Two Days of Remembrance

he great tragedy of the War Between the States came to its penultimate conclusion in the fields of Franklin and the forts of Nashville. The names of the men who led the struggle became legendary in their own day and have only been burnished and revered since that time. The army commanders, John Bell Hood, John McAllister Schofield and George H. Thomas flawed men all, but experienced and persevering. Their own subordinates were a mixed group, but on the whole competent and brave to a fault: Pat Cleburne, Emerson Opdyke, States Rights Gist and Nathan Bedford Forrest. And all the men who fell wounded or dead in their serried ranks, including Todd Carter who died defending his own home, did not pass into oblivion due to the extraordinary compassion and dedication of the “widow of the South” Carrie McGavock. The stories of them all will be the fare over two days of remembrance on the very ground where they fought on a few chilly December days in 1864.

Personal Portraits of Franklin

Over the next three weeks we will introduce you to some of the remarkable people in Franklin when these two great armies clashed. Their actions and accounts hold valuable lessons for us even 150 years later. Today we introduce you to two extraordinary young men, who fought in the ranks at both Franklin and Nashville — Union private Arthur MacArthur and Confederate Corporal Sam Watkins.

Lieutenant Arthur MacArthur

More than 106,000 Confederate and Union soldiers clashed in battle along Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee from December 31, 1862 to January 3rd, 1863. The two sides fought to a bloody stalemate, the casualties combined equaling those of Shiloh the previous April. While the battle itself, both tactically and strategically, added little to the reputations of the respective commanding officers, Generals Bragg and Rosecrans, one can well imagine that the impact of the slaughter on the men involved, preyed on the minds of the survivors for years to come. One of those soldiers, however, found such fighting to his liking and would prove on all future occasions a soldier’s soldier until he retired in the early part of the 20th century as the highest-ranking general in the United States army.

Read the entire article by Bill Potter ››

Private Sam Watkins

Sitting in his home nestled in the rolling hills of Maury County, Tennessee in 1882, Private Sam Watkins penned perhaps the most widely read and detailed look into the life of a man who fought and bled throughout the most difficult 4 years of our nation’s history. His work, “CO. Aytch” chronicled the Civil War through the lens of an ordinary man, a foot soldier, representing the grunt and backbone of the Confederate army. His wartime autobiography remains also one of the best firsthand regimental histories to be found, documenting the glamorous and tragic history of the 1st Tennessee Infantry regiment. Private Sam Watkins records witnessing the death of many of his old friends, he recalls the long marches, the arduous campaigning, the dullness of camp life and the horror of battle that he was exposed to in over a dozen major engagements. As he approaches the subject of the battle of Franklin, Tennessee in November 1864, his mood changes, and he paints a scene that somehow differs from the other struggles that he fought in. That old veteran of many costly and brutal conflicts, begins his brief account of the battle of Franklin as follows: “Kind Reader, right here, my pen and courage and ability fail me. . .

Read the entire article by Sam Turley ››

Next Week’s Portraits

Join us March 18 and 19 on location to all the accounts and understand how their thread fits into the remarkable tapestry of God’s providence in Franklin and Nashville.

Mr. Potter speaks at the Teach Them Diligently Homeschool Conference in Nashville March 19-21. Stop by our booth (#230) and say hello!