Crossing of the Tennessee River

This is near where the southern entrance to the pontoon bridge was in 1864-1865.After the

Army of the Tennessee joined the Atlanta campaign in late April, 1864, a permanent garrison

commanded by Charles C. Doolittle of the 18th Michigan Infantry, consisting of 1,500 infantry

and seventeen pieces of artillery were established here. This crossing of the river played a vital role

in the success of the North being able to reinforce it's army in the fighting at Decatur. Just upstream

of the pontoon bridge you can see the piers from the destroyed Memphis & Charleston Railroad.

These piers were later reinforced and incorporated in the development of the train bridge that is

still in use today.