VOL. 7 NO. 21
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NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Danny Trent to Farragut Middle Danny Trent, the principal at Central High School since 2009, will be the new principal at Farragut Middle School, replacing Heather Karnes who retired. Trent’s background is at the middle school level, and sources said he requested the lateral transfer. Trent was principal at Karns Middle school from 2003-09. He worked as an administrator at Carter Middle and started as a resource specialist at Halls Middle. Indya Kincannon, who represents the Fountain City area on the school board, said Trent has done an amazing job at Central and the school has been lucky to have had him. “Now it’s time to find a top notch person to continue the positive momentum he established.”
Blue Grass assistant promoted Kathy Castenir is the new principal at Copper Ridge Elementary, replacing Terry Frost who retired. Castenir has been the assistant principal at Blue Grass Elementary School since 2008. She joined Knox County Schools in 1986 as a teacher. – S. Clark
IN THIS ISSUE Coffee Break While no season is really “slow,” this time of year is fast paced for Chris Brown, equipment operator with the town of Farragut’s public works department. Chris, who has been with the town for 11 years, also has a busy family life that makes the summer season active. With three children, the house is always lively, but Chris and his wife, Amy, also are foster parents, with two foster children currently part of the family.
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See Coffee Break on page A-2
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May 27, 2013
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Words that bind Soldier’s letters offer glimpse of Battle of Campbell Station
By Suzanne Foree Neal The November day in 1863 dawned rainy, cold and dreary for the widow Nancy Galbraith, who lived in the Virtue community with her children. Before the day was done, her home would become a hospital for 15 wounded Union soldiers, and a friendship would be forged that today gives Farragut residents a glimpse of life during and after the Civil War. The Battle of Campbell Station on Nov. 16, 1863, is a day etched in history for what is now the town of Farragut. One wounded Union soldier’s misfortune would lead to a life-long friendship with the “sainted woman” and her children who took care of him for 30 days after his right leg was amputated by a Confederate surgeon. The story of V.W. Bruce and his association with Nancy Galbraith and her family unfolded when a stack of letters from Bruce were donated to the Farragut Folklife Museum. They lay in a dusty box in storage until museum director Julia Jones-Barham and volunteer Barbara Beeler found them. Beeler began to read them and found the connection to the battle. There are about nine letters in all, and they will be part of a new display on the Battle of Campbell Station opening June 3 at the museum. Bruce’s descriptive letters paint pictures with his words. Beeler says he writes of the war, but also wrote about his travels after the war and his daily life.
Letters and a photo with a touch of irony are glimpses into Farragut’s past. The letter was to Ann Eliza Galbraith from Union soldier V.W. Bruce, who was This marker, detailing the history of the Battle of Campbell nursed back to health by Nancy Galbraith follow- Station, stands near a shade tree at Virtue Cemetery on Evans ing a skirmish leading up to the Battle of Campbell Road. Photos by S.F. Neal Station in 1863. The photo shows Bruce, at right, fireplace to use for me and my comstanding beside another soldier who lost a leg and rades to be treated and cared for is titled “United we stand. Divided we fall.” by the doctor. Then next morning, Lourinda (Galbraith’s daughter) V.W. Bruce was 18 and a student at Bruce writes of the Confederate and a neighbor woman went with Adrian College in Michigan when he soldier who, when asked, removed ropes and brought bundles of straw joined the 17th Michigan Infantry on Bruce’s boot from his foot and on their backs a mile and a half to Aug. 2, 1862. On Nov. 16, Confeder- handed it to him. The second traded make beds for the wounded men to ate forces overtook Bruce’s regiment, canteens with him, giving Bruce lie on.” He goes on to say that two of leaving seven dead and 53 wounded, cold water from the nearby creek. her sons, Abram and David, buried including Bruce. In a letter to the edi- The third was the surgeon who amhis foot in the backyard. tor of the Atlanta Constitution dated putated his leg. Bruce traded his He writes of neighbor women Dec. 1, 1898, Bruce recalls the events new boots for the doctor’s old shoes. pitching in to make a Thanksgivof that day, and Confederates who But the biggest praise comes for ing meal for the wounded. “… they gave him aid as he lay wounded. He Nancy Galbraith, whose home bebrought a large dish of molasses wrote to the paper in hopes the for- came a hospital ward in a matter of candy with them and passed it to us mer Confederate soldiers would read hours. He writes, “She gave up her the story and correspond with him. best room in the house with a large To page A-3
Humbled at Arlington By Libby Morgan Friday after Mother’s Day we buried our mother. Words cannot do justice to witnessing a military funeral at Arlington. We knew it was going to be the experience of a lifetime. Mary Elizabeth Rivero Morgan, better known as Bebe, was ahead of her time. After growing up in Tampa and Havana, she graduated from Florida State College for Women in Tallahassee (now FSU) just when World War II was getting serious. Both our parents were WWII veterans, Daddy seeing action at sea as a navigator and a captain of Coast Guard ships, and Momma staying stateside as a cadet ensign lieutenant in the SPARs (based on the Coast Guard motto: “Semper Paratus – Always Ready), the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve. She trained at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., and entered active service in December 1943. (It would be 30 more years before women were accepted at
DEAL OF THE W WEEK!
the academy as regular college-level students.) Our father, Carey Carlisle Morgan Jr., graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1940 as an engineer, but the two didn’t meet until they were both on the west coast celebrating the end of the war. His ashes were placed at Arlington more than 20 years ago. Precision is the operative word in any military ceremony, and even the draft horses pulling the caisson matched perfectly. Momma’s urn was placed inside the flag-draped coffin, along with her flag, and we solemnly followed on foot. The weather was exquisite. The flag bearers, a bugler, the guard of honor, seven service members for the volley of shots, the casket team flanking the caisson, the chaplain, the Arlington Lady – a contingent, altogether, of about 40 men and women in uniform, outnumbered our family group by four to one.
My mother’s urn and the flag were carried on a caisson to the Columbarium. Photos by Libby Morgan
Our final walk with Bebe was humbling. I felt I should concentrate on her memory, but the sights and sounds of our procession and the surrounding grounds of the vast cemetery pulled my thoughts into the present. The blessing of a loving family: my sister, nephew, children, grandsons and daughterin-law accompanying me in honoring my mother overwhelmed me. After the eulogy, the folding of the flag by six service members was executed with perfect precision and was
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The presentation of the flag to my sister, Carol Watkins.
fascinating to watch. Momma died a little over a year ago, but it can take a while to schedule an inurnment at Arlington, especially when the trip included herding up her busy
offspring. She had waited patiently on my fireplace mantle until we took her home to join Daddy in the Columbarium niche wall, just a few miles from where she was born in 1919.
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