidents Johnson and Grant. He later pursued a political career in New York but was unsuccessful due to opposition from various political rivals.