A Nashville church service and a warhorse named Dixie Bill

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So I pulled into the parking lot of Calvary United Methodist Church on Sunday morning, intent on shooting a Facebook Live video at the site where Union Colonel Sylvester Hill -- riding astride Dixie Bill -- was killed during the Battle of Nashville on Dec. 15, 1864. But this being 2020 and all, I inched my car into the outdoor church service among masked parishioners. 

 Yikes. 

I was stopped by a wonderful woman named Jackie. As I reached for a mask in the car, I sheephishly told her why I was visiting: "It's about a bay horse named Dixie Bill ... and this guy from Iowa ... and Redoubt No. 3 is right behind your church ... and a battle was fought here ... and the horse was buried in the back yard of this guy's house in Iowa ... and ..." 

An Advent candle and a great message.

"Oh, the redoubt," she said. "My husband is a Civil War buff. He'd sure like to talk to you."

There was a short pause. 

"You're more than welcome to join us. Would you like to take communion?" 

Feeling like a heathen, I begged off, saying I didn't want to impose after nearly driving my car into the middle of the service.

I examined the ground near the church, listened a bit to the sermon and the singing. Wondered what it was like to attend a church built on a battlefield. After the service, I visited briefly with Dave, the church archivist, whom I spoke with two years ago for a story. I shot photos of the terrain and the meager, ivy-covered remains of the redoubt and did my Facebook Live thing using my fancy, new mic.

Then I met the masked pastor and explained my story again. He gazed at me with one of those looks Fido might give you when you blow a whistle. Then he smiled, undoubtedly wondering why the odd man was talking about a horse named Dixie Bill, who was buried by a regimental chaplain in his back yard on 11th Street in Des Moines in 1881. 

Before I left, Jackie offered me a large envelope. "Advent HOPE," it read on the front. It included a small candle and a greeting to the faithful:

"This year at Calvary, we're waiting in hope; hope that we might experience the joy, peace, and love that came into the world with the birth of the Christ child. For many, this year has been one of despair with deep loss, grief, and loneliness. Perhaps the Advent message of hope is one that is more important now than ever." 

What a strange morning. A great one, too.

A Harper's Weekly illustration shows the Union attack at Redoubt No. 3 on Dec. 15, 1864
 -- the first day of the Battle of Nashville -- and the mortal wounding
of Colonel Sylvester Hill astride Dixie Bill (right).

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