Saving the history of the Tennessee Maneuvers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Tennessee Maneuvers had a massive influence on everyday life in Middle Tennessee during World War II. Two local archaeologists decided it was critical to record that history before it was lost forever.

The Tennessee Maneuvers took place all in cities large and small from Kentucky to the Alabama state line.

“It was quite an impact on the civilians,” explained Ben Nance, Cultural Resource Consultant Manager, TN Division of Archaeology.

During World War II, soldiers trained in Middle Tennessee not just on bases, but also in Lebanon, Portland, Shelbyville and sometimes even people’s farms.

“It brought these thousand and thousands of soldiers in contact with the local people,” said archeologist Samuel D. Smith

Nance decided in 2005 this history needed to be written down. At the time, Nance and Smith both worked for the Tennessee Division of Archaeology. If they wanted to preserve the history of the maneuvers, they had to act fast.

“The people who were here who witnessed the maneuvers, they were getting old at that time. And we wanted to record as many of those as possible before they passed away,” said Nance.

For two entire years, they travelled across Middle Tennessee looking for first-hand accounts of the Tennessee Maneuvers.

“You look for the oldest person in the area. And you start narrowing it down. We found quite a few people. And many of them were children at the time. They were old enough to remember their parents dealing with the soldiers, feeding them, taking care of them,” said Nance.

For soldiers, the maneuvers were intended to be as real a wartime training experience as possible and in war, property lines tend to get a bit blurred. Something civilians remember very well.

“She said she went to bed one night, and woke up the next morning and there were over 1,000 soldiers camped on their farm from all different parts of the country. She said that was probably the most exciting thing that had happened to her in her young life,” recalled Smith.

“Probably thousands of camp sites all over. And we relied heavily on people who were here, who were eyewitnesses to the maneuvers, to tell us where those sights were.”

All of those interviews, all those years of work, were compiled into a 67 page survey of the Tennessee Maneuvers.

“One of the main activities in Carthage is they used the bluff on the south side of the river there to train the rangers. Train them to climb bluffs and that sort of thing,” explained Smith.

Still today, Carthage honors that history with a re-enactment called the Tennessee Maneuvers Remembered.

(Photo: WKRN)

(Photo: WKRN)

These men hope their writings also keep this turning point in human history, which Middle Tennesseans experienced first-hand, alive for generations.

“It’s important to have these sights recorded, because knowing where the sights were located also helps us protect them when possible,” said Nance.