Two flags to fly over Stones River Battlefield


The Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association (TCWPA) is sponsoring “Two
Flags Over Tennessee: Reclaiming Our Civil War Heritage,” a two-year statewide
plan to fly two Civil War-era flags: an 1861 version of the U.S. “Stars
and Stripes” featuring 34 stars, and the 11-star, 1861 Confederate “First
National” flag, known as the “Stars and Bars,” over all of Tennessee’s
most significant Civil War battlefields.

The U.S. flag will fly over Union battle positions and the First National flag
over Confederate battle positions at as many as 50 sites across Tennessee. The
two-year journey crisscrossing the state will be documented in two large scrapbooks
collecting and preserving photographs, letters, and news articles from activities
and events at each location.

TCWPA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting, and
interpreting Tennessee’s Civil War battlefields for the benefit of present and
future generations. "Two Flags Over Tennessee: Reclaiming our Civil War
Heritage" will recognize Tennessee’s most important battlefields and emphasize
the importance of finding ways to preserve this hallowed ground, where thousands
of American soldiers, wearing both blue and gray, gave their lives for the causes
in which they fervently believed.

TCWPA Executive Director Mary Ann Peckham announced the flags, which were first
flown in February at Fort Henry on the Tennessee River in observance of the
144th anniversary of that battle, will come to Stones River National Battlefield
on Dec. 30, 2006 at 1 p.m.. The flags will be carried by Union and Confederate
infantry contingents during the 1 p.m. interpretive program. The public is welcome
to attend.

Since Fort Henry, the flags have flown at Fort Donelson, Fallen Timbers, on
the Memphis Queen Riverboat commemorating the first battle of Memphis on the
Mississippi River, at the Parkers Crossroads Battlefield dedication, and at
Hoover’s Gap. Peckham and other members of TCWPA will join the National
Park Service to commemorate the 144th anniversary of the Battle of Stones River.

The Battle of Stones River was one of the bloodiest and most significant battles
in the Western Theater of the Civil War. After three days of intense fighting,
nearly one-third of the 81,000 men who fought here became casualties. It was
the first step in a campaign that would see the capture of Chattanooga and Atlanta
and end in Sherman’s “March to the Sea.”

This program is part of a series of interpretive programs offered at the battlefield
during the year. Stones River National Battlefield is located on the Old Nashville
Highway, northwest of Murfreesboro. Additional information is available at the
visitor center, by calling (615) 893-9501 or at the park website (http://www.nps.gov/stri).

For more information about the TCWPA, send email to contact@tcwpa.org; or write
TCWPA, P.O. Box 148535, Nashville, TN 37214-8535.