Help Save the Franklin Battlefield

CARTER COTTON GIN HOUSE-FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE

From an email sent by the Civil War Preservation Trust:

"Let's Reclaim a Key Section of the Franklin Breakthrough.

'The most desperate fighting imaginable.'

There were many horrifying scenes of carnage throughout the Civil War, but there are few that can compare tot what was witnessed on November 30, 1864 at the Battle of Franklin.

In what became one of the largest and most precipitous charges of the Civil War, Confederates of Frank Cheatham's corps hurled themselves against strong Union entrenchments. Despite facing enormous odds, these battle hardened Confederate forces did manage to break through the Union line at its center.

Facing the sudden prospect of total defeat, Colonel Emerson Opdyke and his brigade of veteran Midwestern soldiers - Opdyke's Tigers - charged forth into the breach and drove back the Confederate attackers. After five hours of frenzied fighting more than 8,500 soldiers would lay dead on the field and John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee was left in shambles.

CWPT is partnering with Franklin's Charge to preserve forever a 1.07 acre portion of the Franklin battlefield - ground which witnessed the Confederate breakthrough and Union counterattack. Join us in saving this hallowed ground.

Franklin 2010 Preservation Campaign

Acres: 1.07

Total Cost: $950,000

CWPT Fundraising Goal: $150,000

Match: $6.33 to $1

Match Sources: ABPP, Franklin's Charge

For more information - www.civilwar.org/franklin10

It's not everyday that we get the chance to reclaim a battlefield that has been lost. As we did with the former Pizza Hut location, at the Carter House Garden, and on the Eastern Flank, we are slowly taking back what was lost at Franklin. Join us in adding another crucial part of the puzzle at the Franklin battlefield.

Very sincerely yours,

Jim Lighthizer

President, CWPT"