Cherry Mansion, Tennessee, United States

5Taylor B 5:00 PM Apr 19, 2017

Grant's headquarters
Cherry Mansion is a historic antebellum house in Savannah, Tennessee, that is significant for its role as General Ulysses S. Grant's headquarters in 1862 during the Battle of Shiloh in the Civil War. Located at 265 Main Street, it was built in 1829 on a bluff overlooking the east bank of the Tennessee River, it is a white Georgian building with a two-level porch on its west front, which faces the Tennessee River. A series of terraces descends from the house to the river. Curiously, it sits atop the site of a palisaded prehistoric settlement established about 2,000 years ago that is marked by Indiana mounds that were largely obliterated by later construction. At the time of the Battle of Shiloh, the owner of the house, William H. Cherry, was a Union sympathizer. He offered his house to Grant, who used it as his headquarters from March 13 to April 29. According to Cherry family accounts, Grant and his staff were having breakfast on April 6, 1862, when they heard distant cannon fire indicating that the battle had begun about seven miles up the river. They immediately boarded a steamboat at the landing below the house to travel to the site of the battle, leaving their meals uneaten. Two Union generals, C.F. Smith and W.H.L. Wallace, died in the house in the aftermath of the battle. The Cherry family continued to own the house until 1935. Interestingly, Queen and Alex Haley, grandparents of writer Alex Haley of Roots fame, worked for the family at Cherry Mansion after the Civil War. The house remains in private ownership and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It is opened to visitors by advance arrangement. The house has 12-foot ceilings, eight fireplaces fitted with hand carved mantels of various designs and all the floors are of edge grain pine boards of varying widths. The original structure consisted of three rooms upstairs and three rooms downstairs in an L-shape. An addition in the 1840s was reminiscent of the Greek Revival style and added two additional rooms, one upstairs and one downstairs. A piano that one of William Cherry's sisters used to entertain General Grant and his staff still sits in the same corner of the downstairs room. A field hospital was set up in the yard of the Cherry Mansion and hospital boats were moored below the house. The Cherrys joined other families in Savannah in caring for the wounded from the battle, both Union and Confederate.

4M7953MUwilliamb 5:00 PM Mar 12, 2023

Nice Relaxing Getaway
This is an historic stop in Savannah Tennessee. Cherry Mansion is a private residence so you don’t go on grounds. We enjoyed our visit to the area - we visited the Crossroads Museum in Corinth, MS, Shiloh National Park, Rose Trail drive in Colbert Co., AL had great food at Hagy’s Catfish and Earl’s Garage Restaurants. We stayed at Pickwick Landing State Park and short drives to all the above.