Richard Boone Cheatham was the mayor of Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 during the opening years of the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Cheatham was born in Springfield, Tennessee

Springfield, Tennessee

Springfield is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 14,329 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Robertson County.-Geography:Springfield is located at ....

. His father, Richard Cheatham

Richard Cheatham

Richard Cheatham was an American politician who represented Tennessee's eleventh district in the United States House of Representatives.-Biography:...

, was a Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 politician who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1836. Cheatham married Frances Ann Bugg. He was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives

Tennessee House of Representatives

The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...

 in 1859 and resigned the following year to become Mayor of Nashville.

Less than a year after the outbreak of the Civil War and Tennessee secession from the Union, the Union army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

, under General Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 captured Fort Donelson

Fort Donelson

Fort Donelson was a fortress built by the Confederacy during the American Civil War to control the Cumberland River leading to the heart of Tennessee, and the heart of the Confederacy.-History:...

 on the Cumberland River

Cumberland River

The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...

 on February 16, 1862. This left Nashville almost indefensible. As the Union troops approached Nashville, panic erupted in the city. Cheatham urged the citizens to be calm and not to burn the city. On February 25, Union troops marched into Nashville and Cheatham along with ten other prominent citizens officially surrendered Nashville to Union General Don Carlos Buell

Don Carlos Buell

Don Carlos Buell was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War. Buell led Union armies in two great Civil War battles—Shiloh and Perryville. The nation was angry at his failure to defeat the outnumbered...

.

Later, military governor (and future president of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

) Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...

 had Cheatham arrested for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the U.S. Constitution. Johnson had Unionist John Hugh Smith replace Cheatham as mayor.

After the war, Cheatham was elected back to the Tennessee state House of Representatives and served one term from 1869 until 1871. Cheatham died six years later and was buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery

Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville)

Mount Olivet Cemetery is a 250-acre cemetery located in Nashville, Tennessee.Mount Olivet has been continuously operated since its establishment in 1856. It serves as the final resting place for many of Middle Tennessee's political and business leaders, including several former governors of...

 in Nashville.

Cheatham's two brothers, Edward Saunders Cheatham and Boyd M. Cheatham, also served in the Tennessee state legislature.

One of Cheatham's daughters, Katherine "Kitty" Cheatham

Kitty Cheatham

Katherine "Kitty" Cheatham was an American singer, diseuse and actress. She was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee...

(born in 1864), grew to become a famous children's musician.