Tennessee Tour Days 2 and 3

Day two and three. I started by heading to Franklin about 40 minutes south of Nashville. This was a slight change of plan which turned out to be a real treat.

Starting at Winstead Hill south of the town where Hood has his command, a nice starting point if slightly odd as it is very much a memorial to the confederate fallen 

The Battle of Franklin Trust have done an amazing job gradually acquiring and expanding the amount of the battle field which is now been preserved, whilst small it definately gives an excellent feel

There are a couple of different locations to visit but I focussed on the Carter House

They have a small museum

This was a particularly nice wall picture

I would recommend the tour of the house, the guide was very knowledgable

The house and the outbuildings are original and show extensive battle damage

They have renovated the wooden outbuilding and chose to leave the plaster off the wall for obvious and dramatic effect

Just outside the farm these mark the location of a light artillery battery over run at the height of the battle and then recaptured

I then headed north  through the town of Franklin to Clarksville and stopped off at Fort Defiance, slightly disappointing although still worth stopping in if you are passing

The memorial in Franklin impressive but again slightly uncomfortable, but I make no judgements as I am in Tennessee

Fort Defiance, a small visitor centre and the remains of an earthen fort overlooking the Cumberland River

Spot the changes in clothing as the next day saw me head to Fort Donelson, having stayed in Dover it was an easy trip

Another memorial to confederate soldiers who defended the Fort

Plenty of markers and descriptions of the action that took place many of the outer defences are still visible, the location above is where the Union assault broke through

Perhaps the most famous location at the fort he lower gun battery

There is a smaller battery close by beautiful Cumberland river in the background

Final stop in this location is the Dover Hotel where Buckner surrendered to Grant

Then on to Johnsonville National State Park, this was the location of a major Union supply location which was famously attacked by Nathan Bedford Forrest from across the river

Some useful information boards with more than one redoubt

Very isolated location and I think I was the only person in the Park when I visited !

Then driving further south I stopped at Parker’s Cross Roads this was an unexpected gem

Excellent visitor centre and information boards, some lovely walks around the battle

For those that know the battle the fence has been rebuilt in the original location

Not original but relocated to close to the cross roads

This is definately one we will see in the dungeon sometime

Just for you Jonathon I have also been cycling here in the Nachez Trace Park very beautiful

Cycling across the Tennessee river

And finally I have landed in Savannah the Cherry Mansion, Grants HQ for a while and the location where a number of significant Union officers died after the battle.

Tomorrow I am off to Shiloh for the day 😀

Tennessee ACW Battlefield Tour Day 1

So I find myself in Tennessee for a couple of weeks hopefully visiting as many American Civil War locations as I can. Feedback from my regular followers seems that few of you have been to the western theatre although the history is well known, so I will share where I go with any reflections.

So first up I am starting in Nashville, capital of Tennessee, perhaps better known as the Mecca for Country music. It saw a significant battle towards the end of the civil war in 1864. Nashville had been in the hands of the Federals for most of the war having been the first rebel state capital to be capture. Unfortunately the expansion of the city has all but eliminated any evidence of the battle.

The state capital building, built before the war, but fighting never got very close so was Undamaged. Worth doing the free tour but sadly they don’t let you go up the tower 

The peace monument to commemorate the fallen from thenCivil war was moved to this location well out of the centre of town close to where the fighting actually took place

The preservation trust has done a lot to keep a couple of key locations safe, one of them is Shy’s hill it marker the extreme left edge of the confederate line 

Looking up the hill from the confederate side, the stone commemorates the efforts by the federal troops to capture the high ground

The summit no trees I suspect back in 1864 and sadly they completely block any views.

Another preserved site is redoubt number 1 very small block in a suburban district , not much to see but some useful period photos on the display board putting the battle in context.

The state have just literally this weekend opened a brand new State Museum, some nice exhibits but doesn’t really go into any detail on the part Tennessee played in the war, but it is still. Worth a visit especially as it is free !

Captured Tennessee volunteer flag

and a union pennant captured at Chickamauga 

A nice little copy of their drill book.

Finally I visited Fort Negley, they have put a lot of money into getting this open to the public, gives great views, but the fort is slightly overgrown

You can just make out the design

Looking SE

Downtown to the north

Perhaps the best shot to give a sense of the angled design of the fort based of course on the European Vauban forts

So that was Nashville a great place to start the tour, just enough to get me in the swing of things.

 😀

Battles in Middle Earth : Dragon Rampant

Having been busy over the holidays we were looking for some easy pick up games. Dragon Rampant rules are perfect for this and our Middle Earth/Lord of the Rings collections are easy to create an army list of any particular size. So what follows is two separate evenings gaming.

First up my Mordor Orcs took on a contingent of Elves, we used the scenario straight from the Lion Rampant rule book where one side is attempting to burn a number of designated objectives, whilst the other rushes forward to defend.

In this case Elves are looking to put my Mordor Orcs to the sword

Berserkers have been left to guard the loot

swords men run forward as both forces attempt to get to the centre as quickly as possible

The Mordor force as fast moving warg riders

But what is this the Elves have persuaded an ent to join their force

Warg riders chase down the flank

Thump thump.......they have an armoured troll !

The elves have wizardess with them

The elves prepare to receive the troll charge

But it changes direction and crashes into the ent.....

The elves manage to set the first objective on fire

But are ambushed when they attempt a second

Fearce fighting has reduced both forces and the Orcs have their eye on the she-elf !

But she runs for her life !

We managed to then play the same scenario the other way round, the wargs charging is as quickly as possible

The troll got his revenge on the she-elf

Before being hacked down by the elves

Two fun games but we came to the conclusion that actually burning all the objectives would be almost impossible. The dungeon then saw another Middle Earth adventure with a much larger game. Here a huge horde of Mordor Orcs were up against the well disciplined Gondorian Army. We used a slightly modified version of Dragon Rampant rules, roughly speaking we had about 60 points each.

The Gondor army, predominantly infantry with a couple of units of heavy cavalry

The Horde

 Infantry advance past the fallen head of one of the old kings of Gondor

Rangers advance past an abandoned temple

The clash of steel gets closer.........

Heavy cavalry crash in on the Left flank

The cavalry are impetuous so quickly become exhausted and worn out

Around the temple the Gondorian force use long range attacks, the cavalry in the background are redeploying 

Faramir, despite charging in looses his nerve and flees the field 🙁

The horde have brought a troll, which has been stuck in the woods but eventually it breaks free to charge

The cavalry have redeployed 

My photos seem to run out here, but the troll was eventually chased off and although it had cost them dear the Gondor army held the field just 

Another good game with quite a few troops on the table...I think we might see some more Middle Earth soon 🙂