Does a Woman Soldier Haunt a National Cemetery?

Women soldiers went to extreme measures to blend in while in the ranks, their true identity hidden.  However, there may be one female fighter who is finally trying to make herself visible, an act she so desperately tried to avoid 150 years ago.

Strange Stories From the Cemeteries

(Not woman soldier related)

This installment comes from the Knoxville National Cemetery and concerns an unknown soldier buried in grave 275.

2nd East Tennessee Cavalry

The South wasn't as solidly pro-Confederate as one might be led to believe.  Every state in the Confederacy, except South Carolina, had units in Federal service.  Over 50 of these were raised in Tennessee, an especially divided state.  One of these regiments was the 2nd East Tennessee Cavalry, which was also referred to as the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry.   The following photograph at the Tennessee State Library and Archives shows soldiers of Co. D.  Click to enlarge.

Welcome to Smashville!

Every year at this time, Music City is transformed into Smashville as hockey returns to Bridgestone Arena.  The term is quite accurate to describe what goes on there.  It's a brutal sport where blood is commonly spilled.

Bodies have been banging against the boards since 1998.   The concept of "Smashville" goes back further than that, however.  Over 135 years prior, the city of Nashville was a rough place plagued by violence and vice.  In the surrounding rural areas, savage guerrilla acts were committed by both sides as well as those with no loyalty other than to themselves. An article in the Nashville Daily Union newspaper on September 9, 1862, reported that “companies of outlaws belonging to neither side, taking advantage of the anarchy which prevails in the country, roam about for the sole purpose of plunder. These bandits prey on secessionists and loyalists alike.”