Day 103 - Feb 19
Listening to: Owner of a Lonely Heart
Thought for the day: Oh valorous gray in the grave of your fate. Oh glorious blue in the long dead years.

Warning to those who dislike it when I go wordzerk! This entry is verbose!

(photo on right) This abandoned chunk of granite/marble stands guard over the Nashville I-440-I-65 interchange. It appears forgotten and forlorn. I like forgotten and forlorn. There are lessons to be learned in forgotten and forlorn!

Christian had to attend a class this morning near this monument. For years I’ve wondered what this thing was. There use to be more to the monument and I never understood why part of it went missing. So, instead of going home after I delivered Christian to her destination, I decided to go investigate. My investigation prompted a full out Google-thon when I got home.

The chunk of granite, now separated from the sculpture that once rested on it, was installed to honor the 1864 Battle of Nashville. My initial thought was the sculpture had been stolen or vandalized. I was relieved to find out that a group of people resurrected it at a different location in 1999. Guess what? I have a new 365 assignment! You can bet the resurrected monument will be featured in a future entry. I’m not sure why they left the original base behind, but am glad they did. Apparently it sits on the site of General Lee’s initial encampment (Lee was a handsome man imho – rawr).

The cool part about the monument is that it is one of the few that recognizes both the blue and the gray. It also recognizes the fact that those who fought each other during this battle of brother against brother would ban together within the next 100 years to fight World War I.

All of these years I have driven in this area, eaten at nearby restaurants, shopped at the stores and yet I had NO clue I was in the area of a prominent Civil War battle. NO CLUE AT ALL. It saddens me because I’m sure I’m in the majority. Better late than never though!

Interesting information about the monument and source of the photo of the original monument…….. http://www.bonps.org/mon_history.htm