Sunday, February 14, 2021

A brief visit to 'lost' Franklin battlefield stone wall


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Ever since my friend Jack Richards showed it to me recently, I haven't been able to get the old stone wall along Columbia Pike in Franklin, Tenn., out of my head. The roughly 150-yard section of wall --  unknown to most battlefield visitors -- sits a few feet below the current pike on the Bloody Plain upon which John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee advanced to attack Federals on Nov. 30, 1864. About a mile north, at the Fountain Carter farm, the U.S. Army awaited behind crude earthworks. Jump-off point for Hood's soldiers was Winstead Hill, about a mile south. The wall -- part of the old Merrill farm -- undoubtedly was here in 1864, but Richards still seeks rock-solid, official confirmation. I shot this video recently, deftly maneuvering through mud, litter and who knows what else. Oh, the life of a Civil War rambler.  

The stone wall, part of the old Merrill farm, sits along busy Columbia Pike.

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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:35 PM

    Love hidden little pieces of history like this. Thanks for sharing, as always. I read your blog religiously!

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  2. Anonymous12:33 PM

    Fascinating. In all my battlefield scrambling while living in Nashville I didn't know about this wall. Thanks for posting this.

    ReplyDelete