INTRODUCTION

Steam power was a major product of the Industrial Revolution, and among its earliest applications were steam-powered vessels that could efficiently traverse oceans, lakes, and rivers.   Steamboats revolutionized Tennessee's river transportation early in the nineteenth century, and by mid-century continued to play a vital role in the state's economy through interconnections with Tennessee railroads (another product of the Industrial Revolution, representing the application of steam power to land transportation).

Tennessee's strategic location between the northern and southern states, with its major rivers giving access to the state's interior, ensured that its river transportation system would play an important role in the Civil War.  River operations would heavily affect both the military and civilian experience of Tennesseans during the war years.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

If you have information to share about Tennessee's Civil War river operations, or would like further clarification regarding river topics discussed in these pages, please contact the Research Coordinator, Center for Historic Preservation, MTSU Box 80, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, or by email at histpres@mtsu.edu, by phone at (615) 898-2947, or by fax at (615) 898-5614.

(Edward Johnson is the primary author of the river transportation pages, with additional research provided by his assistants Nathan Kinser and Michael Strutt.)

  Civil War Technology & Industry in Tennessee

Last update:  December 8, 2000