This
handbook offers a guide to sites in Tennessee where the Civil
War experience is interpreted or memorialized. The legacy of those
momentous years from 1861 to 1865 is most vividly preserved at
the places where events and activities of the war actually occurred.
Such sites may be on land on which one of Tennessee’s 2,931
engagements was fought or may consist of fortifications, buildings,
encampments or other material remains of the war. Other sites
include the cemeteries of those who died in combat, monuments
that commemorate their sacrifices, and museums that contain the
artifacts of war. Most are open to the public, although some are
on privately owned property.
Tennessee’s
Civil War heritage is in grave danger. These sites, like most physical
remnants of our history, are fragile and vulnerable to damage. A large
number are unprotected and in danger of being lost forever. We hope
that this guide will help visitors to discover Tennessee’s rich
Civil War past and to understand better the convictions of the men and
women who fought in it. Only with proper care and custodianship can
these hallowed places survive to educate and inspire future generations.
We cannot honor the memory of the 620,000 lives that the war cost the
nation without preserving the sites where this history can still be
found.
