Sunday, November 16, 2014
MINNESOTA MONUMENT DEDICATED ON SHY’S HILL
On Sunday, November 16, 2014, in a drizzling rain reminiscent of December 16, 1864, a granite monument was dedicated on the northeastern slope of Shy’s Hill in memory of the 97 Minnesota troops who died in a bloody but successful uphill charge there 150 years ago. It was the first such monument placed on any part of the Battle of Nashville battlefield to specifically commemorate Union troops.
Click HERE to view the Minnesota Historical Society’s video describing the Minnesota monument, the dedication ceremony and the important role played by Minnesota troops in the battle at Shy’s Hill.
Click to enlarge
The unveiling and dedication of the monument was one of the many events which make up the commemoration of the Battle of Nashville Sesquicentennial. It was jointly hosted by the Minnesota Civil War Commemoration Task Force and The Battle of Nashville Preservation Society (BONPS). The monument had been placed by crane on November 3, 2014, with the help of BONPS board member Parke Brown and others.
A contingent of Minnesotans traveled the 900 miles to Nashville to participate in the dedication ceremony. For a closer look at the importance of the monument to the people of Minnesota, read “Eloquence At The Battle of Nashville,” an article published on November 8, 2014, in the Minneapolis Star Tribune by columnist Curt Brown, describing the long bus journey southward, its meaning to the State of Minnesota, and the story behind the moving inscription on the face of the new monument (Note: The article inadvertently reports the number of Minnesota casualties at 87 rather than the actual 97).
The dedication event and the monument itself highlighted the Battle of Nashville and the pivotal role played by the four Minnesota regiments on December 16, 1864. On that day, under orders given in the late afternoon of the rainy day by Brig. Gen. John McArthur, the four regiments made the decisive charge up Shy’s Hill, collapsing the Confederate line and becoming the pivotal moment in what is considered the last major battle of the Civil War.
Under the rain-soaked tents during the dedication, numerous speakers lent perspective to the Shy’s Hill fighting and the meaning of the monument, which marks the bloodiest single day of the war for Minnesota troops.
Ken Flies addresses attendees at Monument Dedication
Among them was Ken Flies, whose great-great-grandfather fought in the Tenth Minnesota Infantry and died in Tennessee. He is chairman of the Soldier Recognition Committee of the Minnesota Civil War Commemoration Task Force which initiated the Monument concept. The Committee worked jointly with the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society along with the Land Trust for Tennessee, organizations which have been instrumental in saving many of the major sites of the Nashville battlefield.
During his remarks, Ken read aloud the inscription on the monument, which was written by a Minnesota private, John Milton Benthall, in a document which Ken discovered in his meticulous research of the battle:
“… comrades who have grown as dear to us as brothers lie dotting the steep hillside, their battles ended, their warfare over. Never more will they press with us shoulder to shoulder as the bristling steel points sweep resistlessly on, never more in our hours of glee will their voices join in the merry jest or fill the air with laughter — they are gone. And the everlasting mountains in the shadow of which they lie shall be their eternal monument; year after year the forest trees will shed their crowns of glory over them, and day by day the winds, as they sigh through the Brentwood Hills, will chant a low, sad requiem to their memory.”
The story of how Ken discovered the author of the report from which these words were taken is a story of tenacious historical investigation and persistence. He tells the story in the article below, and along with it, has provided BONPS with a copy of the actual report by Private Benthall:
Jacob Milton Benthall Biography
The Tenth Minnesota News
Other speakers included a welcome by John Allyn, president of BONPS, and Ann Toplovich, executive director of the Tennessee Historical Society.
The Minnesota keynote address was delivered by the Hon. Dean Urdahl, Minnesota State Representative, followed by the Nashville keynote address by Jim Kay, former president of BONPS and noted Battle of Nashville historian. During the ceremony, the names of each of the 97 fallen Minnesotans was read aloud.
After the Minnesota delegation presented Tennesseans with a beautifully-framed print of the famous Howard Pyle painting of the battle at Shy’s Hill, the unveiling occurred on the hillside by Rep. Urdahl and Jim Kay, and the laying of a memorial wreath by the Minnesota Task Force representatives.
The new monument complements the Memorial Flag Plaza and park at the summit of the hill, which is maintained by BONPS. The placement was on a slight plateau area on the northeastern slope of Shy’s Hill, the area over which many of the Minnesota troops attacked dug-in Confederate troops in the late afternoon of December 16, 1864. For a more complete summary of the battle at Shy’s Hill, click here.
