Monteagle is an important crossroads in the southern Cumberland Mountains, where roads and railroads crisscross rugged, scenic terrain. In the summer of 1862, Union and Confederate forces raced for advantage among these transportation corridors. In August, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg marched his army north from Chattanooga to invade Kentucky. Union Gen. Don Carlos Buell deployed his army throughout Franklin, Marion, and Grundy counties and made his headquarters west of here in Franklin County, along the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad at Decherd. After he learned that Bragg’s army was moving north, Buell instructed his commanders to stop the Confederates while they were in the mountains.
