VOLUME 9, NO. 4 August-September 2001

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1 VOLUME 9, NO. 4 August-September 2001 Upcoming Events August BONPS planning meeting will be at the Belmont Mansion at : PM Topic: Nashville Civil War Driving Tour Pizza will be available per slice September BONPS speaker Ken Flies Minnesota regiments of the XVI Corp at the Battle of Nashville September Jackson TN th Annual Battle of Briton Lane ( ) October Chattanooga TN Military Staff Ride of Chattanooga Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain ( ) www go to/bges October Fort Oglethorpe Lifestyle Festival Chickamauga Battlefield ( ) wwwchickchatt org October Mt Olivet Confederate Cemetery Illumination : : PM ( ) December Tentative Battle of Nashville reenactment with battlefield tour Details to be announced Battle of Nashville Monument Park by Jim Summerville Toward the end of July contractors finished all of the amenities in the current phase of the Battle of Nashville Monument Park The most important was the interpretive plaza which fans out from the apron around the statue (built in the summer of ) to the Wall of Peace The plaza has four benches where visitors can pause to study enjoy and learn from Giuseppe Moretti s great memorial to the clash of The plaza also has plots for flowers and trees Over time garden clubs have expressed interest in donating money and materials for landscaping Also put in place recently is a sidewalk that runs parallel to Clifton Lane turns north and slopes down the hill along Granny White to the plaza Finally there is now off street parking with spaces for some cars The park is still a work in progress according to Gary Hawkins principal in Hawkins Partners the lead contractor for the project who has offered to donate planting design Besides landscaping Mr Hawkins hopes for donations or grant money that will pay for other amenities including an entryway to the park from Granny White and interpretive signage The Battle of Nashville Preservation Society continues to be involved with the project It has applied for funds from the National Endowment for the Arts to hire a conservator to clean and tree the bronzes in the monument Notice will be given to successful applicants in March The world premier special Saving our History Civil War Battlefields was a great piece of publicity for Civil War preservation efforts in Middle Tennessee A video copy of the program can be ordered through the History Channel at at a cost of plus S&H

2 Ken Fliés Presentation - September 20, 2001 The Battle of Nashville Preservation Society website discusses the Battle at Shy Hill on December that routed the famous Confederate Army of Tennessee It states that Shy s Hill was captured by U S Minnesota troops The front line of the attack on the salient angle of the hill and on the hill s eastern slope and fields was manned by the th th th and th Minnesota regiments These Minnesota regiments suffered over of the Union casualties at Nashville This was the single bloodiest date in any battle of any war in the history of the United States for Minnesota The th Minnesota the famous Indian Regiment took the most casualties at the same time in n e a r b y Murfreesboro stopping the attack of Maj Gen Nathan Bedford Forest thus preventing his employment at the Battle of Nashville The th Minnesota was guarding the railhead at Edgefield north of Nashville In the Civil War Minnesota contributed only eleven infantry regiments Minnesota was the frontier and had only citizens The previously mentioned th th th and th were member of the highly mobile XVI Corps that became its own small army in the trans Mississippi region and became known for their fighting prowess as the Gorilla Guerillas The th th and th Minnesota regiments engaged at Nashville each traveled over miles in the war most likely a record for any regiments in the war In addition to their exploits at Nashville The Guerillas saved Bank s Army on the Red River At Tupelo it was one of the few units to defeat Maj Gen Nathan Bedford Forest and it stopped Price in Missouri and Arkansas Gettysburg The nd Minnesota Regiment took the highest number of Union casualties at Chickamauga holding the right flank against Hood at Snodgrass Hill The nd also initiated the attack on Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga that routed Bragg The rd Regiment was the first Union regiment to enter Little Rock The th was the first union regiment to enter Vicksburg The st Minnesota Light Artillery saved the Union at the Sunken Road at Shiloh Minnesota was one of only two states to contribute companies to each of the two famous U S Sharpshooters Regiments that fought in over fifty engagements in the war In addition to these exploits in the Civil War seven of the eleven Minnesota regiments the rd th th th th th and th regiments all fought in the Dakota Indian War that broke out in These regiments included all of the Minnesota Regiments that fought at Nashville Other than Custer s battle at Little Big Horn these regiments in the Dakota War fought the largest Indian battles ever conducted in the United States Lessons learned fighting against superior numbers of a highly mobile enemy along with the harshness of fighting and living on the frontier shaped the Minnesotans and made them the renowned fighters they became This presentation will focus on the Minnesota regiments with particular focus on those in the XVI Corps who fought at Nashville The background of the Indian War and the Minnesotans exploits in this war and the condition and personalities of Minnesota that shaped the character of these men will be highlighted in the presentation The Guerillas were only a few of the famous Minnesota regiments and fighters Others included the st Minnesota that took the highest percentage of casualties of any Union regiment in the war when it took casualties at Ken Fliés The meeting location has not been determined yet, but may be held at Father Ryan High School. Check the message line at for details prior to the event.

3 From the President Bob Henderson Jr Things are really moving forward with the organization Membership is up renewals are up (thanks ) we have three battlefield saves under our belt and the word is finally getting out about the wonderful rich history that we are privileged to be the protectors of The only downside is that we are understaffed Currently I am handling the newsletter and treasurer duties Any help in terms of contributing articles or news for the newsletter would be greatly appreciated I also need someone to check the message line and P O Box at Acklen Station on a regular basis Please don t volunteer unless you are fully committed to carrying out any of these duties Ross Masey tour at Gen Bates grave Mt Olivet Cemetary Thanks to Ross Massey for his tour of Mt Olivet Cemetery last month It was very informative He will also be organizing the th annual Confederate Cemetery Illumination again this October th Some folks are concerned that they are missing out on the information I am sending out to BONPS members via my updates I understand those concerns and will do everything possible to keep you updated with our bimonthly newsletter but when I get word of a breaking news story I don t have the time or resources to contact everyone individually The speedy and inexpensive flow of information is essential to our success as an organization For those that cannot justify the expense of buying a new computer (which is less than now ) you can always utilize most any public library for internet access You can also set up a free account with msn com If you have an address and are not receiving correspondence from me please let me know Additionally with the savings in postage of newsletter s I propose to pass along to those members willing to accept the newsletter electronically a discount off membership dues All the best Bob Henderson bobhenderson@mac com Biography on September s Speaker Ken Fliés Image goes here In after years in the Computer Industry Ken moved back home to the Hill Country of Southeastern Minnesota where his family has lived continuously for almost years and which is the home of a large number of the Minnesota soldiers that fought at Nashville Since returning to Plainview Minnesota Ken has been the founder and Executive Director of The Center for Rural America Arts that has established the Jon Hassler Professional Theater the Rural America Writer s Center and the Plainview Area History Center Ken is also a member of the Minnesota State Historical Society Ken is a former member of the Twin Cities Civil War Roundtable and a current member of the Rochester and Hiawatha Valley Civil War Roundtables in Minnesota He has lectured to numerous Roundtables History Centers and schools His interest in the Civil War stems from a love of history and his grandmother s stories of her maternal and paternal Grandfathers both of whom died in the Civil War One a Pennsylvania native was with the Tenth Minnesota Regiment at Nashville and died and is buried in Tennessee and the other was with the First and also the Twenty Third Connecticut Regiments and was captured in Virginia and died and is buried at Andersonville in Georgia In Ken s poem An Ode to a Solider Long Forgotten about a soldier from the Hill Country and the Tenth Minnesota who fought at Nashville won the Editor s Choice Award of the National Library of Poetry and in the Editor s Choice Award of the International Library of Poetry In May of Ken produced and directed an original play about soldiers from the Hill Country and their exploits at The Battle of Nashville titled The Guerillas from the Greenwood

4 Reprinted Courtesey of Save the Franklin Battlefield

5 Name Membership Renewal Form Address Day Phone Evening Phone Address Mail this form and $15 dues or $20 family plan ($5 discount for newsletter) The Battle of Nashville Preservation Society, P. O. Box 50980, Nashville, TN Be sure and check your address label. If your membership dues are due, there will be a Past Due stamp on the front. BONPS CONTACTS President/Newsletter - Bob Henderson Secretary - Wes Shofner Website Master - Mark Zimmerman Public Relations - Boyer Barner website - Message line The Battle of Nashville Preservation Society P.O. Box Nashville, Tennessee Address Correction Requested