The Tennessee Historical Commission, through its Tennessee Wars Commission, has awarded a historic $505,000 grant to The Battle of Nashville Trust (BONT) to partially fund the Trust’s acquisition of 1.2 acres of land that was part of the Federal attack at Shy’s Hill on Dec. 16, 1864.

BONT had a rare opening in the spring of 2024 to buy a vacant lot, located at the corner of Harding Place and Benton Smith Road, from a residential developer. It did so with the technical assistance of the American Battlefield Trust. In 2025, the THC announced its decision to award $505,000 to the Trust, with the funds specifically designated for use in acquiring the Shy’s Hill site.

Logos of Tennessee Historical Commission and Tennessee Wars Commission will appear on signage to be erected at newly-acquired Shy’s Hill site

In accordance with requirements associated with the grant, BONT will install signage on the tract reflecting the source of the funding. The signage, to be erected this summer, will depict the logos of the THC and the Wars Commission, and contain the following language:

“The acquisition of the Shy’s Hill tract, associated with the Nashville Battlefield, is being supported in part by the Civil War Sites Preservation Fund, administered by the Tennessee Wars Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission, Department of Environment and Conservation.”

As reflected in the language of the sign, the Tennessee Wars Commission is a division of the THC that focuses on preserving and promoting Tennessee’s military history from the French and Indian War through the Civil War. It administers two grant programs, one of which is the Civil War Sites Preservation Fund. Those funds support projects such as archaeological surveys, cemetery preservation, interpretive signage, and educational programs related to military history in Tennessee.

The Wars Commission has been involved in projects that have resulted in preservation of over 7000 acres of historic property. It collaborates with organizations such as the American Battlefield Trust and the American Battlefield Protection Program to further its preservation goals.

The historical value of this core battlefield site is monumental. Late in the afternoon of December 16, 1864, the Fifth and Ninth Minnesota Regiments, led by Col. Lucius Hubbard and part of Brig. Gen. John MacArthur’s division of the Federal XVI Corps, stormed up this portion of the base of Shy’s Hill and were devastated by Confederate fire as they crossed the open ground of a muddy cornfield. Remarkably, the scene was depicted in the huge 1906 oil painting of the Minnesota assault by famed artist Howard Pyle. Experts agree that Pyle’s painting, which hangs in the Minnesota State Capitol Building, depicts this very site in its background. Pyle had visited the Nashville battlefield before completing the painting in 1906, and had made photographs of the area where the Union assault occurred.

The magnanimous THC/Wars Commission grant has enabled the Trust to make a significant addition – the largest since acquiring the eastern slope of Shy’s Hill in the 1990s — to its preserved battlefield ground, which will now be protected against development and preserving it for the benefit of all people interested in walking on the ground where this decisive and bloody battle occurred more than 160 years ago.