Peril at Every Door

The Civil War in Dickson County was unfortunate and harsh. Times were tough. Food and money became scarce. Families were torn apart, and many neighbors, once close friends, became enemies. The once peaceful area was scavenged by troops of both sides. The previous pro-Confederate view of Dickson County gives way to a much more complex view as troops for both sides were raised in Dickson County. The county was eventually occupied and controlled by an occupying enemy force. Citizens, depending on their loyalty, were shot, hung, and harassed by groups of both sides. Houses were burned, farm animals stolen, and families were left destitute. Across the county, families and in some cases entire communities, were sent into mourning as news of their fallen young men, decimated by camp diseases or slaughtered on fields of battle, reached home. Conversely, scores of Federal soldiers died and were buried in the county. This work, thoroughly researched and based mainly on primary source materials, brings the heretofore forgotten events of Civil War Dickson County to light. The reader will be amazed, and in some instances stunned, by the events that made Civil War era Dickson County safe for no one.