TENNESSEE RIVER

This article appears in Volume V26, Page 626 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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TENNESSEE RIVER ,. the largest tributary of the

Ohio

OHIO

river, U.S.A. It is formed by the confluence of the Holston and the French Broad rivers 4.5 M. above Knoxville, Tennessee, flows S.S.W. to Chattanooga, there turns W. through the Cumberland Plateau and into the N.E. corner of

Alabama

ALABAMA

, continues W. across the northern part of

Alabama

ALABAMA

, turns N. on the boundary between Alabama and Mississippi, and continuing N. across Tennessee and Kentucky unites with the

Ohio

OHIO

at Paducah. Its principal tributaries rise in the Appalachian Mountains: the Holston and the Clinch on the mountain slopes that flank the Appalachian Valley in western Virginia; and the French Broad, the Little Tennessee, and the Hiwassee in the mountains of western North Carolina. The Tennessee itself is 652 M. long, and with the Holston and the North Fork of the Holston forms a channel about 900 M. long. Its drainage basin covers about 44,000 sq. m., and its low water discharge at Paducah is Io,000 cu. ft. per second. Its average fall is 07q ft. per mile: 0.956 ft. from Knoxville to Chattanooga; 1.19 ft. from Chattanooga to Florence, Alabama; and o39 ft. from Florence to its mouth. The banks are everywhere easily accessible except at Knoxville and Chattanooga, where, for short distances, high elevations rise precipitously from the water; and as the banks are mostly of clay or rock the channel is permanent and the river is unusually free from silt.
The Tennessee is navigable by steamboats throughout its entire course of 652 m, for several months of the year; its tributaries have a nearly equal navigable mileage, and the main river and its tributaries together have a navigable mileage for rafts and flat-boats of 2400 M. At low water there are three obstructions to steamboat navigation in the main stream: the Colbert and Bee Tree shoals, just below Florence; the Muscle shoals just above Florence; and Hales Bar, 33 m. below Chattanooga. The state of Alabama, aided by the Federal government, constructed a lock canal, affording a depth of 5 ft., around the Muscle shoals in 18311836, but because of the obstructions above and below the canal
Interregnum,' 4th March5th April 1865. was little used and was soon abandoned. The Federal government,
beginning in 1868, the the Muscle
completed reconstruction of
William G. Brownlow, Republican . 18651869 Shoals Canal in two divisions (one 3.5 M. long with two locks, the
De Witt C. Senter, Conservative Republican. 18691871 other 14.5 M. long with nine locks, and both providing a depth
John C. Brown, Democrat . 18711875 of 5 ft.) in 189o, began in 1893 the construction of a canal, about
James D.

Porter

, 18751879 8 m. long and with one lock, around Colbert and Bee Tree shoals,
Albert S. Marks, . 18791881 and in 1904 authorized the construction with private

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of a
Alvin Hawkins, Republican 18811883 lock and dam at Hales Bar to provide a channel 6 ft. deep at low
William B. Bate, Democrat 18831887 water between it and Chattanooga, the water power to be used by
' The state furnished 115,000 soldiers to the Confederate and 31,000 to the Union Army.
' The Constitutions of 1796, 1834 and 1870 all provided that the

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

shall not serve more than six years in succession. Resigned.
Forced to leave

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

by invasion of Federal troops.
Andrew Johnson, the

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

, was inaugurated as Vice-President, March 4. 1865, thereby vacating the office.
the persons furnishing the capital. In 1905 a committee of the United States Senate recommended that future improvements of the river be made with a view of obtaining ultimately a channel having a minimum depth of 12 ft. at low water; and in 1907 Congress adopted a project for deepening to 5 ft. at low water the channel (145 M. long) between Hales Bar and the Muscle Shoals Canal. In 1908 the commerce carried on the Tennessee between
' Resigned to enter the U.S. Senate.
Chattanooga and Paducah amounted to 755,010 tons, valued at $18,752,180; it consisted chiefly of general merchandise, farm products, forest products and iron ore in the upper section, of general merchandise,

cotton

, timber products and grain in the middle section, and of general merchandise, farm products and timber products in the lower section.
During the Civil War Fort Henry was erected by the Confederates on the Tennessee river, in Tennessee just below the Kentucky state line, and on the 6th of February 1862 was captured by Corn. A. H. Foote; Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, several miles east, was captured on the 16th by General U. S. Grant, and the two rivers were thus opened for the advance of the Federals far into Confederate territory.

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