This December marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Nashville, and to commemorate the battle, Lipscomb is hosting a variety of events.
Much of the battle took place around Lipscomb, and the school sits on a large portion of the battlefield. Tim Johnson, professor of history at Lipscomb and a nationally recognized expert in the Civil and Mexican Wars, has organized different events to mark the occasion, and the events take a look at one of the more unique aspects of the battle.
“Something else that most people don’t know about, that is really important, is that more African American Union soldiers fought in the Battle of Nashville than any other Civil War battle,” Johnson said.
The battle took place Dec. 15-16, so there will be events through the middle of November. The first event was a kickoff symposium at Historic Travellers Rest on Sept. 18. The next event will be Tuesday Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. in Ward Lecture Hall where a showing of the movie “Glory” will take place followed by a post-movie discussion on heroes.
“We have three movies,” Johnson said. “We’re calling it the Civil War on the Silver Screen.”
The other two movie dates are Oct. 14 that will show “Lincoln”, and Oct. 28 featuring “Copperhead”.
The final day of events is Nov. 15. Professor Johnson said it will be the “really big culminating symposium” that will involve several guest speakers including Pulitzer Prize winning Civil War historian James McPherson from Princeton, Joesph Glatthaar of the University of North Carolina and John Baker, a local historian and genealogist. That event will take place in Shamblin Theater.
“We’d really like for our students to be sure and mark November the 15th,” Johnson said. “Come to that morning session here at Lipscomb, and in the afternoon we’ll be over to Fisk University.”
Battlefield tours are also on the schedule for every Saturday in October; however, those interested must sign up and reserve a seat on the bus. Of the four Saturdays, two are already filled up, and there are around five seats left for the other two Saturdays, so if interested sign up quickly.
For information on all of the events and times there are brochures in the Department of History, Politics and Philosophy that outline all of the fall calendar events as well as on the main Lipscomb website. All events are free and open to the public.