Battle of Nashville & Beyond

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Fort Pillow

Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow: 

 

Revised 22 December 2017

December 21, 2017 – Lt. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest’s statue was removed by the city of Memphis, Tennessee to an undisclosed location. They city bi-passed the state law on removing historical monuments from public land – so they sold it.

What will they do with his General and Mrs. Forrest buried beneath it?

February 2017: 

forrest-statue

It was with some trepidation, that I set off for Memphis to shoot Nathan Bedford Forrest. The former Nathan Bedford Forrest Park has been renamed the Health Sciences Park on Union Street. Arriving at 7 AM, I had the place to myself. Metered parking was available on South Dunlap street (no weekend fee). To my relief, there had been no desecration of the monument.

Recent efforts my the Memphis City Council to remove the statue to another city was rejected by the Tennessee Historical Commission… read more

I proceeded north towards Henning, Tennessee to shoot Fort Pillow State Historic Park. It was about and hour and a half drive.  Bass boats periodically droned up and down Cold Creek below the fort. It’s not easy to find and not very well marked. I am going to submit an update to Google Maps.

Parking at the trail and head on Crutcher Lake Road, it was about a mile hike to the restored earthworks. In the hour and a half I spent there, on a clear warm Saturday morning, I encountered no visitors. 

Suggested reading on the larger historical perspective of this controversial figure of American history: 

“Having once been a racist, Nathan Bedford Forrest became an outspoken advocate of black civil rights in Memphis, culminating in his beautiful yet largely forgotten speech before the black civil rights Pole-Bearers Association in 1875. Encouraging the black people in attendance to take an active part in their country’s government, he told them he was with them ‘heart and hand’ to help their cause in any way he could.”  – Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Redemption

Check this 3D like 360º virtual tour of Fort Pillow and Nathan Bedford Forrest park. Historical markers are embedded in the tour.

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Forrest Park: Madison Ave & S Dunlap Street, Memphis, TN 38103

Fort Pillow: 3122 Park Road Henning, TN 38041

Recommended Reading:

#fortpillow #nathanbedforforrest

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Sand Creek Massacre

Sand Creek Massacre Virtual Reality Tour:

The Sand Creek Massacre set off one of the bloodiest chapters of the Indian Wars. Apparently, the U.S. Army Commander Col. John Shivington (a Methodist preacher, freemason, and opponent of slavery), acted on his own accord to order the massacre of 70-163 men, women and children. Many of his men protested the raid.

In the following years, Indian Dog Warriors retaliated with even harsher treatment of their white civilian captives.

“The Sand Creek raid was a massacre in the American Indian Wars that occurred on November 29, 1864, when a 675-man force of Colorado U.S. Volunteer Cavalry attacked and destroyed a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho in southeastern Colorado Territory, killing and mutilating an estimated 70–163 Native Americans, about two-thirds of whom were women and children. The location has been designated the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site and is administered by the National Park Service.” … read more Wikipedia

Colonel Chivington should have, at the very least, been court marshaled for this raid. One of his officers told the true story and was later gunned down in the streets of Denver, by known associates. They were never brought to justice. Chivington never expressed any regret for his actions that day.

This park is remote to get to, but well worth the effort.

Address: 55411 County Rd W, Eads, CO 81036

#sandcreek

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Battle of Beecher’s Island

Beecher’s Island Indian Battle: 

 

Battle of Beecher’s Island Monument

“Fought September 17, 18 and 19, 1868 between Col. George A. Forsyth’s company of citizen scouts, numbering 61 men and a large party Indians comprising Northern Cheyennes, Ogallalah, Brule Sioux and Dog Soldiers commanded by the noted war chief Roman Nose. The scouts were surrounded and held on this island for nine days subsisting on horse and mule meat. Indian killed: 75. Wounded: unknown. Here Roman Nose and Medicine Man fought their last battle.”

“The first Night Stillwell and Trudeau crawling out on hands and knees started for relief, and hiding days and traveling nights, reached Fort Wallace. The 3rd night Donovan and Pliley started arriving at Fort Donovan with four others immediately started back, and coming upon Col. Carpenters command on the south fork of the Republican [river] guided them in a 20 mile dash. Reaching the Island at 10 AM the 9th day, 26 hours in advance of Col. Bankhead with scouts Stillwell and Trudeau. The return to Fort Wallace was began on September 27, the wounded being carried in government wagons.”

The location is named for 1st Lt. Fred Beecher, killed in the battle.

Location: 20563 County Rd KK, Wray, CO 80758

A virtual reality tour of the battlefield:

 

Battle of Beecher’s Island from athensofthesouth.design on Vimeo.

#indianwars

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Death at Summit Springs

Cheyenne Dog Soldiers and the 5th U.S. Cavalry – Shruged

Revised: 22 December 2017

Why does this Colorado battlefield sit on private land that is very difficult to access? It’s essentially the last significant battle of the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers. It marked a turning point in the taming the wild west. It was so significant, that Buffalo Bill Cody (who was fighting with the 5th Cavalry in this) used the story as a narrative of his World Famous Wild West Show.

A modern Dog Soldier headdress at a pow wow.

Planning a new series of battlefield virtual tours beyond the American Civil War, I had a preconception, that this would be yet another atrocity against the American Indians. We invaded their country and destroyed their way of life, but with this battle, I have to side with U.S. Cavalry. This chilling story chronicles the events that led to the fall of some of the deadliest Dog Soldiers on the Great Plains.

As with most Indian campaigns, much credit goes to the Native Americans (in this case Pawnee’s) that assisted the cavalry as scouts and warriors. Much of the blame for the escalating violence goes to Colonel John Chivington, for his murdurous raid on Sandy Creek five years prior.

The 5th Cavalry were battle tested. They had fought from Bull Run to Gettysburg to the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

From: Death at Summit Springs: Susanna Alderdice and the Cheyennes

“On the afternoon of July 11, 1869, it was hot and windy in northeastern Colorado Territory — typical summer weather for that part of the country. But it was not otherwise a typical day. As the hour approached 3 o’clock, the order was given by trumpet to charge the Indian village at Summit Springs (near present-day Sterling, Colorado). At the sound of ‘Charge, 244 officers and men of the 5th U.S. Cavalry, along with 50 Pawnee Indians serving as scouts, quickly descended upon the village of 84 lodges. Cheyenne Dog Soldier Chief Tall Bull and his people could not have been more surprised”… “Almost as soon as the shooting stopped, a powerful hail and thunderstorm descended upon the village. Everyone took shelter, but lightning killed one horse while a soldier sat upon it.”…read more

Virtual Reality Panorama of the Summit Springs Battlefield.

Summitt Springs Battlefield – Shruged from athensofthesouth.design on Vimeo.

Location: 40° 25′ 58″ N, 103° 8′ 21″ W

indian-map
NPS Map

#summitsprings

Related links:

http://www.historynet.com/death-at-summit-springs-susanna-alderdice-and-the-cheyennes.htm

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/summitspringsbattlefield.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Summit_Springs

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Stoneman’s Raid

Stoneman’s 1865 raid in North Carolina:

“Stoneman’s raid in 1865 was a military campaign in the American Civil War by Federal cavalry troops led by General George Stoneman which began on March 23, 1865, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Union soldiers were tasked with orders to “dismantle the country” — to “destroy but not to fight battles.” They headed east into North Carolina destroying towns and plundering along the way, then headed north into Virginia on April 2 where they destroyed 150 miles of railroad track belonging to the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. They re-entered North Carolina on April 9 and traveled south to the twin towns of Winston and Salem, and then onward to High Point.” – Wikipedia

Take a virtual tour of the Confederate Prison for Union. Over 11,000 U.S. soldiers and sailers died in this stockade during the war.

National Cemetery: 202 Government Rd, Salisbury, NC 28144

Salisbury Prison Guard House: 224 E Bank St, Salisbury, NC 28144

Stonesman’s Raid in Morgantown, North Carolina (Rocky Ford Engagement) 360 Tour: 

One of Stonesman’s commanders has an interesting footnote in this narrative. General Gillem was a Tennessean that had a son*, and grandson that became general officers in the U.S. Army and Air Force. One of the civil war forts in Nashville was named for the senior Gillem during the war. It’s location is were Fisk University is today.

*Lt. General Alvan Cullom Gillem, Jr. would chair the Board for Utilization of Negro Manpower (1945-1946) “to introduce equal opportunity, as that would be the best use of military manpower”.