Local Library on Civil War Site
Between my dog and my spouse, working at home is full of distractions. I prefer to pack up my backpack with my laptop, mouse, Purdue mousepad, noise canceling earbuds, and water bottle and make my way to the library.
The local library is impressive. It’s surrounded by trees and rose bushes. One time, when I took a break from typing by giving myself a walking tour of the facility, I looked out a window and saw a bocce ball court and a community garden. During the fall, the view is full of colorful leaves blowing in the wind. What an incredibly peaceful place to put your thoughts onto paper.
Across the street from the library is a park with a pyramid statue made of cannonballs. A little way down from the park is a street named Battlefield Drive. The library sits in the hallowed ground of a major Civil War battlefield. The Battle of Franklin took place here in 1864.
I am no historian. I do not have a plethora of knowledge about this time in American history. I am, however, interested in local history and appreciate plantation tours. On a chilly New Years Eve, my mom, stepdad, and I went to tour the Carter House, a house dead center of the Battle of Franklin and a little north of the current library.
The house itself is lackluster. However, I had great takeaways from the information provided by the tour guide. I remember how haunting the brick and dirt basement was. The tour guide went into detail about how several family members hunkered down to stay out of the crossfire. The noise of the incredibly loud battle echoing in the dark, damp basement. The intensity taking place over several hours and how awful an experience that would be to live through. We were escorted into a barn with a wall covered in bullet holes, light eerily shining through.
From a tactical battle standpoint, I remember the Confederate Army was instructed to slow down the Union, who was making their way north to Nashville. The Union was digging earthworks to protect themselves at Carter House and neither side was expecting a battle that day. However, a battle would be fought and end with pools of blood. Around 8,500 souls were lost during this battle, most of them being Confederates. At the battle front, the Confederate soldiers were starting to break through the Union’s line, when an Ohio regiment, who was in reserve, ran up and held the line. A historic marker at the Carter House explains the story. “Without orders, the brigade charged and restored a section of the federal line after a portion of Cleburne and Brown’s Confederate divisions had pierced the center.” This battle was won by the Union, in large part to this Ohio regiment.
Two years before this tour, my sister sent me a document about a family member who served in the Civil War. The email ended with, “Notice anything?” She wanted me to see that I lived near one of his battle sites. While at the Carter House, I took out my phone to look for the document. Elijah Zufall, my great-great grandfather fought in the Battle of Franklin and lived. The document was titled ‘125th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry,’ which was the same regiment on the historic marker. My relative was one of the brave men who stopped the Confederates from breaking through the Union line.
When I look out of the library windows to the beautiful grounds, I am saddened by the thousands of human lives that were taken in this very spot. I work peacefully in the quiet of the library while I think about innocent family members being traumatized by the noise of the battle. I am proud of the courage of my great-great grandfather and the other members of his unit. I’m grateful that he lived on to have a family that would lead to the birth of my sister and me. I’m humbled by the transition from a battlefield to a public library. I unpack my laptop and type up a reflection of the past and how it relates to my present while having a view of a bocce ball court.