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Re: breaking news at Franklin Tn!!!!
I have been talking back and forth with the President of Sons Of Union Veterans in Franklin Sam Gant since this has occured and this is something he has written for the newspaper and other journals.
Remains of Union Soldier Discovered at Franklin-SAM GANT SUV
On 14 May 2009, a worker on a construction site on Columbia Pike unearthed human bones located in a shallow grave just a few yards from the street. The police were called, and upon their examining the bones and the buttons accompanying them it was determined that this was the remains of a Civil War soldier.
Among the items initially recovered from this grave were pieces of skull , a jawbone with teeth missing, a single tooth, an arm bone, numerous other bone fragments, five buttons and a Minie ball. This blunted Minie ball was presumably the one that took the young man’s life. Later excavation uncovered the rest of the skeleton. This body of a tall man, clad in a long military coat, evidently had been buried in a wooden coffin.
The police called in a state archeologist and Civil War experts from Franklin’s Civil War sites. David Fraley and Bobby Hargrove from the Carter House, J.T.. Thompson from the Lotz House, and Eric Jacobson from Carnton Plantation examined the artifacts and identified the time-worn buttons marked with an “I,” as the type worn by Union soldiers during the Civil War. They concluded that in all likelihood this soldier was killed on December 17, 1864, as the Union soldiers battled with the rear guard of Hood’s army in their retreat from the Battle of Nashville. In this area, a few hundred yards north of Winstead Hill, began a skirmish that carried on down Columbia Pike to the West Harpeth toward Spring Hill.
The City of Franklin placed a work stoppage order on the construction project until further archeological work could be done. The archeological team searched over a large area around the grave site but found no other evidence of burials nor did they uncover any other Civil War era artifacts. The Franklin Police Department took the bones to photograph and record in their report. The bones will then be returned to the State archeologist who will turn them over to a forensic anthropologist for evaluation before their being reinterred.
The State archeologist stated that the preferred option for reinterring the soldier is to return the contents of his grave to the original burial site. For this, the landowner must reserve only the space of the grave itself. The second option is for the landowner to obtain a court order for grave removal. Should the landowner chose the second option, the soldier’s remains would likely be turned over to the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, Fort Donelson Camp # 62, headquartered in Franklin, to arrange for reinterring.
On a side note the owner of the land and building construction has released the body and contents to the city of Franklin, at this time the body is being studied with its contents. The soldier will be re-buried some-time in June and they will have another ceremony on the Anniversary weekend in November. They are looking for those who can portray federal soldiers who will help with this honorable task. Please send me a pm or email if you are interested kaelin.vernon@gmail.com
I have been talking back and forth with the President of Sons Of Union Veterans in Franklin Sam Gant since this has occured and this is something he has written for the newspaper and other journals.
Remains of Union Soldier Discovered at Franklin-SAM GANT SUV
On 14 May 2009, a worker on a construction site on Columbia Pike unearthed human bones located in a shallow grave just a few yards from the street. The police were called, and upon their examining the bones and the buttons accompanying them it was determined that this was the remains of a Civil War soldier.
Among the items initially recovered from this grave were pieces of skull , a jawbone with teeth missing, a single tooth, an arm bone, numerous other bone fragments, five buttons and a Minie ball. This blunted Minie ball was presumably the one that took the young man’s life. Later excavation uncovered the rest of the skeleton. This body of a tall man, clad in a long military coat, evidently had been buried in a wooden coffin.
The police called in a state archeologist and Civil War experts from Franklin’s Civil War sites. David Fraley and Bobby Hargrove from the Carter House, J.T.. Thompson from the Lotz House, and Eric Jacobson from Carnton Plantation examined the artifacts and identified the time-worn buttons marked with an “I,” as the type worn by Union soldiers during the Civil War. They concluded that in all likelihood this soldier was killed on December 17, 1864, as the Union soldiers battled with the rear guard of Hood’s army in their retreat from the Battle of Nashville. In this area, a few hundred yards north of Winstead Hill, began a skirmish that carried on down Columbia Pike to the West Harpeth toward Spring Hill.
The City of Franklin placed a work stoppage order on the construction project until further archeological work could be done. The archeological team searched over a large area around the grave site but found no other evidence of burials nor did they uncover any other Civil War era artifacts. The Franklin Police Department took the bones to photograph and record in their report. The bones will then be returned to the State archeologist who will turn them over to a forensic anthropologist for evaluation before their being reinterred.
The State archeologist stated that the preferred option for reinterring the soldier is to return the contents of his grave to the original burial site. For this, the landowner must reserve only the space of the grave itself. The second option is for the landowner to obtain a court order for grave removal. Should the landowner chose the second option, the soldier’s remains would likely be turned over to the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, Fort Donelson Camp # 62, headquartered in Franklin, to arrange for reinterring.
On a side note the owner of the land and building construction has released the body and contents to the city of Franklin, at this time the body is being studied with its contents. The soldier will be re-buried some-time in June and they will have another ceremony on the Anniversary weekend in November. They are looking for those who can portray federal soldiers who will help with this honorable task. Please send me a pm or email if you are interested kaelin.vernon@gmail.com
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