As a major Cumberland River port with three landings, Carthage was strategically important to both Confederate and Union forces. The Upper Ferry and landing was located near the present Corps of Engineer boat ramp near Upper Ferry Road. During Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's 1862 Kentucky invasion, part of his army crossed the Cumberland River at Carthage. Early in 1863, to make it more difficult to cross the river, Union commanders ordered a naval excursion "to destroy every ferry-boat, barge, or other means of crossing as high up as Carthage."
