On Thursday, Traci and I had the opportunity to deliver a lecture at the Belmont Mansion during Belmont University's Department of History
Phi Alpha Theta Honors Society induction ceremony. This was the latest stop in our ongoing book tour in support of
Onward Southern Soldiers: Religion and the Army of Tennessee in the Civil War. We felt honored and privileged to speak before an audience of students and faculty who know and understand the work of
history intimately. We particularly enjoyed presenting our book at the historic
Belmont Mansion
on this sesquicentennial year of the Battle of Nashville.
Belmont
Mansion occupies
a unique place in Nashville's Civil War history.
Following the Battle of Franklin in November of 1864, Union troops
marched toward Nashville, and by December 1, 1864, their armies
surrounded Belmont Mansion. Belmont became the headquarters of the 4th
Corps of the U.S. Army of the Cumberland and a Union stronghold during
the Battle of Nashville. Belmont's beautiful surroundings inspired G. W. Lewis with the 124th Ohio Infantry to
write,
“Never before was [an] army headquarters so ornamented with such
paintings and marbles. We, on the outside, were equally well off, for
the spacious grounds were surrounded by nicely built stonewalls that
were worked into the chimneys.”
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| Belmont Mansion. Author photo. |
Two men whose stories we featured in the pages of
Onward Southern Soldiers
fought in the Battle of Nashville. These soldiers revealed an abiding faith in Divine
Providence through their individual writings. Nashvillian
Chaplain Henry Daniel Polk Hogan enlisted in the Confederate army on
April 29, 1861, on his twenty-first birthday. Hogan served at the Battle
of Perryville and the Battle of Stones River. He suffered multiple
wounds as a soldier, was taken prisoner and later exchanged and served
as the chaplain to his regiment throughout the war. Following the Battle
of Nashville, on December 16, 1864, Reverend Hogan conducted Colonel
James D. Tillman, then commanding Strahl’s brigade, along with hundreds
of his fellow soldiers, through territory familiar to him south of
Nashville, thereby avoiding their capture by the Union army. Hogan
claimed that a
“special act of Providence” allowed him to save these men from capture and possible prison death.
Another Army of Tennessee veteran, Sergeant John
Johnston, fought at the Battles of Franklin and Nashville. Having
surrendered his studies and clerical calling to enlist in the
Confederate army, Johnston chronicled his experiences in a journal
throughout the war, and later compiled his journal entries into a
memoir. Following the Battle of Nashville, when things looked most
discouraging for the Confederate army, Johnston recalled,
“I remember
that a young man who sat his horse in front of me and who was a
stranger to me expressed his great enjoyment of my singing. After all
the hardships and perils of the previous days, I was not despondent but
was still able to sing. Besides, I always had an abiding faith in God’s
providence which sustained and strengthened me under all circumstances.”
 |
Chaplain Henry Daniel Polk Hogan (left) and Sergeant John Johnston (right).
Images courtesy of Gerald and Helen Miller and the Tennessee State Library and Archives. |
Understanding the significance of religion as a driving motivation to fight in a war driven by the issue of slavery is an important part of the story told in
Onward Southern Soldiers. As public historians, we strive to understand the
bigger picture told within the narratives left behind by our ancestors, placing these stories into a broader historical context.
Following Traci's presentation, I concluded our lecture with a few remarks to emphasize the
importance of archives and the records left behind by the soldiers who served in the Army of Tennessee.
Without their accounts, we could not have written our book, and without the archivists who care for their letters, diaries and memoirs, these stories would remain untold. The stories of Chaplain Hogan and Sergeant
Johnston live on in posterity due in large part to the archives and the
caring public historians who ensure that their legacy endures.
Archivists are the gatekeepers of history. It is up to us to keep these
stories alive for future generations.
It is my sincere hope that some of the students who listened
to our lecture will endeavor to become archivists in their chosen field of study. Although knowledge of
emerging technologies and born digital records has earned increasing
importance in in the field of public history, a keen understanding of
the process of interpreting history remains a critical skill. We need
more historians in the archives profession.
As Belmont University sends these young aspiring historians into the
world, I have faith that my noble profession is in very good hands. Students, your academic accomplishments are inspiring. We're
grateful to
Dr. Brenda Jackson-Abernathy for her kind invitation to be a part of your induction ceremony and for allowing us to share our story with you.
Traci Nichols-Belt is the author of
Onward Southern Soldiers: Religion and the Army of Tennessee in the Civil War, published by The History Press. Traci holds a Master's degree in public history from Middle Tennessee State University and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Anderson University. Her principal research interest is the Civil War, with a particular focus on the impact of religion on the military. Traci has appeared on radio and television to speak about the role of religion in the Civil War, and she has had her writings published in the
Tennessee Historical Quarterly and in
The New York Times Civil War blog,
Disunion.
