Wandering America
November 2008
| Parthenon It was one of those overcast dreary November Fridays with Judy and I having nothing special to do so we decided to catch a flight to Athens, Greece and visit the Parthenon. No, not really. Actually, it was just a drive across town to Nashville's Centennial Park, which is just west of downtown.  In 1896 plans were being developed to celebrate Tennessee's one hundredth year of statehood. Being that Nashville was the capitol of Tennessee, it was decided that the celebration would be held there with the West Side Park being selected as the location. Nashville at the time was known as the "Athens of the South" which influenced a decision to erect a number of structures based on ancient Greece architecture. One of the edifices was a full-scale replica of the Parthenon which became the center piece of the celebration. Originally built of plaster, wood, and brick, it was the only structure at the Exposition based on ancient originals, was the only one to have been conceived as an exact reproduction, and is the only one to have been preserved. In 1921 reconstruction began on a more permanent monument which took ten years to complete and is, today, a better representation of what the Athenians would have seen in their time than the ruins in Athens.  The original Parthenon, which was built in 490 B.C., stands in ruins on the Acropolis which is a hill located in Athens, Greece ("acro" means high, and "polis" means city). It was the temple to the Greek goddess Athena. The Nashville Parthenon (as well as the original) measures 111 feet wide by 228 feet long and 65 feet high with 46 columns surrounding it. The bronze doors leading into the Parthenon are the heaviest and largest set of matching bronze doors of it's kind in the world. A statue of Athena Parthenos, which means young maiden and known as the Goddess of Wisdom was reconstructed inside the Parthenon in 1990 and is based on the carefully studied standards. She carries a shield on her left arm, a small statue of Nike (known as the Goddess of Victory) stands in her right hand, and her breastplate, bracelets and belt have eleven snakes represented with a colossal serpent rearing its head between her and her shield. Athena stands 41' 10" high and is gilt with more than eight pounds of gold leaf while Nike is 6'4" tall.    The Parthenon and Athena are works of art, to say the least, and are well worth a visit if you find yourself in Nashville, Tennessee - the Athens of the South. Gray Line Civil War Tour of Franklin The bus picked us up right at the front doors of the Nashville KOA office just before 9 AM. From there we preceded to pick up three other couples which made it a nice little tour with the eight of us and Stephen our driver. Being that the last couple we picked up was at a hotel on the west side of Nashville; Stephen did a drive by of Fort Negley. Fort Negley Nashville was captured in 1862 by Union troops who developed it into one of the most fortified cities in North America. A series of forts ringed the city with the largest and southern most being Fort Negley (named for General James S. Negley who was the commander of the Federal forces in Nashville).  The fort was complex with many of its features being based on European forts. It was 600 feet long, 300 feet wide and covers four acres of land. The east and west parapets were star-shaped with the redans allowing crossfire against any attackers. It was anticipated that any attack would most likely come from the south so there were two massive bombproof bastions equipped with guns that could be aimed in several directions. The stone foundation was covered in dirt with grass growing on the earthworks; this would both absorb any concussion of incoming artillery and prevent erosion. Shots may have been fired from the fort during the Battle of Nashville on December 15-16, 1864 but the fort itself was never directly attacked. The Carter House From Fort Negley we headed south on I-65 for Franklin, Tennessee which is located about 45 minutes from Nashville. While in route Stephen showed us a movie which helped set the back drop for the battle that took place on the Carter Farm on November 30th, 1864. Now, a little history of the battle. After Sherman captured Atlanta Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced General Joseph E. Johnston with General John Bell Hood. Hood was a West Point graduate whose injuries during the war left him with no use of his left arm and an amputated right leg. He formulated his "Tennessee Campaign of 1864" with the main objective to retake Nashville in hopes of detracting Sherman from his infamous "March to the Sea". Hood led the Army of Tennessee up through Georgia, Alabama, crossed the Tennessee River, and entered Tennessee but it did not detract Sherman from Marching onto Savanna. The immediate goal of the Confederate invasion of Tennessee was to overtake and cut off Schofield's 20,000 Federal troops before they could reinforce Thomas' Nashville garrison, then numbering about 19,000. General Schofield and his Union army was trying to get back to Nashville but somehow had to get past the Confederate Army being lead by General Hood. During the night hours of November 29th General Schofield sneaked his men past the Confederate camp at Spring Hill, Tennessee. The next morning when General Hood learned of Schofield's success he was less than happy, to say the least. He used some rather un-Christian language to admonish his subordinates. At dawn on November 30th, 1964 Hood's troops march north from Spring Hill, Tennessee in pursuit of the fleeing Federal forces. Schofield's troops had to hold up in Franklin waiting for a bridge to be completed to take them across the Cumberland River. In the early morning hours the Federal Army commandeered the Carter family home as its headquarters which became the epicenter of the battle. Fountain Branch Carter owned 288 acres of land on the southern edge of Franklin, Tennessee where he built his family farm in 1830 with its primary corp being cotton. The Carter farm had its own cotton gin as well which produced income for the family farm by providing services to neighboring farms. Their cotton gin was located 100 yards from the house which was where the main line of Federal breastworks were constructed. The Federal line commander supervised his army in a defensive position surrounding the southern edge of town. He used the existing breastworks built in 1863 and constructed others on the west side of Columbia Pike. 
 About 60 feet from the Carter House, near their farm office and smokehouse, were the inner breastworks. The Farm Office is recognized as being the most battle-scarred building left standing from the "War Between The States". The structure is riddled with bullet holes from the Battle of Franklin as you can see from the picture below.   Around noon time on November 30th the Confederate Army arrived just south of Franklin and by mid afternoon General Hood had finalized his plans for a frontal attack. Even though his line commanders had warned against such a move Hood would not be dissuaded. The battle began at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and lasted until around 9 P.M. making this one of the few Civil War Battles fought at night. "The fighting soon became brutal and fiendishly savage, with men bayoneted and clubbed to death in the Carter yard. A Confederate soldier was bayoneted on the front steps of the Carter House. Men were clubbing, clawing, punching, stabbing and choking each other. The smoke from the cannons and guns was so thick that you could not tell friend from foe. The Battle at Franklin has been called one of the bloodiest five hours of the American Civil War." (Taken from The Carter House 1864 website) All the while the battle raged on the Carter family held up in the basement of the house along with a few of their neighbors; twenty-three men, women, and children in all.  Fountain Branch Carter was 67 years old and a widower at the time of the battle. Three of his sons fought in the Civil War with his youngest son, Tod, fighting in this very battle. He was serving as an aid for General Smith when he saw his home he cried out, "Follow me boys, I'm almost home". The next morning the family found Tod laying face down in an apple orchid; he was severely wounded but still alive. They moved him into his old bedroom, the same room in which he was born, where he regained consciousness a couple of time before dying from his wounds two days later.  The bridge was completed and around midnight the Federal Army pulled out retreating to Nashville. For the next couple of days The Carter home, along with many other Franklin homes, was converted into a field hospital. Monell's After having a guided tour of the the Carter House we boarded our bus and headed for downtown Franklin for lunch. Monell's is a "family style" restaurant serving great southern food in a historic building (the old Franklin Jail House). The meal started with salads/appetizers; a cucumber salad, coleslaw, corn bread, biscuits (with yummy peach preserves) and corn bread pudding. Our main dishes consisted of southern fried chicken, fried catfish, and a spinach lasagna with mashed 'taters, green beans, hush puppies, turnip greens, and white beans. Desert was a chocolate eclair pudding. Family style means that the dishes were placed on the table and every thing was passed around just like at home. We had a large family with twenty of us at a table. It was fun and it was delicious. Needless to say we were stuffed.  The Lotz House In 1855, German immigrant Johann Albert Lotz, purchased 5 acres of land from Fountain Branch Carter. Three years later in 1858, after doing most of the work himself, Lotz completed his home. By trade, Mr. Lotz was a master carpenter and a piano maker. He also repaired guitars and violins. His home, served as his show place to demonstrate his carpentry skills to potential clients interested in hiring his services. There are three fireplace mantles ranging from simple to very complex designs that displayed his talents. In addition, the home has an impressive solid black walnut wrap around the stair hand rail that starts on the ground floor and wraps all the way around and up to the second floor. Furthermore, the newel post at the bottom of the staircase is actually an inverted leg from one of Mr. Lotz pianos. The outside of the home also stands a testament to Mr. Lotz abilities. All the hand carved acorn arches and exterior millwork were all constructed by Mr. Lotz.  The house sits kitty corner across the street from the Carter House and was, also, at the epicenter of the Battle of Franklin. There are still several battle scars to the house one of which is the charred rounded indention in the wood flooring where a cannonball flew through the roof, a second story bedroom and landed on the first floor. Being that his house was a wood framed home, Mr. Lotz along with his wife and three children joined the Carters in the basement of their home during the battle. After the battle Mr. Lotz attempted (with no success) to obtain reparation from the Federal Government for the repairs to his home and his property. His fences and a barn had been dismantled and used in the construction of the breastworks around the southern edge of town. Today the home is a Civil War Museum displaying furniture and many other fine antique pieces from that period in each of its rooms. Photographs were not allowed inside the house. The Carnton Carnton is another antebellum home that was built on 1400 acres by Randal McGavock in 1826. He named the property after his father's birth place in Ireland. During Randal's life time many influential people who were prominent in shaping both Tennessee and American history were received as guests at the Carnton, including President James K. Polk and President Andrew Jackson (President Abraham Lincoln would visit much later as you will see later in this section). Randal McGavock at one time raised over 250 pigs and his crops were wheat, corn, oats, hay, and potatoes. The McGavocks were also involved in raising and breeding thoroughbred horses.   Randal left his property to his sons James and John, but it was John who would ultimately take possession of the Carnton and continue to farm it until his death in 1893. John's wife was Carrie Winder McGavock on whom the novel Widow of the South by Robert Hicks was based. During the afternoon of November 30th, 1864 the residents of the Carnton witnessed the marching of the Confederate Army of Tennessee west of the property while making its way toward Franklin. Later that very evening they could hear the battle raging and see the smoke and fire. There were some 6000 Confederate soldiers wounded in the battle so on December 1st so many of the Franklin area homes were turned into field hospitals with the Carnton becoming by far the largest. There were estimates of some 300 soldiers being cared for inside the house while many more were being treated outside or in other buildings on the property. The master bedroom was turned into the "surgical ward" with the blood stains on the floor remaining to this day. Unfortunately, as with many homes on a tour circuit, interior pictures are not allowed. While we were visiting the Carnton there was reenactment going on and President Abraham Lincoln stopped by to witness first hand how things were progressing. It is to be noted that on December 1st, 1864 President Lincoln would have been nowhere near Franklin, Tennessee as the Federal Army had pulled out at midnight making its way to Nashville while leaving Franklin occupied by the Confederate Army. Furthermore, the real Lincoln never visited the Carnton but it was all entertaining none the less.  Well, as Paul Harvey would say, here's the rest of the story. The Battle of Franklin left some 1,750 Confederate soldiers dead. General Hood did not want his soldiers to be buried in mass graves so each soldier was identified before being buried in shallow graves on the battlefield with wooden markers identifying each of the graves. Over the next 18 months Carrie would diligently work to preserve those graves, however, the task was monumental. So in 1866 John McGavock donated two acres on the Carnton property that would become known as the McGavock Confederate Cemetery. Towns people raised money to have the bodies dug up and re-interned in the cemetery (1,481 in all) with Carrie taking great care to preserve the identity of each soldier. She continued to care for the cemetery until her death in 1905. Because of her shepherding of the fallen soldiers for a period of 41 years she became known as the Widow of the South.  We returned to KOA Nashville after 4 o'clock in the afternoon making this a long but very worth while day. Gray Line has some very nice tours and we can recommend them if you are ever staying over in the Nashville area. Meet the Fortners In Maine we have a saying about places that are well off the beaten trail - "You can't get there from here". Well that's how I sort of felt when we headed out for Tullahoma, Tennessee for Thanksgiving. We had been invited to share Thanksgiving dinner with our daughter Mary and her boy friend, Joel, and his family at his home in Tullahoma (we had never heard of the place, let alone know where it is). We headed out from home around 9:30 making our way south on Briley Parkway to I-24. It was about 70 miles down I-24 to our exit for Manchester. We were surprised at the amount of traffic at that time on Thanksgiving morning - and the truck traffic was unbelievable. Then it was about 16 miles of state highways to Joel's house in Tullahoma. Nagy Maggie (our GPS) got us right to our "destination on right". Joel has a really nice ranch style home (1600 to 1800 square feet) with a kitchen, formal dining room. living room, three bedrooms and two baths. His lot is backed up to a large field with beautiful views. He really enjoys entertaining and proved himself as a wonderful cook. For dinner we had turkey (well, duh) with sweet potato casserole (yummy), a terrific stuffing, (yum, yum, yum), one of the best cranberry dishes I ever tasted (hang on a minute, I got to wipe the drool off the keyboard), seasoned baked potatoes with really yummy gravy (Joel's dad did that - he hand picked the turkey neck and used the meat in the gravy), green bean casserole (supplied by Judy - yum, yum), bakery rolls, more of that stuffing, and another scoop of the cranberry relish. For dessert there were four different pies to choose from - apple pie (by Judy per request of Mary), pumpkin pie, pumpkin cream cheese pie, and a chocolate fudge pie (I think by Joel's mom). We were so full from dinner that we brought dessert home with us to have later (yum, yum). Oh yes, we mustn't forget the wine - it was called "Naked" so I suppose that after several glasses it would "make your clothes fall off". Now, I'm not a big turkey eater but the bird was very moist which made it exceptionally good. Yep, Joel is a great host and a wonderful cook; we'll have to make his house one of our first stops whenever we're in Tennessee. I need to give Mary some of the credit too being that she had a hand in all the preparation as well. 
 We enjoyed meeting Greg (Joel's dad), Dawn (his mom), and Chris (his brother). They are great folks and we look forward to seeing them again. Belle, Joel's dawg, tried to steal the show when she ate a whole box of chocolates when no one was looking. After a call to the vet, a few ounces of Hydrogen Peroxide, and some recycled chocolate Belle was feeling much better and we were all back on track for Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks Mary and Joel for inviting us; we really enjoyed the day - it was a Happy Thanksgiving, in deed. Home Again, Home Again We left Nashville on the Friday the 28th and arrived at our site in Rainbow Plantation on the 30th with a one night stop over in Montgomery, Alabama. It didn't take us long to get set-up and back into the swing of things. Norm and Linda Payne, in the spirit of "no cooking on travel days", prepared a wonderful meal for us as well as inviting several other couples over for dinner. Where do I start? I guess with the food - there were Norm's World Famous barbecued short ribs (and they were "oh so good"), ham with pineapple and a special sweet sauce (Yummy), coleslaw, potato salad, pasta salad, baked beans and a very nice red rose wine followed by cheese cake for desert. It was all "lip smacking good" - you could tell 'cause hardly anyone was talking; we were all too busy "digging in"! Don and Gloria Martin, Dave and Sharyl Tholen, and Al and Joyce Kinney were on hand to make up the welcoming committee. Thanks Norm and Linda for such a great reception and meal. It's nice to be back home and to see all of our friends once again, many of whom we hadn't seen since our departure waaaaaay back in March. |