Last winter I discovered something important. It was one of those bright January days when the sun purges the air of impurities. I hiked across a grassy field toward a tree line near the highest point within the Wartrace city limits.
I had heard talk about an earthen fortress, or redoubt, that was built during the Civil War and located along the eastern edge of town. As I neared the top of the knob and my breathing became labored, I detected an earthen berm rising up about four feet within the stand of trees. The dirt bank was laid out in a square with the sides approximately 40 feet long. There was an opening on the south side and two smaller three-sided berms within the larger one. Could these have been used to store ammunition or food?
The only sounds were the songbirds and a gentle breeze rustling through the dry golden grass. Suddenly, my eye caught the flash of a white-tailed deer as it bounded into the recesses of the nearby forest. My thoughts turned to the rebel soldiers who so long ago had shoveled the soil on which I was standing.
In the winter of 1863 General Braxton Bragg withdrew his confederates from Murfreesboro and the battle of Stones River. A defense line was set up between Shelbyville and McMinnville. Wartrace became important because of its location on the railroad. Controlling the railroad gave an army a distinct advantage when it came to moving troops and supplies.
The sparse winter foliage allowed a panoramic view from the redoubt including a sweeping westward overlook of Wartrace Creek valley from left to right. The railroad anchored the floor of the valley as it flattened out to the north near Bell Buckle. To the south was a smaller valley formed by Garrison Creek with Haley in the distance. On the southeast side was Beech Wood Farm, the winter campsite for General Hardee's Corp. I envisioned a soldier standing atop the berm and scanning the valley with a spy glass.
Looming on the western horizon was Horse Mountain, appearing much closer than it seemed when driving. I've been told that the army was able to signal messages to and from Wartrace and Horse Mountain utilizing flags and firelight; that signals were relayed as far away as Franklin. I heard myself exclaim out loud, "Wow, this place needs to be preserved".
I thought, wouldn't it be nice if this were a park and a group of school kids could listen to a lecture about the 'how and why' of the Civil War while they stood on the hard evidence and touched soil they knew was turned by young soldiers defending Wartrace from an invading Union army.
Most all of the structures built or standing during the Tullahoma Campaign have been razed or remodeled beyond recognition. The Wartrace redoubt is one of the few remaining reminders of how it was back then. It needs to be saved.
'Til I knock on your door again; that's the way it was, in the little town where time stands still.
Jerry Fox
Wartrace, Tennessee 2006
