Coffee County contains a unique Civil War landmark with the Confederate cemetery in Beechgrove Tennessee. It is located just off of both Interstate 24 and State Highway 41. The cemetery was the first Confederate Cemetery in the South as it dates to 1866. The grounds are both a cemetery and a battlefield. The south end of the picnic tables is exactly where Union troops stood and fired on the Confederates along Garrison Fork. The recovery of many cartridge shell casings from Wilder’s brigade, who were using repeating rifles document this battlefield. This was the first battle in which repeating rifles were used in combat. The Union line extended along 3 conical hills, the cemetery, one where I24 is now, and one where the convenience store is now.
Read the attached history that came from the 1962 with the official creation of the park in Beechgrove,
Coffee County Historical Society
