In mid-June my family traveled to Tennessee, to vist Civl War and railroad related sites. It was on this trip, that I discovered our nation’s serious need for historical presevation. One of our first stops was Wartrace.
Here I needed to pick up a few things for my Civil War living history impressions, however what I stumbled into was the site of some bitter, yet largely forgotten battlefields, that where part of the Tullhoma campaign, of early 1863, while the battlefeilds and campsites of this campaign are for the most part intact, the sprawl of Nashville is begining to be felt. Our next stop was Murfreesburo, 20 minutes from Nashville. It was here that from December 31, 1862-January 2, 1863 two armies of Americans fought to destroy each other, yet even as I stoon in hell’s half-acre a scene of bloodshed and carnage I could see a cement plant, a highway overpass.
But the worst excuse of preservation was Franklin, Tennessee. This place witnessed one of the worst blunders ever made by Confederate commander ( John Bell Hood). In this battle 22,000 Confedrates charged over two miles against heavily fortifed Union soldiers.
In less that a few hours the Confedrate Army of Tennessee would cease to be. But something worse than that November day in 1864 has come to past, of thattwo mile strech where over 12,000 americans would fall 5 acres are left. Without doubt Franklin was a eye opener.
And all of those places have left me humbled by the past, yet concerned about the few remaining arces of that hallowed ground.
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