White House and Tyree Springs: Caught in the Grip of War

Thousands of soldiers with their wagons, livestock, and equipment travelled on the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike (present-day U.S. Hwy. 31W) during the Civil War. Early in 1862, Union Gen. Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio used this major north-south transportation route when it marched from Kentucky to Nashville.

Confederate cavalry under Gen. John Hunt Morgan ambushed the leading division at Tyree Springs and continuously harassed Union forces along their line of march. The Stage Coach Inn, or The White House, for which the town is named, stood north of here. South of here, Tyree Springs occupied the halfway point between the Kentucky state line and Nashville.