published with permission from the Williamson Herald

On June 30, Franklin’s Charge Inc., in collaboration with Battle of Franklin Trust, purchased a two-acre portion of the 1864 Battle of Franklin battlefield. The two acres, located on Highway 96 West, is now intended to become a battlefield park area.

The property was sold to Franklin’s Charge and Battle of Franklin Trust from the Tywater family, who descends from Earl Tywater, a Franklin businessman who was prominent in the community in the 1960s. The family, upon settling the estate, chose to sell a portion of the property, according to Julian L. Bibb III, a member of the advisory board for Franklin’s Charge.

Franklin’s Charge Inc., founded in 2003, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Civil War battlefields in Williamson County. The organization partners with the Battle of Franklin Trust in pursuit to actively acquire battlefield parcels in Franklin. The organizations then convert the space to the way it would have looked in 1864, then incorporate it into an overall tourist experience.

Clay Perry, president of Franklin’s Charge Inc., said that the purchase represented the largest preserved portion on the northwestern side of the battlefield.

“Franklin’s Charge is excited to complete this acquisition and preserve another important portion of the Franklin Battlefield,” he said.

Julian Bibb said: “The reason this purchase was important is because there has not been any preserved piece of property that was part of the 1864 battlefield on the northwest side. The northwest side of the battle did not see the significant engagement like you would’ve had on Columbia Avenue.”

Bibb said the property marked how the Union Army had set up its defenses around Franklin on the northwestern side, as most of the attention to the battle is given to Columbia Avenue and Lewisburg Pike.

“So this now becomes the west side, which kind of completes the story of how the defenses were set up,” Bibb added.

The property adjoins the Union Line Markers, which were recently installed by the city of Franklin. Eric Jacobson, CEO of the Battle of Franklin Trust, said that portions of Gen. Nathan Kimball’s Federal troops occupied the property during the Battle of Franklin.

“Its right flank connected to the Harpeth River and its left was anchored on Carter’s Creek Pike, about where West Main and 11th Avenue intersect today. It protected the town on its west side from any Confederate advances. Confederate cavalry commanded by General James Chalmers probed Kimball’s position without success during the battle,” Jacobson said. “Although the fighting in this area was much less severe than elsewhere, the action along Kimball’s front and the stout position of the Federal troops is key to understanding what happened during the Battle of Franklin.”

Bibb said the property will require little conversion since no structures are on it –– only trees. He said the organization will landscape the parcels and have an archeological survey performed. While it might take a couple of years of planning and organizing, Bibb said, a park is nonetheless on its way.