As part of the battle of New Johnsonville in early November, 1864, the Federal gunboats, USS Key West and USS Tarwah, attacked the captured gunboat, Undine, and the transports, Cheesemen and Venus, at Davidson's Ferry on the Tennessee River. Both the Undine and Venus had been previously captured by the Confederate cavalry of Maj. Gen. Venus, from Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest. Forrest had been sailing up the Tennessee River towards Johnsonville but was forced to retire to the safety of the Confederate batteries near Fort Henry.
Stones River
In the last days of December, 1862 the Union Army of the Cumberland (Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans) advanced south from