Left to right: Jerry Karle, Lester Burgin, Rod Earhart, Rebecca Burkett, Dave Mowery, Dawn Mowery, Mike Meese, Randy Donohue, Dan Bauer (kneeling), John McGee, Bob Limoseth, Mark Fidler.

May 1st: Nashville, Fort Negley, Battle of Nashville, & Travellers Rest with Ross Massey

Over the weekend of May 1st, 2nd, and 3rd 2010, twelve members of the CCWRT journeyed to Central Tennessee to explore the Nashville and Stones River battlefields. Like last year, the Drake Center served as our starting and ending point as we traveled as a group in a rented 15 person passenger van. The forecast for the weekend called for rain, and unfortunately, the forecast was right on. The drive to Nashville started at 8:15 AM and was done in a constant drizzle which grew in intensity as we approached Nashville. By the time we arrived at the Ft. Negley visitor’s center, the rain was coming down in torrents. Although the plan was for Christa Castillo, the director of Ft. Negley, to give a tour of the fort, the heavy rain caused a cancellation of her tour and instead we watched two films and checked out the exhibits in the museum.

Ross Massey, our Battle of Nashville tour guide, met us at Ft. Negley visitor’s center at 3:00 PM. As we departed the visitor’s center, the rain subsided back to a light drizzle, and Ross offered to give us his tour of the fort. The photo at left was taken on the road which loops around the main fort. Ft. Negley, the largest inland masonry fort built during the war, was constructed by Union troops after their February 1862 capture of Nashville. It was never attacked. After the war, the fort fell into disrepair. During the Great Depression, the WPA repaired some of masonry making the fort again open to the public. Also, wooden walkways have been added making the fort both handicap and rainy day accessible.

After our tour of Ft. Negley, it was off to explore other sites that saw action in the December 15 and 16, 1864 Battle of Nashville. Our first stop was Granbury’s Lunette, followed by a drive along the main Confederate line, and then a stop at Confederate Redoubt No. 1. Redoubt No. 1 was one of five redoubts built by Hood's Confederate Army as it occupied the countryside south of Nashville in December 1864. On the first day of the Battle of Nashville, Dec. 15, the U.S. Army attacked all five forts. Redoubt No. 1 was the last to fall. Granbury’s Lunette and Confederate Redoubt No. 1 are located on parcels of land of approximately one acre in size.

Our next stop was the Battle of Nashville Monument. The monument (photo left) was originally dedicated in 1927, but was moved and rededicated in 1998 and now sits on a 2.5 acre site at the intersection of Granny White Pike and Battlefield Drive.

After that, it was off to Shy’s Hill. It was at Shy’s Hill on Dec. 16, 1864 that Federal troops finally broke the Confederate line on the left flank, resulting in a decisive Union victory. According to Ross, it was difficult to maintain the fighting intensity of the Confederates defending the hill as they could see the main body of their army below the hill already retreating. Bob Limoseth shared with the group that an ancestor of his fought and died from wounds received in the Shy’s Hill attack. The rain made the path up and down the steep incline slippery, but we all managed to stay upright and dry enough to be photographed next to the only cannon atop the hill.

Granbury’s Lunette, Confederate Redoubt No. 1, Battle of Nashville Monument, and Shy’s Hill have been preserved, enhanced, and interpreted by the Battle of Nashville preservation Society of which our tour guide, Ross Massey, is an active member.

Our last stop in our Nashville tour was Travellers Rest. On December 2, 1864, General John Bell Hood, commander of the Confederate army, made Travellers Rest his headquarters for two weeks leading up to the Battle of Nashville. Here at Travellers Rest, Hood directed the building of the five-mile defensive line he set up against the Union occupiers to the north. He also had meetings with high-ranking officers and officials such as General Benjamin Franklin Cheatham and Nathan Bedford Forrest. The home was even the site of a major dinner the evening of December 12th following the wedding of one of the staff officers.

Mrs. Harriett Overton, wife of owner John Overton said, "The proudest day in my life was when seven Confederate generals sat at my dining table." Hood vacated Travellers Rest as the Confederate Army retreated from Nashville on Dec. 16, 1864. From the back porch of the main house, an associate of the property shared with us the rich history of Travellers Rest and the surrounding grounds.

After we dropped off Ross Massey back at Ft. Negley, the plan was to continue onto the Hampton Inn in Smyrna, TN. The trip proved to be a bit of an adventure as we learned that the main route, I-24, had been closed due to high water. Fortunately, we were able to find a detour and we checked into our hotel around 8:00 PM and were done for the day.

May 2nd: Stones River with Jim Schroeder

On day two, a tour of the Stones River battlefield was scheduled. With the forecast again calling for heavy rain, we were wary about how this day would turn out. Weather radar showed rain just west of Nashville and moving our way. We figured we had a couple hours of dryness before the rains would arrive. After driving 15 miles southeast into Murfreesboro, TN to the Stones River National Battlefield Park, we had about 45 minutes before our tour guide would arrive. We spent the time checking out the visitor’s center. Jim Schroeder, our guide, arrived at 9:30 as scheduled, and we got our tour started right away. Jim is retired and a volunteer of the park who has been giving tours for about 15 years.

Our first stop was where Harker’s Brigade of Federals crossed the Stones River on Dec. 29. They retreated later that day after discovering Breckinridge was in force to his front. This served as a precursor to the main battle as it showed both sides had large forces present. The above photo shows the Stones River at Harker’s Crossing.

Next Jim took us to the modern day intersection of Franklin Rd. and Gresham Lane where the main battle began. At dawn on December 31, about 6 a.m., Hardee’s Confederates attacked the Union's right flank with the division of Maj. Gen. John McCown followed closely by Maj. Gen Patrick Cleburne. The attack occurred before many in Richard W. Johnson’s Union division had finished their breakfast. The 10,000 Confederates attacked in one massive wave. In the photo to the right, Jim has his back to what was the Union Line.

By 10 a.m., many of the Confederate objectives had been achieved. They had captured 28 guns and over 3,000 Union soldiers. The Confederate onslaught was finally held in check when Union troops made a determined stand along the Nashville Pike. In the photo to the right, we are standing in front of the Widow Burris House along Asbury Lane, site of the Confederate High Tide on the Western Flank.

Next Jim took us inside the park along the driving loop. The second Confederate wave was by Polk's corps, consisting of the divisions of Withers and Cheatham. What saved the Union from total destruction that morning was the foresight of division commander Philip Sheridan of McCook's wing, who anticipated an early attack and had his troops up and ready in the center of the right half of the line by 4 a.m. Withers hit Sheridan's right flank first but was repulsed in three separate charges. Then Cheatham, with his reserve division, hit Sheridan's front as Cleburne struck his flank.

While Sheridan's men slowed the enemy advance, they did it at heavy cost to themselves; all three of Sheridan's brigade commanders were killed that day, and more than one third of his men were casualties in four hours of fighting in a cedar forest surrounded on three sides that became known as "The Slaughter Pen". The above photo was taken at the Slaughter Pen.

Our last stop of the morning was the fight for the Round Forest along the Old Nashville Pike. Repeated attacks throughout the afternoon on the left flank of the Union line were repulsed by Colonel William Hazen’s brigade in a rocky, four acre wooded area named "Round Forest" by the locals. Breckinridge's first two brigades assaulted Hazen in piecemeal attacks and were repulsed. Two more brigades arrived, and they were sent in, reinforced by other elements of Polk's corps. The attack failed a second time. Thomas responded with a limited counterattack that cleared his front. The area, renamed "Hell's Half-Acre" by veterans, was the only part of the original Union line to hold. By 4:30 p.m., the days fighting was finished. The above photo shows the position of one of Hazen’s cannon. About fifty yards to the photographers left is the Hazen Monument.

After the battle surviving members of Hazen's Brigade selected a low crest between the Nashville Pike and the railroad to erect a monument to commemorate their gallant stand. The Hazen Brigade Monument (pictured left) was erected in 1863 by members of Hazen Brigade and stands as the oldest intact Civil War memorial. Forty-five soldiers were buried next to the monument inside the stone wall.

As we were finishing up our stay at the Hazen Monument, a light rain began to fall. By the time we had arrived at our lunch destination, the rain was coming down in buckets. No matter. We did it! We managed to get the main part of the Stones River tour in before the rains had arrived. Huzzuh! After lunch as the heavy rains continued to fall, we went our next scheduled tour stop -The Oaklands House.

The Oaklands was an antebellum plantation and home to several generations of the Maney family. On July 13, 1862, Confederate cavalrymen under Nathan Bedford Forrest surprised and defeated Federal forces encamped on the plantation grounds. It was said the Maney children watched the fighting from the window of the second floor hallway. The Confederates accepted the surrender of Murfreesboro inside the mansion. The town remained in Confederate hands until the Union victory at Stones River.

The above photo was taken while standing on the porch of Oaklands and looking out to where the July 13, 1862 action took place. No one in our group bothered to stand in the rain to photograph the house. Our tour of the house proved to be most interesting.

After touring Oaklands, it was off to see Fortress Rosecrans. Constructed in 1863 after the Battle of Stones River, Fortress Rosecrans was the largest earthen fort built during the Civil War. It included three miles of earthworks and enclosed 200 acres of storehouses, blockhouses, and powder magazines. The works were a powerful deterrent and the fortress never came under attack. Unfortunately, most of the fort has been landscaped over. Lunette Palmer, pictured left, represents only a tiny part of the huge fort. Like Ft. Negley, Lunette Palmer has an elevated wooden walkway which allows visitors to get an up close view of the earthworks without disturbing them.

Our final stop of the day was McFadden’s Ford where the fighting on Jan 2nd, 1863 took place. Mendenhall’s massed Union batteries, firing from above the rise above the ford, halted Breckinridge’s attack. Some 1,800 Confederates were killed or wounded in less than an hour in this the battles final action. Taking advantage of a stop in the rain, we piled out of the van to hear Jim Schroeder’s description of what happened at McFadden’s Ford. Almost as soon as he began, however, the heavy rains returned, up went the umbrellas, and few of us barely heard a word he said. This was really the only time of the whole trip where rain was a problem. Again, nobody bothered taking a photo at this stop while the heavy rains were falling. After this, we got back in the van, dropped Jim off at his car and returned to our motel.

May 3rd: Nashville National Cemetery, Munfordville KY, Rowlett Station KY

On the third day, we had scheduled a tour of the Franklin battlefield. Unfortunately, due to the 15 inches of rain that had fallen the previous two days, the Harpeth River had flooded the town of Franklin making a tour impossible. We needed a backup plan. Dave Mowery suggested we explore the Munfordville Battlefield in KY. We all agreed this was a good second choice and after checking out of our motel, we headed back toward Kentucky. Dave and Dawn did not join us on this part of the trip as they had made previous plans to go on to Arkansas.

Before we exited the Nashville area, Bob Limoseth asked if we could make a slight detour and visit the Nashville Cemetery. In doing research prior to making this trip, Bob had discovered that his ancestor who died in the Shy’s Hill attack was buried in the cemetery. We were happy to oblige. The picture at right is Bob next to the grave of Nelson Roberge, a member of the 5th Minnesota regiment. That black stuff surrounding the headstone is a shadow, something we had not seen the previous two days.

Munfordville, KY is located just off I-65 near Mammoth Cave. The area had strategic significance during the Civil War because of a recently completed railroad spanning the Green River making rail travel between Louisville and Nashville possible. The original bridge, pictured at left, still stands. The bridge was protected by Fort Craig, an earthen fort, and a garrison of 1,800 men under the command of Colonel John Wilder.

As part of the 1862 Confederate invasion of Kentucky, lead elements of Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee under the command of Brigadier James Chalmers decided to attack the fort.

On September 14, 1862, after Chalmers’ men advanced to within a few feet of the Union works, he ordered a bayonet charge against the works. The charge failed. The photo at right shows the view that Charmers’ men faced as they approached the fort. From where the fort photo was taken the bridge and river are a few hundred yards to the left.

Bragg decided that to bypass the fort would be bad for the morale of his soldiers so on the 15th he began to surround the fort with his army. Upon sensing he was outnumbered, Wilder wanted proof of the Confederate strength. After Simon Buckner offered to show Wilder the Confederate lines, Wilder agreed to surrender on the 18th. Although defeated in the Battle for the Bridge, Wilder’s stand gave Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio precious time to leapfrog ahead of Bragg.

We also explored the Rowlett’s Station battlefield which lies less than a mile south of Ft. Craig. The Battle of Rowlett’s Station occurred a year earlier on December 17, 1861 and prior to the construction of Ft. Craig. The battle was a clash between eight companies of August Willich’s 32nd Indiana and the 8th Texas Calvary under the command of Col. Benjamin Franklin Terry. Using Prussian tactics learned by August Willich, the Union companies fell into square formation. The Texas Rangers responded by charging the position wildly. In the ensuing battle, Colonel Terry of the Rangers was mortally wounded. The Rangers charged three times, but were finally forced to retreat. This was the first time in the Civil War that cavalry faced infantry. Although the results of the battle were indecisive, Union troops did occupy the area and insured the movement of their men and supplies on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.The photo at left shows a marker erected in 2008 in memory of Col. Terry and his Texas Rangers.

The rest of our trip back to Cincinnati involved no other Civil War related stops. We arrived back at the Drake Center around 6:30. All who participated in the trip had a great time and are looking forward to next year’s trip.