Tn Preservation group Announces 2006 Grants for battlefield Preservation

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TENNESSEE PRESERVATION GROUP ANNOUNCES
2006 GRANTS FOR BATTLEFIELD PRESERVATION

Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association (TCWPA) President Steve
McDaniel announced the Friends of Shiloh National Military Park and
Franklins Charge would receive TCWPA's 2006 Challenge Grant
awards. TCWPA has awarded $12,000 for the preservation of two
tracts near the entrance to Shiloh National Military Park and $5,000
for the Battle of Franklin property adjacent to the historic Carnton
Plantation. At each location, dollars will be matched dollar for
dollar, doubling the donated dollars for each effort.

According to McDaniel, much of this money was raised at "Campfires on
the Cumberland," a recent twilight event held on the Bicentennial Mall
below the historic State Capitol.

"We appreciate the many volunteers, especially the Civil War re-enactors, who worked so hard to make this kick-off of our 2006 – 2007 fundraising campaign so unique, and so successful. We also appreciate the many donors from across Tennessee whose participation made these latest grants possible. Our mission to preserve the Volunteer State's many
threatened battlefields by the war's 150th anniversary is a
daunting task, but the commitment demonstrated by these Civil War
advocates gives us hope we can achieve even more in the future."

TCWPA's award to the Friends of Shiloh will assist in the purchase of
two battlefield tracts. The left wing of Brig. Gen. Patrick
Cleburne's brigade marched across one of these pieces of land during
the battle's early stages on April 6, 1862, while the other tract
sits in the middle of eight pre-battle Union campsites, just north of
Grant's Last Line.

Preservation of the two sites will rely on a partnership between the
Association, the Friends, the national Civil War Preservation Trust,
and the two willing sellers. TCWPA has committed to assist the local
Friends group in raising the remainder of the needed funds. The
ultimate goal is to incorporate both pieces of land within the
boundary of Shiloh National Military Park. Although Shiloh has the
reputation as one of the nation's best preserved battlefields, park
officials note several key "missing pieces" on the edges
of Shiloh Hill are critical to the long term protection of one of the
Civil War's most significant battlefields.

TCWPA's award to Franklins Charge will support the 2005 acquisition
of property along Lewisburg Pike and adjacent to historic Carnton
Plantation. The property is part of the eastern flank of the Battle
of Franklin. This land is the killing zone Maj. General W.W.
Loring's Confederate division crossed under fire from multiple Union
batteries and advanced infantry on the final approach to the Federal
works on the fateful afternoon of November 30, 1864.
The former golf course land lies within the core battlefield area
identified in The National Parks Service's "Profiles of America's
Most Threatened Civil War Battlefields" study of 1993 (revised 1998).
The property now constitutes the largest, single remaining
undeveloped track of core battlefield left at Franklin.
Franklin's Charge is a nonprofit organization of representatives from
all of the existing preservation and conservation organizations in
Franklin and Williamson County, Tennessee, and state and national
preservation groups who share the vision for a battlefield park in
Franklin. As a partner with Franklins Charge, TCWPA is helping save
and reclaim one of the nation's most important Civil War
battlefields.

Last year, TCWPA granted funds for preservation of three Tennessee
Civil War battlefields: Shy's Hill (Battle of Nashville), Franklin,
and Davis Bridge.

TCWPA is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the
preservation of Tennessee's Civil War battlefield sites.

For more information, please visit www.tcwpa.org

or write to

TCWPA
Post Office Box 148535,
Nashville, TN 37214.