Music City and More

I'd love to have this shirt!

Everyone goes to Nashville for the country music, right? Everyone except Civil War geeks like us. Although we didn't see a lot of the music sights in Nashville I made sure I got to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I don't consider myself to be a hardcore country fan so I was surprised by how many songs  and performers were some of my favorites. And the costumes on display were great fun to view: Hank Williams' dapper suit with musical notes appliquéd on the jacket, performers' suits and dresses dripping with rhinestones. My favorite didn't have rhinestones but it was covered with crazy farmer embroidery. In the middle of all that glitz  Russ' favorite country singer, George Strait, stood out for what I call real country style: crisp western shirt, Wrangler jeans, and classic cowboy hat and boots.

Country Cool George Strait

Despite all the country music attractions our main reason for coming to the Nashville area was to continue visiting Civil War sites. Franklin, Tennessee was one of those places but it was very different than the other spots we'd visited. Franklin is a charming town with a quaint central area filled with upscale shops. It reminded me of Fredericksburg without the Texas vibe. Franklin's marketing slogan says "Even the biscuits in Franklin have a story" so I was disappointed when  I was told that there really wasn't a story about the biscuits--it was just a marketing tagline. 

The Battle of Franklin was a race to Nashville to control supply lines. After series a of cat and mouse moves north, the Union Army--six miles of men, wagons, and artillery pieces!-- slipped by Confederates during the night, passing by so close that they could see Confederate campfires and Confederates, who were under orders not to engage,  were kept awake by the noise. As our tour guide pointed out, the residents of Franklin and the surrounding area woke up the next morning to a completely changed world as the battle began.

Unlike other battle sites we've visited, there is no national or state park at Franklin or any vast "battlefield" set aside. Instead there is a private trust that has preserved a few key sites connected to the battle. In some ways, that brings the battle to a more personal level, taking it from thousands of men across many acres to a particular house and a particular family.

Luckily the Carter House and its history have been preserved

The epicenter of the Battle of Franklin was the Carter House and the fields around it. The battle was literally fought in the yard of the house while the family huddled in the cellar. We saw bullet and shell holes that remain in  the walls of the house and the outbuildings to this day. The nearby cotton gin where much of the fighting took place is  now a Domino's Pizza but after many years of effort, the trust has purchased the land plan to rebuild the gin. It was a jolt to hear that at one point the Carter House was scheduled to be torn down for the construction of a gas station. Luckily the trust was able to purchase the land and save the house.

Bullet holes from the battle still scar the walls

We've heard a lot of grim stories and statistics during our Civil War trek but the Carter House is the site of  one of the most tragic. The Carter family had three sons, all of whom were soldiers in the Confederate Army. The oldest, Moscow, had been captured and paroled on the condition that he wouldn't fight against the Union again. He was at the Carter House during the battle and honored his word even when his former unit was engaged in the battle raging just outside his door. Meanwhile, the youngest Carter son, Tod, was in the Confederate troops in the battle. After telling his troops to follow him and he would lead them home, Tod was mortally wounded within 200 yards of his family home. The third Carter son survived the war but left Tennessee and lived in California for the remainder of his life. One family, three sons, all their lives changed forever by the war.

 

Standing on the porch at Carnton Plantation

A few miles away stands Carnton Plantation, another of the sites protected by the trust. It's a beautiful house built in the 1820s that served as field hospital for the Confederates during the Battle of Franklin. When the battle began, the Carnton family was told that their house was needed as a hospital but before they even had time to prepare, casualties began to pour in. 

Porch at Carnton where generals were laid

The battle had a terribly high human cost--at one time the bodies of four Confederate generals were lying on the porch at Carnton. Life didn't return to normal even after the battle--some soldiers were there as long as seven months later. There was no cemetery for the Confederate soldiers after the battle so the Carnton family donated land adjoining their family cemetery for a Confederate cemetery which is still there today. Unlike almost any other cemetery of the time, the Carnton family cemetery includes the gravesites of their slaves. Although the house is beautifully restored today, over the years it was in disrepair and even had chickens inside it at one point. 

The Confederate Cemetery was created and maintained by the Carnton family. It  adjoins their family plots.

Confederates here had to get past  Union artillery in the tree line 

Our next stop was Murfreesboro and the Stones River Battlefield. Part of the reason for the Stones River Battle was the control of Nashville and the need for a Union Victory to offset defeats in other areas. Out of a 4,000 acre battlefield only a small area is part of the Military Park; the vast majority of what was the battlefield is developed. 

Firing demonstration at Stones River

Through research, I found that three of my great-great-great grandfather's older brothers not only fought at Stones River but all three were wounded during the battle there. Russ and I were dismayed to learn that developers of battlefield land outside the park are not required to follow any special kind of excavation process to protect artifacts so whatever history might be there is simply destroyed. In fact, the hill where my ancestors were wounded and where one of the  deadliest battles took place is now part of a housing subdivision. Another field where they fought is on the site of a hospital parking lot. What a drastic contrast to the attitude of the National Park Service that the battlefields are hallowed and sacred ground.

Me with  World's Largest Cedar Bucket

After the intensity of the Stones River Battlefield, I was looking forward to one of my must-see items for the trip:  The World's Largest Cedar Bucket which happens to be in Murfreesboro. While driving across three states I've been anticipating having my photo taken with a gargantuan bucket similar to the gigantic boot at the LL Bean store in Freeport, Maine. Finally the day arrived. Somehow in all my anticipation I'd overlooked the fact that the bucket is just about exactly the same height as Russ (six feet) so standing by the bucket wouldn't be standing by something extraordinarily tall as I'd imagined. Needless to say, when I actually saw the bucket it was not the giant I had expected. I also hadn't expected that since it had been the victim of arson several years ago--who would expend the effort to burn a big bucket and why?--it's now behind a protective fence so I couldn't even really stand by it. But after so much buildup I couldn't resist having my photo taken with it anyway.

There was one more battlefield on our list before we left Tennessee--Chickamauga south of Chattanooga. Chickamauga was America's  first National Military Park and is its largest. Like most of the battles, it was fought for control of a strategic resource, in this case for control of Chattanooga's roads and railroads.

 

We managed to find this marker even in the woods

Our standard MO for visiting Civil War battlegrounds is intense. We spend hours exploring the battlefields--walking trails, locating markers, listening to ranger talks, trying to get a real sense of the strategy and unfolding of the battles. Usually we're right in sync on how we go about it but at Chickamauga  Russ had a mutiny on his hands. Like at earlier battlefields, one of the things we wanted to do was locate troop markers showing where my ancestors' units were during the battle. At some battlefields, that might be as simple as following the map to the side of a trail but Chickamauga is heavily wooded and doesn't have many open fields. The volunteer in the Visitors Center had urged me not to search for them since he thought the markers were deep in the woods but just like in a scary movie where people ignore the warning signs we plunged ahead anyway.

Russ searching for that final missing marker

Right off the bat we found several of the markers we were searching for next to the road that winds through  the park. I was satisfied with those but Russ is always up for a greater challenge so he wanted to find the final one. We ended up on a hardly-identifiable trail, moving farther and farther into the woods. I was hot. I was sweaty. I was getting a necklace of mosquito bites on my neck. Consequently, I got cranky. Russ reluctantly agreed to head back to the car. Five minutes later we were back in the air conditioned, mosquito-free visitors center looking at a detailed map that showed we had been within a few yards of that final marker  but by that time I was done so we missed that one thanks to me.

   

The same rugged terrain that stymied us had made it hard for officers to keep track of where the troops were and what was actually happening during the battle. As a result, Union generals in particular made serious mistakes in strategy that affected the outcome of the battle and resulted in a Confederate victory. As always, when I stand on the quiet fields where the battles took place it's almost impossible to imagine the chaos and destruction during the fight.

Russ by artillery on Lookout Mountain, site of the Battle Above the Clouds

We also visited the military park at nearby Lookout Mountain where the Confederate Army  placed their artillery after the battle. From that high ground they had an excellent overlook of all the roads and the river snaking through the lowland. Standing high above Chattanooga on the crest of the mountain it's easy to see why the battle where Union forces drove the Confederates off the mountain is called the "Battle Above the Clouds."  Today the road winding up to the top of Lookout Mountain is lined with homes and the rock outcroppings are surrounded by undergrowth but photos from that time period shows soldiers and tourists perched on ledges above sheer drop-offs.

Russ was happy he didn't have to eat this.

Eating-Our-Way-Through-The-South continued in Chattanooga. For a mixed couple--vegan and carnivore--eating out can be challenging. Sometimes we decide that instead of trying to find a compromise, we'll go to a restaurant that will only have food for one of us. In Chattanooga we chose a restaurant for me--Sluggo's North Vegetarian Cafe, which is a hardcore vegan spot. I was in heaven--so many choices!--but Russ was struggling. He finally settled on a (Tofu) BLT. After much deliberation I decided on breaded pecan-dusted seitan, collards, and mashed potatoes with vegan gravy. 

As much as I'm getting from learning about the Civil War I'm looking forward to a complete change of pace when we cross into Kentucky. No history for a few weeks--just cars, baseball, and whatever else pops up in front of us.

More Photos

Natural trenches formed by the rocks here at Stones River made escape difficult for the soldiers

It's hard to imagine the destruction at fields like these during the Civil War.

Farther Along the Road

Green Acres RV Resort in Savannah, Tennessee

With our friends the Frisbees and the Heibs at Green Acres

In a few weeks we're off to Kentucky for cars, baseball, and art but till then we're still focusing on the Civil War.  Our next stop was in Savannah, Tennessee where we stayed at  Green Acres RV Resort, owned by our friends Diane and Larry Frisbee.  After being on the road for a few weeks it was fun to see familiar faces when we pulled in at Green Acres. It was our first visit there and it was wonderful. The park grounds looked like a golf course, the sites were spacious, and the Frisbees made us feel like family. Everything an RVer dreams of.

The battle at Shiloh began here at Frayley's Field

A few miles from Green Acres we visited Shiloh, another of the Civil War battlefields on our list. Some people drive from one point of interest to another without ever getting out of their cars but we can't resist stopping to read the info boards and walking onto the actual battlefields. Shiloh is a large park in a rural area--acres of fields and forests that border the Tennessee River. Because of the terrain at Shiloh the two armies were virtually on top of each other. It's always eerie to stand on a battlefield, to see for instance, the view that Grant saw as he directed his troops or to get a sense from the markers for Union and Confederate troops of how close they were to one another. It was particularly sobering to stand on the battleground at Shiloh, where the ferocity of the battle shocked the nation and let both sides know that it was not going to be a short war.

Russ standing in the door of Shiloh Church, for which the battle was named

We were lucky to attend a Ranger Talk given by a park ranger named Timothy Arnold. Timothy, who had had been visiting the park since he was a child, really made the battle come alive with his knowledge and enthusiasm as he told us about the infamous Hornet's Nest. His passion for Civil War history goes beyond his ranger duty--he's been in several Civil War documentaries and even makes period-correct clothing for films. He gave me a whole new perspective when he told us that instead of being enemies, many veterans from both sides held joint reunions after the war to symbolize to the nation that  the most important lesson they learned was that the country was stronger and better when it was united.

I've really gotten into genealogy so one of the things we planned for this trip was to visit areas or battlefields where I knew my ancestors had been. I had ancestors on both sides of the Civil War and have confirmation that my Confederate relatives were in regiments at Shiloh, Stones River, and Chickamauga. One of our plans was to take photos at the battlefields of markers where their units where during the battle. We lucked out at Shiloh since the rangers were able to give us good directions and the markers were fairly accessible. In the photo at right I'm behind a marker for my ancestors' regiment during this part of the battle. They faced artillery in the tree line across the field.  

Shiloh was fought over control of these tracks

The real reason for the battle at Shiloh--and the real objective--was control of the railroads at Corinth, Mississippi, just a short distance south of Shiloh. The intersection of two railroads critical to the supply lines of the Confederacy was smack in the middle of the town of Corinth. Those lines are still in use today and surprisingly, there's no prohibition against going out and standing in the middle of the them for a photo op. Russ was just told to be sure I got off the track in time if a train came through. Although there is no battleground in Cornith, during the Civil War there were more troops gathered in one location there than there have been at any other place in the Northern Hemisphere.

Just down the road from Shiloh

Our Eating Our Way Through The South stop on this part of the trip was at the Catfish Hotel. Savannah and the surrounding area is billed as the Catfish Capital of the World. What better place for Russ to have catfish than one that's been serving up catfish since 1938? In fact, it's one of the oldest family-owned restaurants in America. The story goes that the family, who had settled along the Tennessee River in 1825 had famous catfish dinners at a shack on the river near their home. The dinners would last so late that people spend the night in the shack, which was dubbed the "Catfish Hotel". In 1938 when a prominent guest suggested that their catfish was so good they should start a restaurant, they decided to do just that, choosing the obvious name Catfish Hotel. According to Russ, the catfish was good but didn't beat the Catfish Parlor in Austin. I skipped the catfish of course but had a piece of Lemon Rub Pie. Who could resist it with a name like that?

Catfish, hushpuppies, and fried green tomatoes at the Catfish Hotel

Russ and Sheri's Believe it or Not From Savannah, TN:

• The woman cashier at the grocery in Savannah told me that "If I was doing any better, there would have to be two of me."
• Union troops stayed at the shack on the property of the owners of the Catfish Hotel before the battle at Shiloh.
• In Corinth parallel parking can apparently be done in either direction, making some of the streets look like a free-for-all as cars dart across in front of other cars to snag a parking spot on the opposite side of the street.

  

  Parallel parking can get very interesting in Corinth

Stormy Weather in More Ways Than One

When we left Vicksburg we headed straight towards bad weather. As Russ drove I checked various weather sites and radars to track the storm as it moved across Mississippi and Alabama. We were right on the lower edge of the storm when we stopped at the Alabama Welcome Center to let the storm get ahead of us. I was feeling pretty cocky when we got back on the road again since the weather front had moved away from us. Just a few hours and we'd be in our next stop, Jasper, Alabama. I planned to be all set up and relaxing at our new campground by early afternoon.

After a quick stop for fuel about twenty miles west of Tuscaloosa, we drove back onto I-20. Just as I was reading some fascinating fact from the Alabama Visitors book to Russ, the lights on the motorhome dash lit up like a pinball machine. Believe me, it's a sad sight to see an RV disabled on the shoulder of the road but we had no choice but to pull over.

Russ is meticulous in taking care of our vehicles so we weren't expecting any kind of mechanical problem. After some emergency troubleshooting he realized it involved broken belts for the water pump and radiator fan. To make a long painful story shorter--but no less painful--five hours after we pulled over the RV was towed to a repair shop. Of course it was Sunday--and nighttime by then--so no repairs were started until the next day. What do RVers do when their vehicle/home is in the shop? They do what we did: check into a nearby motel and hope for the best.

Power trucks waiting for the storm

Meanwhile, a huge storm was brewing that was coming right at us in Tuscaloosa on Monday. All day we alternated between fretting about what was happening with the RV and what was happening with the weather. Early Monday evening a caravan of power company trucks filled with guys from  other states pulled into the motel, ready to restore power after the storm. About 9:30 pm the tornado sirens went off and the weather alert on our phones started blaring. We gathered the essentials--wallets, phones, etc.--and stood by the bathroom in our raincoats, ready to dive into the tub in case the tornado hit. Listening to the street names on the Weather Channel we could hear that the tornado was close, so close that it touched down within a half-mile of us. Luckily it missed us, although the same storm system resulted in tornadoes in several of the areas we had just left.

I wish I could say we were so lucky on our RV repair story. It turned out to be a disaster. When we went to pick the RV up, not all the repairs had been made. Russ had to direct the fixes for repair work that had been done incorrectly or not done at all. Six long hours after we were supposed to be able to drive away in it we finally took off, only to have the dreaded "Check engine" light come on before we had even driven a mile. So back to the shop we went. After some pretty intense conversation with the shop owner and more repair work, Russ felt like we could drive safely to our next destination.

After the hassle of the morning and several hours of travel we were both tired and stressed. What a relief when we pulled into our next campground-- a beautiful Corps of Engineers park at the Corinth Recreation Area near tiny Double Springs, Alabama.  The park is absolutely breathtaking. Our site was surrounded by trees and was just a short walk from the lake. After the turmoil of the last few days, it was blissfully quiet and peaceful.

The view from one of the trails through the COE park where we stayed

Markers at  my great-great-great grandparents graves

We went to that part of Alabama so I could do some research into family members who lived there in the mid-1800s. So Russ spent a day fixing yet more things on the RV until he was satisfied everything was back in good working order while I searched through genealogy books at the town library. Always an optimist, I could imagine discovering letters or photos of my ancestors buried among all the materials there. Of course, I didn't find that but I did come up with a few helpful finds including a map of a  nearby cemetery where my great-great-great grandparents are buried.

Our time in Alabama definitely wasn't our best on the road but there were a few bright spots. I found a great needlework shop in Tuscaloosa, Serendipity Needle Works, where I bought some beautiful yarn. 

Brisket sandwich with all the trimmings

Continuing our Eating Our Way Across the South tour, Russ had some of what was voted "the best barbeque in Alabama" at a place called Jim N Nick's.  He even managed to find a deli serving vegan food for me at Manna Kitchen in Tuscaloosa. 

The day after we ate here 

On the other hand, maybe we should have taken it as a sign of things to come when the restaurant we ate at our first night in Tuscaloosa was not only closed but torn apart for remodeling the very next morning.

After everything that happened in Alabama, we were happy to cross the state line into Tennessee and start a new chapter on our trip.

More photos from our trip to Alabama

This is the only remaining building in Houston, Alabama, the community where Thomas Jackson York, my great-great grandfather was born in 1819. 

Winston--the county we were in--was so divided during the Civil War that there was a movement to secede from the state of Alabama and remain part of the Union, earning it the nickname "The Free State of Winston".  This half Union/half Confederate statue across from the courthouse symbolizes the dual loyalties among the county residents then.    

House completely covered in license plates we spotted on a back road.  It looks like a big piece of folk art to me.

The Key in the Pocket

Steamboat on the river at Vicksburg

As we drove across the Mississippi River from Louisiana into Vicksburg, I could practically hear "Old Man River" playing. Vicksburg was seen by President Lincoln as crucial to  winning the war through controlling the Mississippi--the key that he needed "in his pocket": Vicksburg  has a dramatic history from the Civil War to the ever-changing course of the Mississippi. Today it's a gracious city populated by some of the friendliest people I've ever met.

It's impossible to visit Vicksburg without running up against the Civil War. We quickly learned that General Grant's campaign to seize Vicksburg involved  a series of battles before the siege including clashes at  the cities of Grand Gulf and Port Gibson, both just south of Vicksburg.

Grand Gulf is a now-deserted spot that was once a booming port town on the Mississippi until the river  changed course, literally washing away 55 city blocks in a five year period.Now about the only thing left are a few trailers on stilts and a nice small state park showing the history of the area. 

At Port Gibson a Union victory gave Grant an entry point that led to the eventual fall of Vicksburg. Local legend has it that Grant said Port Gibson was too beautiful to burn.  One of the best-known landmarks in Port Gibson is the church topped by a gold hand pointing up into the sky. 

Another famous landmark near Port Gibson is the Windsor Ruins. Grant's army marched in front of the mansion on their way to Vicksburg. Ironically, the mansion survived the Civil War, only to burn as a result of an accident in the 1890s.. 

The Windsor Ruins

The artillery is placed where it was during the battle

The terrain of the Vicksburg battlefield, as with most battlefields, is very different today than it was at the time of the battle. What were open fields and ravines then are now mostly filled with trees and brush. Luckily Russ discovered a diorama in a city museum making sense of the battle by showing how the landscape  was in 1864.

Many ironclads like the Cairo were used during the Civi War

Despite the ferocity and length of the Battle of Vicksburg, the city proved impossible to defeat on the field. It was only after a forty-seven day siege that the city fell on July 4, 1864. Incidentally, we were told that after the surrender on that date Vicksburg didn't celebrate the 4th of July again until the early 1940s.

Some of the actual battlefield lies outside the park so you see markers in unexpected places.

One of the perks of traveling like we do is that we have time to check out places that are off the beaten path. We drove an hour east of Vicksburg to Raymond, an almost forgotten town critical to the fall of Vicksburg, There are no state or national parks there, yet some of the fiercest fighting outside of Vicksburg took place at the battle just outside Raymond . The Episcopal Church on one corner was used as the hospital for the Union wounded and the county courthouse right across the street was the hospital for the Confederate wounded.

Notice the steps over the courthouse gate alongside the fence opening

The courthouse, built 1857-1859, was designed with an ingenious "fire extinguisher" system. It was constructed with a layer of sand between the ceiling and the roof. The thinking was that if there were a fire, when the ceiling burned through the sand would fall and extinguish the fire below. The sand is still there today. Much of the battleground is on private land today but we were lucky enough to visit on a day when there was a diorama of the battle on display along with three local history buffs were happy to tell us all about how the battle took place.

I liked The Attic Gallery so much I went there twice.

Our visit to Vicksburg wasn't all about the Civil War. When I explored the downtown area I found a wonderful art gallery, The Attic Gallery, which was filled with gorgeous art and has been in business on the same street for 42 years (an amazing lifespan for an art gallery!).

We also started the "Eating Our Way Across the South" part of our trip. At Walnut Hill in Vicksburg Russ had what was billed as the world's best fried chicken. He gave it a big thumbs up but said it wasn't as good as my Aunt Jeweldean's. I had my first fried green tomatoes of the trip. 

Next up was Bob's Place in Raymond, a cafe so popular that they had already sold out of many of the dishes when we went there at noon for lunch. Russ had a delicious rib dinner (for just 9 bucks!)  and we both had what our waitress  told us was the best fried okra in the world. It was cooked just right but, again, not quite as good as my Aunt Jeweldean's fried okra. (I'm sure you've figured out by now that that nobody beats my Aunt Jeweldean's home cooking.) Finally we ate at The Tomato Place on the outskirts of Vicksburg. We both had big juicy fried green tomato sandwiches (with a layer of bacon on Russ')

Russ and Sheri's Believe It or Not from Vicksburg:

• Some of the troop units at Vicksburg had animal mascots. Union troops had an eagle named Abe and Sally, a bull terrier who ran into battle alongside the men. The Confederates had Douglas, a camel.
• Vicksburg is no longer on the banks of the Mississippi. It now overlooks the Yazoo River, which the Corps of Engineers diverted when the course of the Mississippi changed away from Vicksburg.
• Edwards, Mississippi is where the final scene from the movie O Brother Where Art Thou? was filmed. We took a great photo of  that spot but the  photo is not available due to technical difficulties during downloading from our camera that caused much profanity

More photos from our stay in Vicksburg:

View from the bluff overlooking the bridge into Vicksburg

Russ by the tree where Generals Grant and Pemberton discussed the Vicksburg's surrender

The tractor in the distance gives you a sense of the scale of the battlefield

Grant's view from the Shirley House during the battle

Church with the hand in Port Gibson