Battlefield Reclamation
On November 29, 1864, events at and around Spring Hill unfolded in a wild and confused way. A short but intense fight there resulted in almost 750 casualties and led to a series of Confederate mistakes, and the Federal army escaped to Franklin during the night.
As you know, we began to manage Rippa Villa in mid-2021. Just a few weeks ago we received word that a landowner in Spring Hill wants to sell 11.57 acres just north of the historic Cheairs home and directly adjacent to property saved by the American Battlefield Trust over a decade ago. Simply put, we must acquire this property. Not only was it once part of Rippa Villa, and only broken off and sold from the historic property in 1959, it is core battlefield.
Elements of Gen. Hiram B. Granbury’s Brigade moved across this land just before sunset on November 29, 1864 and encountered Federal resistance. Granbury took a handful of casualties before he was pulled away from Columbia Pike because the balance of Gen. Pat Cleburne’s Division, to which Granbury belonged, had become engaged. That night, Confederate troops encamped southeast and east of Spring Hill as the Federal troops slipped to the north.
Granbury, as well as many of his Texas troops, died the next day at Franklin. How sadly ironic.
We will need to close on this parcel at some point in 2025. The asking price is $200,000. Please review the two Spring Hill maps which show this parcel and its connectivity with the already preserved battlefield and Rippa Villa.
If there was ever a time when we truly needed your help – and we have asked a lot through the years – that time is now. Precious little ground, especially essential ground like these two tracts, remains available. Furthermore, there are few landowners left who want to sell simply to see the ground preserved.
We are asking for your assistance – and your generosity. Years from now, the people who walk these important battlefields, and visit Carnton, Carter House, and Rippa Villa, may not know how we saved this vital ground and these significant places. But they will know that essential pieces of our nation’s history were preserved. From there, they can learn and appreciate what the past means to them, and to those who follow them. That is what matters.
Please contact Laurie McPeak at 615-794-0903 or laurie@boft.org. If you would like to donate online please click the button below: