My wife and I plan to be at the screening. How we tell our history matters. It matters what our community chooses to lift up as part of that story and what it allows to leave untold. The monuments we don't build sometimes matter even more than the ones we want to remove.
The more I learned about the Civil War Battle of Nashville, the more I have become determined to rectify the intentional suppression of our shared story. More Black Union soldiers took part in this battle than in any other action in the entire Civil War. These were men who escaped enslavement in Middle Tennessee and flocked to the protection of the Union Army occupying Nashville. In 1863, when the Army began accepting enlistments in the US Colored Troops, as they were officially called, these men joined to fight for their own freedom.
On December 16, 1864, several regiments of these Black Union soldiers were sent against the strongest position in the Confederate line at Peach Orchard Hill (aka Overton Hill). When you drive on Harding Place between I-65 and Franklin Road, you go right through the battle site; the crest of the hill was removed to make way for the road.
The Black units came under withering artillery and rifle fire as they made their way up the hill, suffering heavy losses. They almost reached the crest but were ordered to retreat; they did not break and run. When they reached the bottom, a unit of white Minnesota soldiers, held in reserve, took off their caps in salute; several of them remarked that it was the bravest assault they had ever witnessed.
With reinforcements from other USCT regiments, these men were ordered to make another assault on the hill. This time, they took it. The Rebels who weren't killed or captured broke and ran headlong all the way down Franklin Road to Brentwood, with the Black soldiers in hot pursuit.
In what was an overwhelming Union rout, the USCT regiments sustained higher casualties than any units on either side. A newspaper account the next day claimed it was possible to walk from the top of Peach Orchard Hill to the bottom without stepping on anything but the bodies of dead Black soldiers.
These men are buried in the US Military Cemetery on North Gallatin Road. But the historical marker erected by the state of Tennessee on Peach Orchard Hill makes no mention at all of the presence of Black soldiers. It is one more way that our history has been suppressed for reasons that obviously are due to race.
I'd like to see a statue erected there to memorialize what these men did on behalf of freedom for themselves and their families. I envision a determined Black soldier in a charging position with bayonet fixed. Make it larger than life, so it can be seen from the interstate. Then maybe we can say we have done right by these men and by our history.
Dunno if I can make it out but registering just in case. solidarity & hope it’s a good eve.
Thank you!
My wife and I plan to be at the screening. How we tell our history matters. It matters what our community chooses to lift up as part of that story and what it allows to leave untold. The monuments we don't build sometimes matter even more than the ones we want to remove.
The more I learned about the Civil War Battle of Nashville, the more I have become determined to rectify the intentional suppression of our shared story. More Black Union soldiers took part in this battle than in any other action in the entire Civil War. These were men who escaped enslavement in Middle Tennessee and flocked to the protection of the Union Army occupying Nashville. In 1863, when the Army began accepting enlistments in the US Colored Troops, as they were officially called, these men joined to fight for their own freedom.
On December 16, 1864, several regiments of these Black Union soldiers were sent against the strongest position in the Confederate line at Peach Orchard Hill (aka Overton Hill). When you drive on Harding Place between I-65 and Franklin Road, you go right through the battle site; the crest of the hill was removed to make way for the road.
The Black units came under withering artillery and rifle fire as they made their way up the hill, suffering heavy losses. They almost reached the crest but were ordered to retreat; they did not break and run. When they reached the bottom, a unit of white Minnesota soldiers, held in reserve, took off their caps in salute; several of them remarked that it was the bravest assault they had ever witnessed.
With reinforcements from other USCT regiments, these men were ordered to make another assault on the hill. This time, they took it. The Rebels who weren't killed or captured broke and ran headlong all the way down Franklin Road to Brentwood, with the Black soldiers in hot pursuit.
In what was an overwhelming Union rout, the USCT regiments sustained higher casualties than any units on either side. A newspaper account the next day claimed it was possible to walk from the top of Peach Orchard Hill to the bottom without stepping on anything but the bodies of dead Black soldiers.
These men are buried in the US Military Cemetery on North Gallatin Road. But the historical marker erected by the state of Tennessee on Peach Orchard Hill makes no mention at all of the presence of Black soldiers. It is one more way that our history has been suppressed for reasons that obviously are due to race.
I'd like to see a statue erected there to memorialize what these men did on behalf of freedom for themselves and their families. I envision a determined Black soldier in a charging position with bayonet fixed. Make it larger than life, so it can be seen from the interstate. Then maybe we can say we have done right by these men and by our history.
Since we don't yet have star trek transporters, I'm wondering if I can zoom in?
I don't understand HOW we have a Space Force and NOT have transporters. Sigh.
I hope Tuesday invites new questions on your journey to new solutions.
✌️ out, gwen
I plan to be at the screening. Hope to wave to you across the crowd. :-)
Thank you, David, for continuing to share so much truth, even though full of horror.