Clarksville Civil War Roundtable’s next meeting is November 18th, 2015

The 140th Meeting

Clarksville, TN – The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, November 18th, 2015 at the Bone & Joint Center, 980 Professional Park Drive, right across the street from Gateway Medical Center. This is just off Dunlop Lane and Holiday Drive and only a few minutes east of Governor’s Square mall.

The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public. Members please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.

Topic: “The Carter Family in the Battle of Franklin”

We recently had a fine program on the Battle of Franklin by Rob Cross, military historian and Belle Meade in Nashville.

Everyone familiar with the story knows of the five hours of Hell on Earth as Union and Confederate fought like tigers. When the shooting stopped thousands of Confederates were killed, wounded and missing (mostly taken prisoner) and the Federals pulled out of town later that night.

But what about the civilians of Franklin, in particular the Carter Family whose house stands today as the most battle damaged structure in the U.S. and was the epicenter of the Confederate assault. Fighting swirled in the Carter garden and around the buildings as Brown’s Division broke the lines only to be met with Emerson Opdycke’s Union brigade counter-attacking. Where was the Carter family during all of this?

Having visited many battlefields across the South Jonathan Walsh has heard many stories relating to the Civil War. However, it was on the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Franklin in November 2014, he was captivated by the story of Todd Carter and the Carter Family during the 1864 battle.

During this presentation Jonathan will give us insight to the Carter family before and during their unintended involvement in the Gettysburg of the West. Todd Carter’s story is one of the most well known of any stories to be born of the war, however, Jonathan will take a look at the rest of the family, their prominence in the town of Franklin, and how the war affected the rest of the family.

Jonathan Walsh is a Tennessee native who resides in Dover, Tn with his Mom, Dad, and brother Alex. Jonathan has long been a Civil War buff who enjoys civil war reenacting and relic hunting. He often assists his parents run their business, Fort Donelson Relics, at civil war relic shows across the country.

At the ripe age of 9 he has traveled throughout the south and northeast having visited battlefields such as Harper’s Ferry, Gettysburg, Antietam, Fort Sumter, Chickamauga, Vicksburg, Wilson’s Creek and everywhere in between. Jonathan attends 4th Grade at Dover Elementary School and currently carries a 4.0 average. He enjoys giving talks and assisting his dad on Civil War tours when he’s not playing baseball.

Be sure not to miss this program and support this fine up and coming Civil War historian. We all want the kids to get into this and now you can come and hear a fine program from one!