Travisville was the location of the first Civil War military action in Tennessee, known as the “Affair at Travisville.”

Union troops of the 12th Kentucky Calvary and the Home Guards of Houstonville Cavalry attacked a Confederate encampment at Travisville on September 29, 1861. The 100 Confederate troops refused to surrender. After being fired upon and losing four men, the Confederates retreated into the surrounding hills.

Most residents of the area believed that the Civil War would never affect them because they were so far away from railways or major roads.

This marker is located on Hwy. 200, 1.5 miles off Hwy. 127, 10 miles from Byrdstown.

Contributed by Gary Norris:  “Travisville – This site use to be on a major roadway going north and south through the mountains. Geese, ducks, cattle, sheep, and goats were driven through this gap on the way to markets in Danville and Burnside. As Highway 127 went around the mountains instead of through them in the early teens, Travisville lost its significance. That highway was the famous Dixie Highway that Alvin C. York was building when he was drafted. It now bears his name as a part of Highway 127.”

September 29th., 1861 marks the date of what has become known as the Affair at Travisville. Until the events of this day transpired, people locally had assured themselves that they were too far off the beaten paths to see any fighting. We would be safe from the pending conflict. Rationalizing that with no major roads or railways crossing through the area, why would an army come through this remote area? No one ever thought that it would be this close to home.

This single event answered the questions in everyone’s mind of, if and when, the war would come to Tennessee. These first shots fired in aggression in 1861 would also mark of the first fatalities in the conflict suffered locally and within in the borders of the state.

In response to a Confederate attack a few days earlier, Union troops from Kentucky entered the state and dispersed a Rebel camp at Travisville in present day Pickett County. According to the report filed by Colonel William A Hoskins of the 12th Kentucky Infantry. Information was received that morning that forces where forming another encampment a distance of 13 miles from their present position near Albany. With troops of the 1st Kentucky Calvary under the command of Captain Morrison along with members of the Home Guards of Houstonville, they came upon an encampment of 100 Confederate troops. Their orders where to assess the threat (and if possible) take the Confederates by surprise, order a surrender and should they refuse, to fire upon them.

Morrison did surprise the rebel troops who fled upon being ordered to surrender. Four Confederates were killed in this clash while the remaining troops retreated into the surrounding hills. Four prisoners along with two horses were captured by Thomas Huddleston, a private in Capt. Morrison’s company. According to Huddleston’s own account of the skirmish, “He looked for more, but they had all fled.” The prisoners were brought this side the line (back to Kentucky), when, after taking a solemn obligation to prove faithful to the United States Government, they were released.

The event of that particular Sunday, one hundred and forty one years ago, represents the first military action in Tennessee during the Civil War. Well over two thousand different military actions occurred throughout Tennessee in the period from 1861 through 1865. Only in the past several years has Travisville been acknowledged as the official beginning of the conflict and the struggle for control in Tennessee.

Today this site of the skirmish is identified by a marker located on Hwy 200, approximately 1.5 miles off Hwy 127, 10 miles from Byrdstown. Visit the Borderlands exhibit located in the Town Hall in Byrdstown.

Source: http://www.theborderlands.org/Travisville.htm (via the Internet Archive)

A commemoration of the battle was held in 2007.