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The McMinnville and Manchester Railroad Company was chartered by an Act of the legislature of the State of Tennessee on February 4, 1850.〔Poor, Henry V. ''Poor's Manual of Railroads of the United States, 1885''. New York: H.V. & H.W. Poor, 1885. . p. 489.〕 Under this charter, the railroad company built a line of railroad from McMinnville, Tennessee southwesterly through Manchester, Tennessee to Tullahoma, Tennessee, where it connected with the railroad line of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company.〔DeBow, James Dunwoody Brownson. (''Legal history of the Entire System of Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry. and Possessions'' ). Nashville, TN: Press of Marshall & Bruce Co., 1900. . Retrieved June 22, 2015. p. 170.〕 The McMinnville and Manchester company opened of gauge railroad between McMinnville and Tullahoma in November 1856.〔 In the absence of any contract with the original owner that differed with the franchises granted by law, the railroad was entitled to a right-of-way extended on either side of the center of the railroad line.〔Debow, 1900, p. 169.〕 == American Civil War == The McMinnville and Manchester Railroad line was leased to and operated by the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad for five years from January 1, 1857.〔Stow, F. H. ''The Capitalist's Guide and Railway Annual for 1859''. New York, Samuel T. Callahan, 1859. . p. 344.〕 During the American Civil War, in early 1862, the railroad came under Union Army control.〔Alexander, Edwin P. ''Civil War Railroads & Models''. New York: The Fairfax Press, 1989. Originally published New York: C. N. Potter, 1977. ISBN 978-0-517-66557-2. p. 116.〕 In August 1862, the area through which the line was located came under Confederate States Army control for almost a year before it was reoccupied by Union forces. Because of its strategic location in southeastern Tennessee, about north of Chattanooga, Tennessee and its connection with the important Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, the McMinnville and Manchester line and equipment was fought over, used and damaged by both Union and Confederate armies. In late August 1862, Confederate General Braxton Bragg began the Confederate Heartland Offensive, which culminated in the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky on October 8, 1862. Bragg intended to recruit troops and support in Kentucky and to divert the Union Army's attention from Chattanooga and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Union Major General Don Carlos Buell's army was in control of most of southeastern Tennessee. Buell decided to deploy his force to stop Bragg from marching on Nashville, Tennessee. Union Major General George H. Thomas held McMinnville with two divisions. Three other divisions were to the south at Altamont, Tennessee where they could maneuver to concentrate at various points to block Bragg's routes to Nashville, although the terrain was rugged. Thomas thought that the army should concentrate at McMinnville, in part because the railroad provided a line of supply and in part because it would be easy for Bragg to bypass Altamont, which he did after a successful diversionary attack there by Confederate Colonel Joseph Wheeler's cavalry. After Buell decided to withdraw all of his forces to Murfreesboro, Tennessee and then to Nashville to protect against Bragg's offensive, he had to race north with his army when he realized Bragg's actual objective was Kentucky. After the Battle of Perryville, as Bragg discovered that few recruits and little support had been found for the Confederate cause in Kentucky, he withdrew to Murfreesboro in the face of growing Union forces and extended.〔Hess, Earl J. (''Banners to the Breeze: The Kentucky Campaign, Corinth, and Stones River'' ). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-8032-2380-6. Retrieved June 24, 2015. pp. 57-61; 110-111; 114-116.〕 After the Battle of Stones River, or Murfreesboro, on December 31, 1862 and January 2, 1863, where Bragg faced a new Union commander, Major General William Rosecrans, Bragg retreated a short distance but still was located astride the main railroad about from Nashville on the line to Chattanooga.〔Hess, 2000, p. 229〕 For six months Rosecrans rebuilt his army and supplies before finally launching the Tullahoma Campaign which drove the Confederates back to Chattanooga through skillful maneuvers and with only 540 casualties.〔Hess, 2000, p. 231〕 Union forces were back in control of most of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad and its two connecting lines, the McMinnville and Manchester to the northeast from Tullahoma and the Winchester and Alabama Railroad to the southwest from Decherd, Tennessee, a few miles south of Tullahoma. Rosecrans established bases at McMinnville, Manchester and Winchester, Tennessee〔Woodworth, Steven E. (''Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns'' ). Retrieved June 24, 2015. p. 47. .〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「McMinnville and Manchester Railroad」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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