We spent the day in port due to gusty winds and expected choppy conditions on Kentucky Lake. The Pebble Isle Marina courtesy van was available, so we drove to nearby Waverly to buy groceries, then had lunch at Tequila John’s Mexican Restaurant.
We spent the afternoon exploring Johnsonville State Historic Park, which is adjacent to the marina. Pebble Isle, of course, is located on Old Johnsonville Road in New Johnsonville. Confused? Read on.
Johnsonville, TN, began as a Union supply depot during the Civil War, and was named after Andrew Johnson, who became our 17th President when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Andrew Johnson fun facts: He was the only senator from a Confederate state not to resign after secession. Johnson was the first U.S. president to be impeached, and was acquitted by one vote. After leaving the White House, he returned to the Senate, the only ex-President to ever serve in the Senate, although he died five months into his term.
In 1864, the depot was raided by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, and the Battle of Johnsonville was a Rebel victory. Not-so-fun fact about Forrest: He would go on to become the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. After the war, Johnsonville thrived as a river and railroad hub, until the TVA dammed up the Tennessee River in 1944, creating Kentucky Lake, and the original town and majority of the battlefield are now submerged. Most of the residents moved about three miles south, and New Johnsonville was incorporated.
Photo journal: The little cabins are reconstructed Union barracks from the Civil War. They look ridiculously small, but apparently were considered luxurious compared with sleeping in a tent or on the ground, which was often muddy.
Below we’re on an old bridge foundation, with the other end visible in the middle of the lake behind us. Somewhere down there under water is Old Johnsonville.
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