Day 8

My brother lives on what was once the Nashville Battlefield. If you never heard of the Battle of Nashville, you’re not alone. I didn’t know it was a battle in the Civil War until last night. The National Park, for whatever reason, did not feel the need to preserve this battlefield, as it’s preserved others. Which makes me wonder why they deemed some battles more important or preservation worthy than others. All that remains of the battlefield is a small memorial on Shy’s Hill.

As usual, I woke up before Kati and G3 so I walked up to the hill—it was less than a mile away. According to the sign, the battle was fought on my brother’s birthday, December 16, 1864. (It was also the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.) The Confederates had control of the Hill until the Union soldiers defended them. The victory secured Tennessee for the Union.

My brother, G2, made Johnny cakes for breakfast. They are pancakes made with cornmeal. I had never had them before, but I’ve read novels in which characters eat them, so I was eager to give them a try. I liked the more than pancakes.

We—Kati, G2, G3, and I—took the Natchez Trace Parkway to Columbia, Tennessee to visit James Polk’s ancestral home. As disappointed as I was in the tour yesterday, that’s how much I enjoyed the tour today. The tour guide was fantastic—super personable and knowledgeable. She told one story after another, sharing so many interesting facts that I can’t possibly recall them all here. However, I will note the things I found most intriguing. Polk is considered by some historians to be the most significant of the forgotten presidents. He added more territory to the US than any other president before or since. He negotiated with Britain to obtain the Oregon Territory, he annexed Texas, and he tried to buy territory from Mexico. When that failed, he instigated a conflict with Mexico that escalated into the Mexican-American War.

As Speaker of the House, Polk refused to allow any debate on slavery. He and his wife owned slaves. He even purchased land in Mississippi for a plantation. He had his brother-in-law purchase slaves, many of them children, to work the fields. Polk wanted to keep his own name out the business of purchasing them so that newspapers wouldn’t get wind of his involvement. He feared the truth would sink his political career. His plantation had one of the highest mortality rates among the slaves. When the United States acquired so much land after the Mexican-American War, the question of whether or not slavery would be permitted in the new territory hastened the US toward Civil War.

Polk promised to serve one term and he kept that promise. He also fulfilled every campaign promise. To this day, he holds the record for taking the fewest vacation days while serving as president. It was his duty, he believed, as president to work tirelessly. Andrew Jackson was one of his political mentors.

Perhaps what I found most interesting about the tour was what I learned about Polk’s wife Sarah. Polk died three months after leaving office and his wife went on to out live him by 42 years. She fell into such a deep depression when he died that family feared she would die soon after. It was unofficially adopting (women had no legal rights, so she couldn’t legally adopt) a little girl to raise that helped her overcome her depression. She did, however, wear black for the remainder of her life.

The Polk’s were childless. It is believed that a kidney stone operation—done with no anesthesia,except a bottle of alcohol—rendered Polk sterile. Not having children to raise allowed Sarah to be one of the most influential First Ladies. She was her husband’s equal intellectually. Her own father wanted his daughters educated and when the local school—which Polk attended—refused to enroll them, he hired the teachers from that school to teach his daughters. Polk relied on his wife as a secretary and someone with whom he could discuss important issues. She would read the newspapers and cut out all the relevant articles for her husband so he could keep abreast of the important news. She also took charge of social events. She was fiercely opposed to alcohol which earned her the nickname Sahara Sarah. Her Presbyterian faith led her to believe dances were the devil’s work. Not even spouses should dance with each other. Therefore, she hosted dinners instead of balls. Even though she was politically involved, and politically astute, she was an anti-suffragist. Since women were not educated—she was the exception—she feared that if they were granted the right to vote it would equal a second vote for their husbands. It was sound reasoning—and she might have been right—but she didn’t feel the need to push for education for women either. Education at the time was a right granted only to the wealthy. During the Civil War, Sarah officially remained neutral. Officers from both sides would visit her, including Grant.

The Polks owned one table that was made from marble stolen from the ruins at Carthage. There is an eagle on it but it isn’t bald. The eagle is also facing the wrong direction. He is looking at the olive branch when he should be looking at the arrows since Polk was a wartime president.

Several years ago, G3 was enthralled with the Percy Jackson novels. In the first book, Percy visits the replica of the Parthenon in Nashville where he and Annabeth fight the hydra. Since we are in Nashville, G3 requested that we visit the Parthenon which is in Centennial Park. It’s an art museum, but the museum was closed. It was still cool to see the building. Since there was an Adventure Lab cache in the park, G3 and I walked around doing it. Kati chose to sit in the shade instead.

We also stopped to see the Suffragette Memorial in the Park. When the States had to vote to ratify the 19th Amendment—giving women the right to vote—there were moments when it looked like the Amendment would not get enough states to support it. In Tennessee, the State Senate voted in favor of ratification. Next, the vote moved to the House where it seemed there would not be enough support in favor of it. One Tennessee representative, Harry Burn, wore a red rose indicating that he would be a no vote. However, his mother had sent him a letter saying, “Dear Son… Hurray and vote for suffrage and don’t keep them in doubt… Don’t forget to be a good boy…” When it came time to actually vote, he couldn’t ignore his mother’s words—he was probably afraid he’d never again get a home cooked meal—and so he ended up casting the tie breaking vote in favor of ratification. With Tennessee in the yes column, women’s suffrage became a reality.

Kati dragged us to another outdoor store, one recommended by G2, to look for a three man tent. There were two options. After briefing the sales guy about her camping woes, he helped us set up one of the tents. Kati didn’t love it. Nor did she hate it. She did like it more than the tent we bought yesterday, so she got it. Of course that meant a trip back to REI to return the other one. Hopefully, that’s it. Hopefully, the new tents will hold up and we won’t have to make anymore returns.

For dinner, the four of us went out to a pizza place. The pizza was made in wood burning ovens that were imported from Italy. The pizza was really good…better than Jersey.