Why Was the FRANKLIN, TN Battlefield NOT Saved??

[formerYank]

Hello Y'all,

I am a newby to this great site but an old hand at civil war studies. I've been studying the Battle of Franklin for many years and visit there fairly often.

The key question for me of late is why wasn't the battlefield, specifically the area around the carter house, cotton gin and forward federal line preserved?

There is a similar lack of preservation at Nashville as well.

Does anyone on the board have any theories, or research, or resources that can help me understand?

Thank you!
Daniel, FormerYank

[ole]

Hello, FormerYank, and welcome.

I was told by a Nashvillain friend that no one in that part of Tennessee cared about preserving the sites of Yankee wins. Suspect the truth is about the same as for Nashville, Murphreesboro, Atlanta, Fredericksburg, Spottsylvania, Chancellorsville, and others. My guess: they were overrun before anyone saw any commercial or commemorative value to their preservation -- before the NPS, CWPT, SCV, etc., gained momentum.

ole

[whitworth]

If it was a Confederate defeat, one probably might no see any preservation. It's sign posts if one seeks out the Atlanta battles of Peachtree Creek, Atlanta and Ezra Church.
I was surprised after visiting someone in Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, to see a small monument, indicating the start of the Peachtree Battle, in front of the hospital.

If one tours Georgia, one might get the impression, of the preserved battlefields, that the Confederacy did well in defending the state against Sherman.

[Dred]

But win or lose, how much land can you set up for reserved parks with an ever expanding population? You have to makeconcessions somewhere, otherwise the hole state of VA would be one big park!!

[ole]

Hold that thought, Dred. I want to dream about it tonight.

Ole

[larry_cockerham]

Actually much of the battlefield at Franklin was and is preserved, for a while.... Remember that in 1865 Franklin was a very small town, in fact barely extended south to the Carter house. The Confederates attacked from the south, hence the battle area was on the undeveloped southern side of the town. Much of that land became Battlefield Academy and now houses some county buildings, a fine library etc. The rest was rural farmland along Columbia Pike. Not much development that direction because most of the comerce was with Nashville to the north. Fort Grainger, a Union stronghold was barely preserved along the river east of downtown. Growth came to Franklin very slowly. When I moved to Nashville in 1978, it was a much different, less developed place than today. Much of the development pressure came in the last decade or so because of the Saturn automotive plant in nearby Spring Hill. Franklin had character and small town appeal, still does, but not as much as before, so the folks who could afford it moved in. Much of the battlefield is still vacant along Columbia Pike, though in private ownership. Population growth and greed will get much of the rest of the open space before long. As many of you know, chunks of land are being acquired and preserved but at a rather slow, expensive pace. Much as I hate to admit it, the civil war is not foremost on the mind of most Franklin citizens. Many of us are organized and working on it with slow success. I doubt Franklin is much different from other battlefield towns. Growth had to come, and did. Ole is right about the attitude about yanks. Ever met one?

[whitworth]

is it was a one sided drubbing for the Confederates.


From a tourist attraction, how do you sell such a battlefield to Southerners?
While Gettysburg was a Confederate defeat, there were moments of victory, that could attract southerners to visit the battlefield and the tourist attraction.

There were battles Sherman never wanted to talk about, in any depth. In the decades after Franklin, I doubt any Confederate really wanted to remember Franklin.

[larry_cockerham]

Our Sons of Confederate Veterans camp owns 13 acres of Winstead Hill, the observation point and headquarters for Hood during the battle. While few Southerners visit our park and it's monuments to revel over the battle, you'd be amazed at how many stop in reverence to remember the effort of their ancestors. I've even mentioned the fact that the hill was briefly Schofield's headquarters on November 29, 1864. Yes, Northerners come as well.

[samgrant]

Would I be correct in my impression that efforts (and the sucesses) to reclaim/restore the Franklin Battlefield have far surpassed those at other battlefields throughout the country? (or maybe I just have heard more about the Franklin sites that I have the others?)

[gary]

It's my understanding that when folks were exploring which battlefields should become National Battlefield Sites, the memory of Franklin and the War was still too fresh in the minds of the residents who wanted to forget the entire mess. They showed no enthusiasm for including Franklin and it wasn't until recently when an interest in history, tourism and commerce changed the minds of many folks in and about Franklin.