Alan Mayes

Coffee County Historical Society Volunteer C amp Forrest in general gets quite a bit of recognition around Tullahoma and Coffee County, but the Tennessee Maneuvers seem to be discussed less. However, the Tennessee Maneuvers were very significant, as well as invasive, and greatly contributed to the Allied Forces victory during the war. Their effect on Coffee County was immense, and vice versa.

The Tennessee Maneuvers were basically a dress rehearsal for war. In the ensuing years after World War I, the methods of fighting war had changed. The technology between 1918 and 1941 was vastly different and armies had adapted. American soldiers had to be trained in the new ways and Middle Tennessee provided terrain and environment that was very similar to Europe, so it was a perfect place for the maneuvers. Similar training was held simultaneously in other parts of the country with swamps, bitter cold, or desert environments.

From early 1941 and well into 1944, Coffee County and surrounding counties were a pretend war zone, the only differences being that no one was being killed on purpose, though there were unfortunately a few accidents. It was very common to see military vehicles and soldiers on roads, in fields, and everywhere else.

According to the U.S. Census, the 1940 population of Tullahoma was 4549 people. The building and occupation of Camp Forrest added over 70,000 people to that, almost immediately. The effect was overwhelming, as you can imagine.

Additionally, while the Tennessee National Guard’s Camp Peay had encompassed 1040 acres, the U.S. Army expanded the facility to 85,000 acres when it became Camp Forrest. That expansion came mostly at the expense of local landowners, including those with small family farms whose property was mostly confiscated by the federal government.

The Tennessee Maneuvers extended far beyond the Camp Forrest boundaries to a total of 21 Tennessee counties. None was more affected by the maneuvers than Coffee County. As Sandra McMullin Bennett of the Coffee County Historical Society notes, “The first maneuvers took place in June 1941, a time when crops are taking hold and starting to grow. There were roughly two million acres of farmland within the triangle that embraced Manchester, Murfreesboro, Elk River, Lynchburg and Shelbyville, where the maneuvers would take place.”

“Before the maneuvers were staged, the U.S. Army sent letters to every farmer in the county. A portion of the letter is as follows: ‘Our army can’t be ready unless we have practice. Such practice may be annoying to you as a property owner, but we hope you will make a sacrifice in order to make your army efficient’.”

“Farmers and property owners signed the agreements which allowed soldiers to ‘enter, maneuver upon, pass over and bivouac or camp’ and ‘use the water therein or thereon for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes’.”

Sandra’s insights continue, “Army units operating in and around local farms caused significant property damage. Troops often had to tear down fences during maneuvers, and tanks frequently deployed in the fields destroyed crops beneath their unforgiving treads. Livestock escaped. Foxholes were dug into the land and bullets (blanks) were found in farmers’ yards and throughout their fields.”

“Soldiers carved up the trees or stripped them of branches and leaves to use for camouflage. Ripened fruit hanging in the orchards was taken or unsellable after the maneuvers came through. In some cases, tanks and trucks were driven through the orchards, tearing up the trees along the way. It was the same in the wooded areas of the county. Many trees were flattened, destroying the habitats of the wildlife that lived there.”

Those were certainly different and difficult times, but there was an overriding purpose in most citizens’ minds: “No doubt, farmers signed these agreements in a sense of patriotism, not knowing just how much damage would be caused to their land.”

Thankfully Hugh Doak, publisher of the Manchester Times, postmaster, photographer, and more, recorded the maneuvers photographically.

For more information on the Army maneuvers in Coffee County, the Joanna Lewis Museum of Coffee County History has an on-going display with photos and a lot more stories.

Many thanks to Sandra McMullin Bennett, Beverly Vetter, and Bonnie Gamble at the Coffee County Historical Society.

Please consider becoming a member of the CCHS. It does good work preserving the history of the county for present and future generations.

Facebook page: (www. facebook.com/CCTNHS); website (www.cctnhs. org).