Artillery Placed on the Franklin Battlefield

By Gregory L. Wade · Originally published January 2018 · p. 28

FRANKLIN, Tenn.—Three replica artillery pieces were dedicated on the Franklin Battlefield over the Veterans Day weekend after the local preservation group, Franklin’s Charge (FC) raised about $60,000 to place the guns. The 3-inch Ordnance rifles represent part of the four piece First Kentucky (Federal) battery that stood at the center of the Nov. 30, 1864, fighting east of the Carter House. Since 2005, FC has led the effort to reclaim over 140 acres of Franklin’s battlefield, raising funds with assistance from various national and state organizations. Placing the artillery was one of the organization’s biggest efforts at interpreting the acreage

Battle of Franklin Trust CEO Eric Jacobson addresses the ground. (All photos by Gregory L. Wade) saved. Cullen Smith, who chaired the FC committee to obtain the pieces noted, “We hope to get the fourth gun soon and are now seeking additional funds.” The group is also working to obtain about $50,000 for two 12-pounder Napoleons to mark the 6th Ohio Battery that stood in front of the Carter cotton gin a few yards east of the Kentuckians. “We will be receiving one of the Napoleons about the time of the battle’s 153rd anniversary,” Smith said. The three Ordnance rifles were delivered in September by Historical Ordnance Works of Woodstock, Ga. Smith said the Veteran’s Day weekend seemed to be an “appropriate time for the actual ceremony.” At the event period music was provided by the Old Town Brass Band of Birmingham. Battle of Franklin Trust Chief Executive Officer Eric Jacobson recalled once standing at the same spot only to see a strip mall and pizza restaurants. “We are dedicating something even bigger than these guns,” Jacobson said, “We are reclaiming ground.” At one point in the battle, the Ohioans lost their guns to charging Confederates in fierce fighting only to take them back in a countercharge. The First Kentucky was among the last batteries pulled off the field around midnight to head north to Nashville. Gary Chandler, past president of the Houston Civil War Round Table visited Franklin for the ceremony with his sister and brother in law, Mary Ann and Howard Balthser, to see where their ancestor, Henry Hershner of the 100th Ohio Vol. Inf., fought. Jacobson noted they would have been in support, “just a few yards behind the First Kentucky’s guns. “It is quite a day to be here for this artillery dedication and see where Henry saw action on that terrible day,” Chandler said. He added, “It is also something to see where [General Patrick] Cleburne and the Texans of my adopted home state charged.” Tennessee Wars Commission (TWC) Director, Tim Hyder, spoke of the importance of “having something tangible” to better understand the carnage of that awful time. The TWC is a state agency charged with preserving and interpreting sites related to Tennessee’s military history from the French and Indian Wars thru the Civil War. Remarks were also made by Franklin Mayor Ken Moore and Tennessee State Historian Carroll Van West. “Our history matters making us stronger as a nation by knowing our past,” said West who has worked with Franklin’s Charge over the years in interpreting the reclaimed battlefield. Introduced at the ceremony was Helen Spivey, the owner of another part of the battleground just south of the Carter House that Franklin’s Charge has contracted to add to the Carter Hill park acreage at a cost of about $1.5 million. Jacobson said now is the time for the public to be aware of this newest acquisition effort. “We need help, large or small donations, to continue reclaiming this important part of our history,” he said. For more information and to contribute to the ongoing efforts to preserve the Battle of Franklin ground visit the website: www. franklinscharge.org