A Bike Ride 150 Years Ago Today in Tennessee

Miss Alice Thompson sought refuge from the horrors of battle on March 5, 1863.  The seventeen-year-old had the American Civil War literally in her front yard.  The day before forces from opposing armies began to explore the flanks and comparative strength of one another.  On this date the battle took shape and most of it was fought under the frightened eyes of Alice Thompson.  She watched as the Third Arkansas regiment stormed across the land in front of her as they charged to meet the Union army.  In the hours before, the Arkansans lost their commander to enemy fire.  Miss Thompson watched as the regiment’s young flag bearer then fell.  Without the colors to rally around, the men from Arkansas floundered as withering fire rained down on their makeshift lines.  Springing from the safety of the home Miss Thompson retrieved the downed Stars and Bars and began to waive the colors.  The men cheered and regrouped.  With a new found purpose the Third Arkansas responded in force to swiftly drive Union troops from the field.  This was just part of the Battle of Thompson Station, one hundred and fifty years ago today.    

The Battle of Thompson Station was one of three battles fought in Williamson County, Tennessee during the Civil War.  Thompson Station is a battle not well-remembered by history.  Union infantry forces under the command of Colonel John Coburn met a Confederate cavalry regiment led in part by the infamous General Nathan Bedford Forrest.  Coburn was leading his men on a march to nearby Columbia in an effort to gather information on the southern troops when he attacked a small Confederate force.  The Rebels withstood the frontal assault and counterattacked.  While the forces battled headlong along a small front Gen. Forrest led his cavalry into the flank of the Union line thus splitting the Federals in two.  Forrest then captured the Union supply line and sealed off escape roads.  Col. Coburn, now surrounded, surrendered.         

2013 marks the 150^th anniversary of a number of significant Civil War battles.  Chief of which is the Battle of Gettysburg fought July 1-3, 1863.  This summer, to mark the anniversary, the largest battle reenactment in history will take place.  Also in 1863 the South lost Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville, Vicksburg fell, and later Chattanooga was lost thus paving the way for Gen. Sherman’s march to the sea.  

Battlefields make great bike rides.  

A ride of the Thompson Station battlefield can begin like most other battlefield or historic site rides—at a visitor’s center.  There you can pick up a driving tour and map.  Only you aren’t driving, you are riding.  If it is a short ride go around again.  If you stop to read interpretive signage in a relaxed pedal then the next time go full speed and don’t stop.  These rides will amaze you.  Tiny Thompson Station offers 26 battlefield stops.   

Part of why we ride is to be alone with our thoughts, to be alone in nature and to be alone within a moment in time.  Battlefields are extraordinary moments in time.  Our fields of honor bring quiet solitude while at the same time offering silent ferociousness.  We have the ability to ride along meadows and beside wilderness that once hosted bravery, duty and death.  The lost souls of battle are there in the breeze, in the soil and in our memories.  These places are true and dignified.  They represent what Abraham Lincoln termed “the mystic chords of memory.”

Please visit our website, www.stickybottleteam.net.  We have a number of updated pages and we also determine how clean is CleanBottle.