Polk Place and Sarah Childress Polk

After the fall of nearby Fort Donelson many white families, allied with the Confederacy, fled from their downtown homes as Union forces moved in to occupy the city. In contrast, many Black families and others who supported the Union, fled to Nashville hoping to find refuge under the protection of the General Ulysses Grant and General Don Carlos Buell’s federal forces.

One prominent white resident who refused to leave was Sarah Childress Polk, the widow of President James Knox Polk. Mrs. Polk even agreed to keep certain valuable possessions safe at her home including diamonds and paintings for Adelicia Acklen, owner of the Belmont estate, and valuable artifacts for the Tennessee Historical Society. Sarah Polk’s husband had been a pro-slavery Democrat in the 1840s, but as her actions during the Civil War demonstrated—issues of loyalty and identity were complex and complicated.

When General Grant reached Nashville, after the Union assumed control of the city, he paid the former First Lady a visit at this very site. The New York Times reported in March 1862 that she greeted Grant with a “polite coldness.” Sarah Polk also conveyed to the general that “[s]he hoped . . . that the tomb of her husband would protect her household from insult and her property from pillage.” Indeed—her wishes were honored and Polk Place, as it was called, became neutral ground in a city rife with hostility. Other generals followed his lead, presenting themselves to Mrs. Polk upon arrival in the city. After the Tenth Infantry of Indiana docked at the river port of the Cumberland River, the soldiers, “unloaded their steamboats at the wharf, and then marched directly to the residence of Mrs. Polk. When they halted at her house, she emerged to greet them, and they responded with cheers.” 

Worthy of note, many Confederate generals also visited with Sarah Polk before 1862, and several of her nephews served in the Confederate Army. In a gesture of good will, Union General Henry Halleck allowed Sarah’s nephew, Confederate Army Captain Marshall Polk, to be transported to Polk Place to recover from injuries suffered in the Battle of Shiloh. Under her care, he was treated and returned “on crutches to the rebel army.”

Following the Civil War, the former First Lady received other prominent figures at her home—including Presidents Rutherford Hayes and Grover Cleveland before her death in 1891. For more about Sarah Childress Polk’s life take our Women’s History Tour. To learn more about Polk Place, take our Early History Tour.

Now we’ll back track just a bit. Walk back up Seventh Avenue to Union Street and cross it. Follow the sidewalk straight ahead and use the stairs to reach a sunken portion of War Memorial Plaza. You will pass the back of the next stop, the Confederate Women’s Monument, as you’re walking. If you are unable to access the stairs, after crossing Union Street, turn RIGHT and walk east towards Anne Dallas Dudley Boulevard. Turn LEFT to use the accessible entrance to the plaza; the monument and Military Museum will be to your left.