Battle Of Franklin, Tenn. 152nd Anniversary Observance
By Gregory L. Wade · Originally published February 2017 · p. 28
FRANKLIN, TENN.—The Nov. 30, 1864 Battle of Franklin was remembered at the annual observance with the names of casualties read about the time the actual fighting began. Hosted by the Battle of Franklin Trust, the names of soldiers from both sides were broadcast spoken over a sound system in the yard of the Carter House and east across the Franklin Pike near the Carter family cotton gin site. Battle of Franklin Trust CEO Eric Jacobson reads names of casualties. He is standing in front of a the Carter Farm house kitchen which still bears scars from the battle. Candles were placed along the Federal trench line path of the Federal trenches on the newly interpreted and preserved Carter Hill portion of the battlefield. Battlefield. Luminaries were also placed along the trenches site where a frame structure is in the actual process of being moved. This structure, along with an old florist shop next door, are part of the battlefield reclamation process adjacent to some of the Carter farm outbuildings, generally considered the site of the battle’s most chaotic fighting. About a dozen reenactors marched north from Winstead Hill where Confederates under Gen. John B. Hood stepped off on their two mile attack toward the Carter House. The Battle of Franklin is considered one of the most intense of the Civil War engagements for the approximately five hours it raged. About 20,000 Confederate infantry attacked the Federals under General John Schofield resulting in the crippling of the Army of Tennessee. About 6,500 Confederates were killed, wounded or captured along with 2,500 Federals. The armies would fight again a few weeks later at Nashville resulting in the effective end of the Civil War in the Western Theater.
