Battlefield's survival ensured

Whoever believes history is a dead thing has never traveled the Civil War historic trail in Tennessee. Historical markers, battlefields, and the homes of famous leaders of the conflict are found all over the state, and Bedford County has its share. Many of the battlegrounds and other important sites are threatened, however.

"Today in Tennessee, 90 percent of the battlefields are owned by private landowners," states the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association web site. "If you think about it, this is a double-edged sword. It implies there are great opportunities to preserve more of our collective history.

"On the other hand, so many battle sites have yet to be preserved, and private landowners can do what they please with their land."

The TCWPA is one of several organizations throughout the South trying to preserve those battlefields, and with help from the federal government, that may just get a little bit easier. About $10 million easier.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill last week to reauthorize the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program, which has saved more than 15,000 acres of Civil War battlefield land.

"Tennessee is steeped in Civil War history -- 38 significant battles were fought in our state," said U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, a longtime supporter of the Preservation Program. "In Bedford County, the Liberty Gap and Hoover's Gap battlefields each are eligible to receive preservation grants with the passage of the bill."

The House bill, the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act, authorizes an annual $10 million to be awarded to states and localities by the U.S. Department of Interior's Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program. The award recipients must provide matching funds and use the money to acquire lands or interest in lands to preserve Civil War battlefields that are not protected as elements by the National Park Service.

"Since this law was originally passed in 1996, the Preservation Program has made more than 600 acres of battlefield land in Tennessee, a permanent part of our country's history," said Gordon. "This reauthorization bill will allow the program to continue its efforts."

The bill is likely to be passed by the Senate and signed into law.

The two battles were part of the Tullahoma Campaign, when Union Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans sought to march on Tullahoma and cut off the supply to the Confederates in Chattanooga. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg had fortified all along the Duck River, from Shelbyville to Wartrace, to prevent the Union troops from passing though the gaps.

A feint, under Gen. Alexander McCook, was made at Liberty Gap, to draw Confederate efforts away from the proposed march to Tullahoma.

Halfway between Rosecrans' Murfreesboro base and Manchester was Hoover's Gap. On June 24, 1863, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas led the forces into the gap. Fighting continued until the 26th, when the Confederate troops withdrew.

The battles were significant because Bragg did eventually take Tullahoma, and by cutting off supplies to Chattanooga, shifted the balance of power on the Tennessee front and forced Confederate troops further southward, into Georgia.

One general who had troops at both gaps was Confederate General William Joseph Hardee, whose own base was here in Bedford County at the Beechwood Plantation. Luckily for preservationists, the private landowner in this case, Philip Gentry, has no intention of burying history under a subdivision.

"When I bought the place, everybody said this was Hardee's headquarters," said Gentry. "But you know how it is -- everything is important to someone."

As he researched his new property, Gentry found its history became important to him, as well. And finding out that the general once stayed in a house on his land (the original home was destroyed in the early part of the 20th century), wasn't enough. He wanted to commemorate it.

"I decided -- why not do something to try to preserve it? It's not really a battlefield, but it's historic ground."

Not being a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, Gentry probably isn't eligible for those federal millions coming down the pike, but he's done quite a bit on his own. He put in a paved parking lot on the farm, on Knob Creek Road between Wartrace and Normandy, as well as a split-rail fence. With the help of a local Boy Scout troop and Eagle Scout Austin Sadler, he added a log cabin donated by Tullahoma's Robert Darden. But he would like to do a lot more.

"I'd like to have a picnic table and some landscaping," he said.

Gentry worked long and hard to get an official historical marker erected on the site, noting it was Hardee's headquarters, although it took many tries to get the verbiage "politically correct" enough to be acceptable, he said. He would like to add more signage, explaining more about the Tullahoma Campaign and its role in the war.

In 2003, the 140th anniversary of both gap battles, the site hosted re-enactments of each one. Photos from that event illustrate the cover of the new Tennessee Backroads Heritage Tullahoma Campaign brochure.

By the time the 150th anniversary of the battles rolls around, Gentry hopes to have a showplace.

"A lot of people want to fight the war all over again," he said. "I just want us to remember our history."

As for the two gap battles themselves, how the federal funds -- if any -- they receive from the reauthorized Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program will be used is not known. Hoover's Gap is largely commemorated by the cemetery at Beech Grove, which has a picnic pavilion and several "talking" exhibits explaining the battle and its importance. At Liberty Gap, there is little to mark the march of history through its hills.