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The Pigeon Forge-Dandridge Civil War Trail begins in Pigeon Forge, TN, continues in Dandridge and concludes in Talbott, TN. This trail will take you through serene countryside. Enjoy lunch at The Old Mill Restaurant or the Pottery House Cafe in Pigeon Forge.

Total Driving Time from Pigeon Forge to Talbott: 89 minutes; does not include stops.


Unionists Within the Confederacy
When the Civil War began, Sevier County Unionists at first operated quietly in secessionist Tennessee. In 1861, they set up a secret garment factory in the second floor of this mill and made cloth for uniforms. They also made shoes for Federal soldiers and Unionist Home Guards with leather from Newton Trotter’s nearby tannery. According to local tradition, the third floor was later used as a hospital. Capt. William Trotter, son of mill owner John Trotter, commanded Co. H, 9th Tennessee Cavalry (US).
The Old Mill, 160 Old Mill Avenue, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 • Map It

Travel time from Pigeon Forge to Dandridge: 39 minutes


Attack on Dandridge Downtown
Dandridge was a chaotic place on January 17, 1864, as it appeared that a full-scale battle was about to develop. Union Gen. John G. Parke, commanding 26,000 soldiers and 34 artillery pieces here, defended the town against Confederate Gen. James Longstreet’s 20,000 men and 20 guns, advancing from the east. Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s cavalrymen were attempting to build a pontoon bridge across the French Broad River, while Col. Moore’s Ohio infantry had been sent east of town to join Gen. Frank Wolford’s cavalry.
Bradford Hynds House, 1214 Gay St., Dandridge, TN 37725 • Map It


Battle of Hay’s Ferry
Hay’s Ferry once operated near here. The landscape you see now was quite different during the Civil War. Then, fields of corn grew along the banks of the French Broad River, now submerged beneath the waters of Douglas Lake. This corn, left on the stalk, was often all that stood between Confederate soldiers in East Tennessee and starvation during the winter of 1863. On the cold morning of December 24, hungry men from both sides began a battle near here that ended hours later, three miles away. Union Col. Archibald P. Campbell was dispatched with his cavalry brigade to Dandridge with orders to clear out Confederate foraging parties in the area.
French Broad Baptist Church, 2117 Oak Grove Rd., Dandridge, TN 37725 • Map It


Blant’s Hill
On January 28, 1864, as Union Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis’s cavalry pursued Confederate cavalry along the road leading to Cowan’s Ferry on the French Broad River, they suddenly encountered strong opposition here at Blant’s Hill. Earlier, Confederate Col. George G. Dibrell’s 8th Tennessee Cavalry had dismounted here to occupy the heavily timbered hill and construct breastworks and rifle pits.
1820 Indian Creek Rd., Dandridge, TN 37725 • Map It


Kimbrough’s Crossroads
Two days after Union Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis’s cavalry divisions occupied Dandridge on January 14, 1864, he ordered his division commanders to reconnoiter and secure the countryside at Long Creek on Chucky Road and here at Kimbrough’s Crossroads. Meanwhile, Confederate Gen. James Longstreet likewise had ordered cavalry and infantry divisions to reconnoiter toward the Federals. As Col. Israel Garrard, 7th Ohio Cavalry, led his division down the road in front of you past this point at Ebenezer Church, he suddenly encountered Confederate Gen. Micah Jenkins’s infantry division on the Morristown Road at Kimbrough’s Crossroads.
Ebenezer Methodist Church, 1122 Ebenezer Church Rd., Talbott, TN 37677
Map It


Mossy Creek Engagement
An engagement took place here at Mossy Creek on December 29, 1863, when Confederate Gen. William T. Martin’s cavalry attacked Union Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis’s Federal troopers, who were pressuring Confederate soldiers preparing for winter camp at Russellville. Martin struck late in the morning, bending but not breaking the Union line because of the effectiveness of Capt. Eli Lilly’s 18th Indiana Artillery, which was positioned a few yards from here across the road. Lilly, who considered this the battery’s most glorious and successful action, soon faced hard times. A few months later, he transferred to a cavalry unit that surrendered to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest in Middle Tennessee.
National Guard Armory, 210 E. Old A.J. Hwy, Jefferson City, TN 37760 • Map It

Source: www.tn.gov