Keep an Urban Park in Nashville
JUL 20, 2017 — Friends,
We are rattling the cages of the back-room-deal power brokers in Nashville who thought giving away public and historic park land worth $30million for about $1million might go without notice (or that we probably can’t put a price on the history of this inland fort).
Just like the fight to save Radnor Lake and the Ryman – there comes a time when thinking people sit up and say “this makes no sense” — why, as so many other Nashville mayors did, are we not adding to and protecting our city land instead of giving it away to private developers?
So, while the challenge to this award is being worked through in a formal complaint process with the city, our collective efforts are shining a light on the importance of this issue to Nashville and our region.
Please read expert opinions from Ridley Wills II, David Ewing, the Walker Collaborative, The National Civil War Trust and more at the link below.
Tomorrow we will share information on the Legal Defense Fund which has been set up to fight this.
Keep sharing this petition, asking friends to sign, caring.
The new Franklin City Park completed with ADA accessible paved access path. There is no street parking, but easily accessible form the Carter House or Carter’s Court.
A virtual tour of the Carter Cotton Gin site and the Patrick Cleburne Monument from the American Civil War Battle of Franklin. The tour also includes the “Loring’s Advance” property on Meadowlawn Drive and Collin’s Farm on the Lewisburg Pike. The Loring’s Advance video features Eric Jacobson on the 6th tour stop (the video may take a moment to load). For a full screen view, click on the icon in the lower left of the screen. Links to the Carter House, Carnton, Fort Granger and Winstead Hill virtual tours.
Note: get the virtual tour full screen experience by clicking the icon in the lower left of the video frame. A zoom option is available also for reading the historical signage. Some markers are embedded in the floating icons.
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Suggested Reading:
If Franklin can reclaim battlefield property, so can Nashville. Please sign the petition below to support reclaiming the park property at historic Fort Negley.
Since the departure of the Nashville Sounds baseball team, the grounds around Fort Negley are being considered for development. Nashville has lost most all of it’s core battlefield. This is a rare chance to reclaim a 20 acre parcel of an epic battlefield of the American Civil War. As the city grows, it’s a great opportunity to add more green space to the city’s urban core.
The Battle of Shiloh resulted in more casualties, than all of the previous United States military conflicts to date (23,746). It was a stunning shock to the nation, and a sobering lesson to the multitude of Americans that thought this was going to be a short affair.
In this major battle, Confederate Brevet Brigadier General Albert Sidney Johnston was the highest ranking officer killed in the American Civil War. He was most likely hit by his own troops. His mortal leg wound was from the rear. Despite this calamitous setback, P.G.T. Beauregard was so confident after the first day of the battle, that he sent word back to Richmond that the Confederate forces had a complete and undisputed victory.
Cavalry Colonel Bedford Forrest knew better. At the close of the first day of battle, he pleaded with higher command to press the enemy into the night – or abandon the field altogether. His scouts had discovered a massive reinforcement flotilla landing from the Tennessee river that late afternoon.
The Shiloh Battlefield is one of the most well preserved battlefields of the American Civil War. It also contains Native American burial mounds. It’s remote location in rural Southwest Tennessee, lends itself to privacy unlike most other battlefields near populated areas.
Shiloh Battlefield: virtual tour
Fraley Field – Opening action at The Battle of Shiloh April 6, 1862
Peach Orchard
Bloody Pond
Forrest 3rd Cavalry Regiment*
Hornet’s Nest
Water Oaks Pond
Indian Mounds
Shiloh Visitor Center
Confederate Burial Trench
Pittsburg Landing
National Cemetery
Note: get the full screen experience by clicking the icon in the lower left of the video frame. A zoom option is available also for reading the historical signage. Some markers are embedded in the floating icons. Panorama’s take a moment to load. They can also be viewed in a 360º viewfinder.
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Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park: 9,036 acres
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania: 8,374 acres
Pea Ridge 4,300 acres
Shiloh: 3,997 acres**
Gettysburg: 3,965 acres
Antietam: 3,230 acres
*Colonel Forrest 3rd Cavalry Regiment fought dismounted from just west of the Peach Orchard. This obscure marker in the virtual tour, is the only one of Forrest on the battlefield. Fallen Timbers, will soon be added to the park service, thanks to The Civil War Preservation Trust. That location is the site of a most impressive counter-charge by Forrest’s regiment during the retreat of the Confederate Army. The location will be dedicated April 6-9, 2017, during the 155th anniversary reenactment.
** The National Park Service is adding more land in the near future, including Fallen Timbers, Parkers Crossroads, Davis Bridge and more. This will make Shiloh the largest National Military Park in the country.
Early in the war, troops under Confederate General Leonidas Polk fortified a strategic line on the bluff’s of the Mississippi River here. In September of 1861, it marked the South’s first move into Kentucky. To prevent passage of Union gunboats downstream, a huge chain was stretched across the river. Soon after it was deployed, it broke due to the shear force of the river. A section of the chain and massive anchor is on display in the park.
After the Federal successes in Tennessee at Forts Donelson and Henry, Confederates evacuated Columbus on March 2, 1862. U.S. Army troops moved in the next day, holding the fortress for the remainder of the war.
This was the northern most fortification held by the Confederates on the Mississippi River. It was literally the high-water mark on the Mississippi for the South. It was also one of General U.S. Grant’s first major operations.
