FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) - Preservationists in Franklin said the purchase of a tract of land will be the centerpiece when the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's Battle of Franklin is commemorated in 2014.
They just met a goal of raising $500,000 in less than six months to go toward buying the tract now anchored by a pizza shop in the town just south of Nashville.
The site is described as ground zero for the 1864 battle when Confederates made a fateful charge toward a well-fortified federal line. It's considered to be one of the last gasps of the Confederacy.
Franklin's Charge, a nonprofit battlefield reclamation organization, has worked since 2007 to acquire key parcels for a Civil War park. Spokesmen said the Franklin battlefield has become a national model for preservation.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
