The Path to Battlefield Preservation in Franklin

By Sarah Falck, Historical Interpreter and Education Coordinator, BOFT

Originally published in The Dispatch Vol. 8 No. 1 Winter 2020 - read the rest of the issue here.

On July 2, 1893, Daniel E. Sickles made an appeal to the people of New York City to continue to preserve the Gettysburg battlefield. He urged, “The time has come when this battlefield should belong to the government of the United States. It should be made a national park, and placed in the charge of the War Department. . . The monuments erected here must be always guarded and preserved, and an act of Congress for this purpose, which I shall make it my personal duty to frame and advocate.” Two years later the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, which began in 1864 with a strong local effort to save key areas of the battlefield, transferred its land to the Federal government to establish the Gettysburg National Military Park.

In 1890, Chickamauga and Chattanooga became the first two National Battlefield Parks. At that time, the Civil War and its 1.35 million casualties were still fresh in the memories of many Americans. The Battle of Franklin was no exception. Veterans and civilians wrote memoirs, stories, and poems about its carnage and the soldiers’ bravery. However, contrary to many other major Civil War battles, the Battle of Franklin experienced no unified collective memory. Veterans recollected their experiences differently. Some ex-Confederates wrote through the lens of the Lost Cause, romanticizing “the valor and heroic courage” of the Army of Tennessee. The Lost Cause myth provided Confederates an opportunity to view their losses and defeat as part of a noble ideal amid the post-bellum social and political upheaval. U.S. veterans were guilty of battle glamorization too – and not just about their comrades. Sgt. John A Gillis penned in 1865, “The rebels never fought better.” Still others were concerned more with the logistics, details, or the battle’s atrocities.

In addition to the lack of a united remembrance, little cooperative support existed to preserve Franklin’s battlefield, even though veterans themselves, along with private citizens, agreed on its importance. Before legislative effort was made, some called for soldier reunions and battlefield tours. The Confederate Veteran, edited by Franklin veteran S.A. Cunningham, proposed gatherings to mark the 42nd and 43rd anniversaries. J.K. Merrifield from the 88th Illinois stated, “. . .and the different States should erect monuments there, as they have at Vicksburg, Chickamauga, and Gettysburg. This battle of Franklin was the turning point of the war in the Western armies.” While a few local chapters of national veterans' organizations did discuss the merit and the possibility of saving the battlefield, little came to fruition.

It took nearly ten years after the inception of the first National Battlefield Parks for a bill to be introduced in the U.S. Congress concerning Franklin. By this time, the “golden age” of battlefield preservation had already passed. The booming economy of the 1900s rapidly consumed battlefields. As Tennessee historian Dr. Timothy Smith wrote, “Because most Civil War battles were fought around towns where transportation routes crossed, that coming expansion in the early 1900s would forever destroy the historic fields. Likewise, the era before the social expansion of the 1900s was a time when the land on which battles had been fought could still be purchased at a reasonable cost.”

Several bills were eventually submitted to the U.S. House to fund a national park. In 1900, former Army of Tennessee soldier, Nicholas N. Cox, introduced House Resolution 9657, which proposed the purchase of approximately 150 acres of battlefield at a cost of $100,000. H.R. 9657 died at the hands of the Committee of Military Affairs. After Cox left the House, another Representative, Lemuel Padgett, continued his efforts and introduced a total of ten bills dedicated to establishing a Franklin National Military Park. Most of Padgett’s proposals differed little from Cox’s except for the 1914 and 1915 bills. They also provided provisions for an arch to span across Columbia Pike near Winstead Hill. The arch would cost $30,000 but the citizens of Franklin wanted to donate the land at their own expense. Neither bill made it to the floor for a vote.

During this time Tennie Pinkerton Dozier emerged as one of the leading campaigners for battlefield reclamation. As the chairwoman of the National Park Committee of the Franklin United Daughters of Confederate Veterans chapter, Dozier helped create mass organization for the first time. She wrote articles in the Confederate Veteran and corresponded with supporters all over the country. During the twentieth century, women were often the most outspoken champions for memorializing Civil War soldiers. Part of the thinking behind their prominence was so that Northerners “would perceive their work as less politically motivated and threatening.” Dozier did advocate for the recognition of both Federals and Confederates, but the U.D.C. clearly sponsored a decidedly Confederate memory of the battle.

More bills were introduced in the 1920s, and finally one last proposal in 1939. Even with support from prominent individuals such as U.S. Lt. Gen. John M. Schofield, most of the bills were not considered for a vote. House Resolution 10771 progressed the furthest in the legislative process. In January of 1925, it was reported back to the House after working its way through the Committee on Military Affairs. However, the Representatives took no action on the bill, effectively killing it.

Bad timing and unforeseen world events compounded the failures. Congress realized, after the first five National Military Parks were created, that parks were expensive and the nation had more pressing issues: such as tariffs, economic downturns, and the eventual outbreaks of World War I and World War II. Just a few months after the introduction of the 1939 bill, Germany invaded Poland. James B. Frazier, a Senator from Tennessee, wrote, “. . .but regret to say that this administration is trying to make a show for the economy, at this time the prospects are not as bright as I would like to see them.” Dozier agreed with Frazier’s assessment. She stated, “At one time we desired to have included in this park a greater portion of the battlefield. We shall be happy now to have that portion on the left of the Columbia Pike which was the old cotton gin and, that part of the Federal breastworks. . .” When national park status could not be achieved, some Franklin residents sought reclamation on the city and state levels. Tennessee never created a state park, but parts of the battlefield are city parks today.

Saving Franklin’s battlefield was, and still is, a piecemeal operation amidst constant development. Portions of Winstead Hill and Fort Granger were saved in the 1900s, but most battlefield preservation did not happen until the 21st century. In the early 2000s Franklin experienced a renewed collective energy to remember what happened on November 30, 1864 and several organizations and individuals have since saved some of the original 150 acres proposed in 1900. Considerable progress has been made in recent years, and current efforts continue to bring more battlefield under protection.