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, the Battle of Franklin Trust (BoFT) began managing Rippa Villa in mid-2021, and the City of Spring Hill recently renewed our contract through 2037. In 2023 we received word that a landowner in Spring Hill wanted 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. This property was once part of the Cheairs family farm and is a core piece of the 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.
On August 19, 2025, the BoFT signed a contract to purchase the land for preservation. The acquisition of the Smith Tract, associated with the Spring Hill Battlefield, is being supported in part by the Civil War Sites Preservation Fund, administered by the Tennessee Wars Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission, Department of Environment and Conservation. We are also grateful to our friends at the American Battlefield Protection Program and to all our individual donors who have contributed to this project.
But we are not done. The property will require cleanup and maintenance this fall, and we are writing a number of historical markers for this site and other Spring Hill battlefield locations, as well as for the battlefield in Franklin. Also, there are three other battlefield sites in Spring Hill and Franklin that are on the horizon and might be purchased in the future.
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: