Tennessee sesquicentennial. Thank you for attending this session featuring our same topic of the day, the last campaign in tennessee. My name is van wes, i am the Tennessee State historian. And a professor at middle Tennessee State university. It was an easy drive over to join this event today. For our expert historians, they have all come quite a way to join and be part of this event. Im appreciative of that. The way i would like to do this, so we have plenty of time for questions and comments, i am going to introduce all three speakers now in alphabetical order. They all come up in that order. Ok. Our first speaker will be chris lawson. I have known chris for 30 years. It goes back to his excellent work on frank cheetham, and his confederate division in tennessees forgotten warriors. That came out in 1989. He has been involved with us and been very generous of his time here for different civil war and Franklin Battlefield symposiums that we have worked with. Welcome back. Our second
Bell hood was written history and the u. S. Colored troops compared to the sherman marched to the sea. This 90 minute event is part of theseries organized by tennessee sesquicentennial. Thank you for attending featuring our same topic of the day, the last campaign in tennessee. , i am the van wes Tennessee State historian. And a professor at middle Tennessee State university. It was an easy drive over to join this event today. For our expert historians, they have all come quite a way to join and be part of this event. Im appreciative of that. This,y i would like to do so we have plenty of time for questions and comments, i am going to introduce all three speakers now in alphabetical order. Come up in that order. Ok. Be chris speaker will lawson. I have known chris for 30 years. It goes back to his excellent work on frank cheetham, and his confederate division in tennessees forgotten warriors. 1989. Me out in he has been involved with us and then very generous of his time here for diffe
Screeria nigeria. The tenhour drive, frankly was definitely worth it. According to your program, what were supposed to do today is first offer some insights speak briefly on a portion of the campaign they believed to be particularly illuminating. Two things ill do real quickly, if i can, the first one deals with spring hill. Spring hill was the day before the battle of franklin and what it represented was a lost opportunity to attack some union troops either at spring hill itself or some who were in colombia and would come up to Franklin Pike that night. Essentially what happened is a profound mystery in many ways. Hood planned a flanking movement which was extremely successful. In fact there were federal troops still at columbia who were going to come up the pike that night. They failed to do two things. They could have launched an attack on the yankees who were in spring hill. They did not do that. There was a fight but it was not the larger fight that i think the generals had contem
The other thing they could have done potentially was to cut off the kite so cut off the pike so they could be met by resistance. The thing there are two minus ascension made about with the federals would have done which is essentially they would have inevitably been destroyed. At spring hill, they had an opportunity of destroying or dismantling a large part of the union army. In some ways, this never gets the attention it is due, the yankees appear as unwitting accomplices of confederates who were bent on destroying them. These were veteran federal soldiers. These were battle hardened veterans of the Atlantic Campaign it elsewhere. The idea they would simply encounter confederate troops and meekly handed over the weapons is preposterous. There could have been a battle. It could have been at spring hill. I think the idea that the federals would have been dispatched with ease is simply nonsense. You can do what i did with my toy soldiers. You can do whatever you want with your imaginatio
Im David Carroll from chicago. Hi, david. Hi. In the last year published in the journal of the Abraham Lincoln association there has been great speculation on mary lincoln purchasing penny royal at dill lards drugstore in springfield when she was pregnant with tad who was born with a cleft palate. Penny royal is used to rid dogs of fleas or induce abortion. Do you have insight on this recent scholarship . Im sorry. I cant comment on that. My recent move and dislocation of many of my books and pieces meant that i dont have the 41 of oh mary lincoln but moving from ireland was difficult. I would say from my reading i have no evidence from her letters or otherwise that there would be any way i could comment or believe she was trying to not have a fourth child. The lincolns were besoted by their children. They were very proud and devoted that when she suffered family tragedies and the death of oh little eddie she was pregnant within a month. Indeed the idea of having two younger sons and r