- (December 2006) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association (TCWPA) gave its 2006 Challenge Grant awards to the Friends of Shiloh National Military Park and Franklin's Charge.

President Steve McDaniel announced TCWPA awarded $12,000 for the preservation of two tracts near the entrance to Shiloh National Military Park and $5,000 for the Battle of Franklin property adjacent to the historic Carnton Plantation. At both locations dollar for dollar matches will double the donated dollars.

McDaniel said much of the money was raised at "Camires on the Cumberland,ˆÇ¬ù a recent twilight event held on the Bicentennial Mall below the historic State Capitol. The event kicked off the 2006-2007 fundraising campaign.

"Our mission to preserve the Volunteer State's many threatened battlefields by the war's 150th anniversary is a daunting task, he said, "but the commitment demonstrated by these Civil War advocates gives us hope we can achieve even more in the future."

The Shiloh award will assist in the purchase of two battlefield tracts. The left wing of Brig. Gen. Patrick Cleburne's brigade marched across one of them during the battle's early stages on April 6, 1862, while the other tract sits in the middle of eight pre-battle Union campsites, just north of Grant's Last Line.

Preservation of the two sites will rely on a partnership between the TCWPA, the Friends, the Civil War Preservation Trust and two willing sellers. TCWPA has committed to help the Friends raise the remainder of the needed funds. The ultimate goal is to incorporate both pieces within the Shiloh National Military Park boundary as the park considers them among parcels critical to the battlefield's long-term protection.

The award to Franklin's Charge will support the 2005 acquisition of property along Lewisburg Pike and adjacent to historic Carnton Plantation. It is part of the eastern flank of the Battle of Franklin, the killing zone Maj. Gen. W.W. Loring's Confederate division crossed under fire on the final approach to the Federal works on the fateful afternoon of Nov. 30, 1864.

The former golf course property is the largest, single remaining undeveloped track of core battlefield left at Franklin.

Franklin's Charge is a nonprofit coalition of local preservation and conservation organizations and state and national preservation groups that share the vision for a battlefield park in Franklin.

Last year, TCWPA granted funds for preservation of Shy's Hill (Battle of Nashville), Franklin and Davis Bridge. For more information about the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association visit www.tcwpa.org or write to TCWPA, PO Box 148535, Nashville, TN 37214.

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