Franklin, Tennessee Battlefield.

How's that for a teaser shot? Sweating and smiling like an idiot! The Franklin battlefield was my favorite part of our whole vacation. It's a little surprising to stumble across such a bloody battlefield in the middle of a suburban neighborhood but that's exactly what Franklin is. What it lacks in size it makes up for in quality and rich history. The park was very well kept, the museum was excellent, the gift shop had a great selection of books, and the tour was well worth the $15 charge. I took a lot of pictures and I'll post some of them here with some notes. Hopefully my commentary isn't too confusing!

At the heart of the battle was the Carter House, and it is now a monument to the grisly fire of the engagement.

Here is the front of the Carter house. The tour was through the house and then across the property, it focused a lot on the Carter family, and their actions during the battle. The house was used as a federal headquarters prior to the battle, and shielded the family during the conflict.

A few yards away from the house is the farm office (on the left) and the smoke house (on the right)

Note the damage to the farm office. It is widely considered the most battle damaged Civil War structure still standing.

A close up of the damage.

Here is a shot of the scarring to the smoke house.

A shot of the farm office and smoke house from the steps of the Carter house back porch.

The back of the Carter house on the right, slave quarters on the left.

Bullet holes in the Carter house on the back porch.

Gun marking a federal battery.

Another gun placed next to the smoke house.

The view along the second line of Union fortifications. Standing by the artillery positions next to the smoke house, facing northwest down the federal position.

Standing behind the second line, the straw bales mark the main line.

Further northwest down the line, facing west.

The beautiful wife, braving the heat for her overly excited husband.

Plaque for the 183rd Ohio, facing the confederate approach.

 North of the Carter house, from this position Opdycke's Brigade counter charged the rebels as they broke through the Union line and stemmed the breakthrough.

From the front of the Carter house facing south. A well known pizza chain, sitting on the site of some of the bloodiest fighting of the battle, the cotton gin.

There are a few preservation groups working to acquire this property and rebuild the cotton gin and restore the ground to it's historic condition before the 140th anniversary of the battle.

Plaque commemorating the struggle for the landmark.

Cleburne park, commemorating the place where General Cleburne was killed.

Plaque marking the confederate approach to the federal left.

Another shot.

One of the sad stories of the battle is that of Todd Carter, who after 3 years at war returned home with the 20th Tennessee and was killed a few hundred yards from the house he was born in, he died there a few days later.

Nashville National Cemetery

Our first day in Nashville we got a little bit turned around and accidentally found the Nashville national cemetery.

The first soldier was buried there in 1864 and it was established as a U.S military cemetery in 1867. There are over 33,000 interments from all wars, of which over 12,000 are Union soldiers from the Civil War.

There are over 4,000 unknown soldiers buried there.

While I wish I could share every soldiers grave and give them the honor that they deserve, I'm unable to so I've noted a few of them here. You can see all of their names on the cemetery's website.

Augustus Reif, Corporal Co D 50th Ohio Infantry, died December 13, 1863.

Tillman Ford, Private Co C 1st Tennessee Artillery, died March 3, 1864.

Marson Mack, Private Co L 8th Tennessee Cavalry, died February 8, 1864.

Noah Holloway, Private Co I 10th Tennessee Cavalry, died April 7, 1864.

S. B. Adams, Lieutenant, TN, died February 2, 1864.

Thomas Nolan, Private Co I 103rd Illinois Infantry, died April 9, 1864

Edward Reynolds, Private, KY, died August 15, 1864.

Harrison Summers, Private, KY, died July 12, 1864.

This statute in the cemetery was dedicated in 2003 to all of the soldiers of the U.S Colored troops, of which almost 2,000 are buried there.

Lee Humphrey, Private U.S.C.T., died June 16, 1864.

Reuben Thornton, Private Co I 12th U.S Colored Troop, died February 14, 1899.

146th New York work-in-process 2

I apologize for the lack of posts as of late. The summer has been busy and we just got back from vacation in Tennessee (pictures of the Nashville National Military cemetery, Franklin battlefield, McGavock Confederate cemetery, Stones River battlefield, and Stones River national cemetery will be posted soon!)

Over the past month or so I have managed to paint a humble group of 11 zouaves... I am hoping to finish the rest of them this month. 

If you ever get a chance to visit Franklin Tennessee I highly recommend taking it. The better half even loved it as the battlefield is not too much of a hike, and there are a lot of shops and restaurants to spend money... er to enjoy. But more on Franklin later...

Civil War Ancestry Research and The Official Records

I stayed home from work today with a pulled muscle in my neck, so I ended up reading a lot of 'The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies' and researching my ancestor; Pvt William Henry Stiner of Company E, 2nd Tennessee Mounted Infantry (US). You can learn more about him here. The Official Records are online here thanks to Cornell University. So far I've found 24 pages worth of records and correspondence regarding the 2nd Tennessee. I'm pretty sure my wife thinks I'm secretly writing a book.

Pvt William Henry Stiner

As noted in my first post about him, he was captured at the battle of Rogersville TN. Below are a few excerpts from his Regiment commanders report of the battle:

No. 2

Report of Major Daniel A. Carpenter, Second Tennessee (mounted) Infantry.

Knoxville, Tennessee,

September 14, 1864.

Sir: Having but recently been released from a rebel prison, I have the honor to embrace the earliest opportunity to submit the following report of the affair which fled to the capture of a large part of the Second East Tennessee Mounted Infantry on the 6th of November last: ...

...By this time Colonel Garrard arrived; he had lost his hat and was, seemingly, very much excited. He stated the rebels were coming from Rogersville, and ordered me to move with my regiment in that direction, to the edge of the Woods, and advance two companies as skirmishers. Colonel Garrard accompanied me, pointing out the position he wished my regiment to occupy. He requested me to tie my horses and put as many men in the fight as I could; that we would not try to escape, but whip the rebels if possible; ordering me to hold the position assigned me at all hazards until further orders from him. I ordered Captain Cariis to move forward with companies C, G, and B as skirmishers. He did so, and soon met the enemy and commenced a brisk skirmish, driving them back some 300 yards. I then ordered Captain Cams to return to me.

At or near this time the rebels charged and captured the two guns east of Creek near the house of Mr. Russell. They then moved toward our camp. The Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry was formed near the camp and supporting the two guns yet remaining in our possession. Colonel Garrard sent me orders to send three companies to support the two guns. I started three companies under command of Captain Cams; when he got in sight of the point ordered to, he discovered the rebels had taken the guns. They (the rebels) raised the yell and commenced advancing from every direction on my position. I sent an orderly to inform Colonel Garrard if he did not assist me I would soon be completely surrounded. By this time Captain Cams returned; he had been cut off from me by the rebels, and very nearly the whole of the three companies captured. Captain Cams informed me that Colonel Garrard and the whole of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry had left the field, and were across the Holston River...

...When the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry left the field they, the two companies and 50 detailed men, were compelled to fall back to my position. A number of them were captured in returning. At this time I did not have more than 200 men who had ammunition, and was completely surrounded by at least 4,000 rebels, who were within 75 yards of us, demanding a surrender. They had already possession of my horses, and were killing and wounding my men at a fearful rate. I summoned the officers of my regiment and consulted with them as to what measures best to adopt. All instantly agreed that a surrender was the only thing possible, so I at once surrendered myself and command. William Russell, of Company A, was shot and killed after we had grounded arms.

The officers and men of Captain Phillips (Second Illinois) battery discharged their duty nobly.

We were marched the whole of the night following our capture. During that night a number of the men effected their escape...

Mounted British Waterloo Colonel from Victrix

Here's my first foray into Napoleonics. Not sure if this will ever turn into a full blown project but I'd like to paint a few just for fun because the uniforms are so interesting and colorful. I used the picture from their website as a guide so I hope it's close to being accurate.

This is the first Victrix miniature I've painted, and I was really happy with it. It is from the VXP0002 'Mounted British Waterloo Colonels & Foot Pioneer' blister. All of the figures were well cast and clean of almost all flash.

This one is a little bit blurry. Maybe one day I'll get the whole photographing miniatures thing down. This miniature isn't this shiny, it's just the flash.

Thanks for looking!

"Bullet Pens"

Just wanted to show off two AMAZING pens that my friends Dad made for me. He made them by hand and let me say that the pictures do not do them justice. The top one is a 50 cal pen, and the bottom is a Civil War bullet pen. You can see more of them here. (Pen posts are labelled "pens")

Here it is compared to an actual 50 cal bullet.



I think the next few pictures came out best. (Except for the glare from the flash)