The plantation was caught in the middle of the Civil War and officers from both the Confederate and Union armies stayed in the mansion.

During the First Battle of Murfreesboro on July 13, 1862, Confederate cavalrymen under Nathan Bedford Forrest surprised and defeated Federal forces encamped on the front lawn of the Mansion, near the plantation's spring and at the Rutherford County Courthouse as part of a raid on Union-occupied Murfreesboro.

Colonel William Ward Duffield of the 9th Michigan Infantry, was severely wounded and captured by the Confederates during the early part of the battle.

At noon the same day he was made prisoner by Forrest, but, in his then helpless condition, he was released upon his parole and promised not to bear arms against the Confederate States until regularly exchanged.

After the war, the Duffields presented the Maneys with a silver tea service in gratitude for their hospitality and care of the Colonel.