Local Historian Describes Battlefield’s History
The link below contains a talk by Ridley Wills, II, a Nashville historian who has authored numerous books on local history, to the Lealand Garden Club of Nashville on October 7, 2013. The paper presents a very readable and fact-filled description of the history of the area of South Nashville which surrounded the Lealand Plantation and was a hotly-contested part of the battlefield during the Battle of Nashville.
Mr. Wills is a descendent of William Giles Harding, owner of Belle Meade Plantation, one of the city’s most prominent historic sites and which Mr. Wills wrote about in his book, The History of Belle Meade: Mansion, Plantation and Stud. In addition to his prolific output of books exploring Tennessee and Nashville history, he is also a past winner of the Tennessee History Book Award (1991), and has served as adjunct professor of history at Belmont University in Nashville.