The long drive for the restoration of the Monument won financial support from federal, state, and local governments, individuals, and organizations. On June 22, 1996, local alumni of the University of Iowa put on a highly successful “Pocket Change for the Peace Monument,” kicked off by Governor Don Sundquist.
GROUNDBREAKING
On December 11, 1997, Caldwell family descendents and neighborhood children took turns shoveling earth where the restored Monument would rise. Here a Confederate color guard salutes the event.
Proud troops representing the Union army victorious at Nashville look on.
William E. Shofner, founder and president of the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society, addresses the audience.
SITE PREPARATION
Hawkins Partners principal Gary Hawkins (center) reviews site plans with contractors.
The foundation for the Monument was poured on February 24, 1998.
Craftsmen take their measurements.
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
The first of the Georgia granite is set on the foundation.
MOVING THE
BRONZE
Moretti's horses and the Spirit of Youth are placed
on the base of the new Monument. All the crane work
for the reconstruction of the statue was donated by
McCord Crane Services of Nashville. It was a gift of
enormous value and key importance to the project
THE ANGEL
Local sculptor Coley Coleman creating a replica of Giuseppi Moretti’s Angel of Peace, 1998-99 The artist used tools gross and fine, from hammer and chisel to diamond-studded drills.
Contractors and State officials look over the Angel, ready for her ascent to the top of the obelisk.
Midday on May 25, 1999, the Angel leaves the trailer bed on her flight.
Against a pluperfect blue sky, white wings--
Crowned with success! The restoration of the monument is done.
REDEDICATION
Some two hundred people gathered for the rededication of the Battle of Nashville Monument, June 26, 1999. The principal address was given by Wilbur F. Creighton. Ward DeWitt, Tennessee Historical Commission chairman. rededicated the restored statue to the children of Nashville. Youngsters in the audience were given fragments of granite from the carving of the Angel of Peace.
BUILDING THE WALL OF PEACE
Thanks to an initial gift from the Frist Foundation, which other donors enriched, the statue gained several amenities. Here workers pour the retaining wall that would support a plaza.
The plaza was built during the summer of 2001. It provided spaces for future tree planting, seating that invited public uses such as concerts, and an open, welcoming approach to the Monument by pedestrians.
Filmmakers, reenactors, and neighborhood groups have taken advantage of the setting and scene at the Battle of Nashville Monument park for their events.
BASKET OAK
The Monument shares its lawn with a giant Basket Oak, a living witness to the Battle of Nashville. Units from both sides passed under it during the fierce fight. The tree is listed in the Landmark and Historic Tree Register, maintained by the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council.
“THE SPIRIT OF YOUTH…”
Carved on the south side of the base, these lines honor both the dead of the Battle of Nashville and those Americans who lost their lives in the first World War. Interpretations of the sculpture that neglect the latter meaning are misleading and incomplete, e.g., the State’s official marker erected at the site,.
“OH, VALOROUS GRAY…”
The poem is attributed to John Trotwood Moore (1858-1929), novelist, versifier, and Tennessee State Librarian and Archivist.
His lines, inscribed on the north façade of the base, continue the theme of national unity. With the Union victory at the decisive Battle of Nashville, the Confederacy’s hopes for Southern independence perished. The reunification of North and South was made perpetual by the common sacrifice of soldiers from both sections who enlisted under one flag for the Allied cause, 1917-18.