Hail Chattanooga!
With the current epistle, your old History Hound embarks on his tenth year of ferreting folklore and digging up details. Well, it has been an interesting endeavor – hopefully we’ve all learned a little something along the way.
One more lesson to learn – for each of us – is to hang in there when times are tough. Now, old Hamilton is a veritable pushover when it comes to pups. Of course, as they say, all your faithful scribe ever really needed to know he learned from his wonderful dogs.
Recently, my lovable 15-year-old Bichon Frise, Mr. Snowball, has been severely under the weather – lots of seizures, coughing and wheezing, disorientation, and just plain old age. Well, the good news is that yours truly has a new respect for the old boy. Matter of fact, I didn’t expect Mr. Snowball to still be with us.
Here’s a great lesson. Through it all, he kept smiling (Bichons are known as the breed that smiles). We took him in for some first class animal doctoring, and the pills have helped. My little white dog is plumped up from steroids, less energetic because of Phenobarbital, and not really enthusiastic for the liver pill I have to stick down his throat every morning, but they have helped immensely.
However, the truth is, to my simple way of thinking, the primary reason Mr. Snowball still wags his tail and begs for treats at the kitchen cabinet is simply because he isn’t quite done yet. He still has bones to chew and neighborhood pals with whom to sniff. Truer words were never spoken than the old adage, “It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
Friends, this commentary is not necessarily meant to be profound, but just to provide a point to ponder. Next time you find yourself up against it, keep smiling, do your best and persevere. Mr. Snowball has offered this lesson courtesy of optimistic old dogs everywhere.
Dear Hamilton Bush,
A Civil War buff and friend of mine recently got me interested in historic preservation around town. I began following the work of the folks at Cornerstones, Inc. The history of the old structures around our city fascinates me. This includes both those which have been preserved and those which have sadly been lost. One of the most intriguing is long gone, but could you possibly tell me a little about the house that supposedly served as the headquarters of General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War Battle of Chattanooga. What do you know of this structure?
Sincerely,
Gone But Not Forgotten
Dear Gone,
The old homestead of which you write, razed in the name of progress in 1966, was constructed by a Chattanooga businessman named T.J. Lattner sometime before the Civil War. Lattner is noted not only for his business acumen but also for his apparent Confederate sympathies. Early records of the city’s history reflect that Mr. Lattner was a member of the vigilance committee. The group, appointed by the local Board of Aldermen, formed shortly after the war began with the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.
The vigilance committee was created “to take into consideration persons suspected of being dangerous in the community, and take such action as in their wisdom they may deem expedient.” Now, to old Hamilton this sounds like a citizens militia style organization whose job it was to keep the peace as the anxieties and tensions of the conflict rose to ever higher levels. Of course, the idea of taking expedient action might lead one to inquire as to how such a phrase might be interpreted.
Well, Mr. Lattner’s house, quite probably to his dismay, became the headquarters of General Grant, the most famous of Union commanders during the war and future President of the United States, when he was called upon to salvage a most difficult situation. The Union troops in the city were under siege, and their former commander, General William S. Rosecrans, had responded to the defeat at Chickamauga “like a duck that had been hit on the head.”
Grant organized the troops, called in reinforcements from two other Union armies, and eventually led them in raising the siege of Chattanooga and opening the gateway to Atlanta. Much of the planning for his offensive must have taken place in Lattner’s single story residence. Although the house is gone, its site was near the south end of the Walnut Street Bridge, which was built more than three decades later, and is today occupied by a brick office building.
Another Union commander, by far the most infamous of them all to Southerners, also used the house as a headquarters. General William T. Sherman, whose march from Atlanta to the sea in 1864 made Georgia “howl,” was said to have taken up residence there some time after Grant departed Chattanooga. Evidence of Sherman’s occupancy includes the citation in an 1889 atlas of the city that references the house as “Hqrs of Gen. W.T. Sherman.”
When the house was torn down, it was despite the strenuous objections of local preservationists. Country music superstar Johnny Cash was said to have used some of the wood taken from the structure to panel a room in a house he built near Nashville. Although the Lattner house has disappeared, virtually without a trace, both Grant and Sherman left their mark on the history of our city and the nation.
Dear Hamilton Bush,
Although I have never been very active in local politics, the upcoming race for Governor of Tennessee has attracted my attention. Since Chattanooga native Zach Wamp is running, the question comes to mind as to whether any other Chattanoogan has ever served in the highest office of state government. What do you know?
Regards,
A Ballot To Be Cast
Dear Cast,
Your question is indeed a timely one with the election of a new chief executive for the Volunteer State only months away. Even more interesting than the question itself is the fact that only one individual hailing from our fair city has held the post in the more than 200 years since statehood in 1796, and the gentleman of whom we speak went on to serve as a U.S. senator.
James Beriah Frazier was born in the nearby hamlet of Pikeville in Bledsoe County, graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1878, and subsequently established a law practice in Chattanooga after passing the bar in 1881. With a reputation for superb oratory skills, the progressive Democrat campaigned for educational reform and was elected governor in 1902. Completing his first two-year term, he was elected to a second in 1904, but served only two months before lobbying to have himself appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy created when William B. Bate died in office.
It was said that Frazier was the last notable candidate for Governor of Tennessee to campaign in a horse-drawn carriage as the automobile was rapidly coming into fashion. His carriage reportedly was adorned with gas lanterns.
Frazier resigned as governor on March 21, 1905, and served in the Senate until 1911. His initial appointment was apparently contested by two former Tennessee governors, Robert L. Taylor and Benton McMillin. However, Frazier’s backers proved too well organized and the other hopefuls acquiesced.
After six years in the Senate, Frazier was prepared to serve another term; however, this was not to be. At the time, prior to the ratification of the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, the various state legislatures were charged with appointing the U.S. senators from their respective states. Apparently, the Tennessee State Legislature was not receptive to Fraizer serving another term in Washington, D.C., and declined to reappoint him.
With his political career at an untimely end, Frazier returned to Chattanooga and pursued his law practice for many years. He resided at 211 Glenwood Drive, near Missionary Ridge, and passed away in 1937 after suffering a heart attack at the age of 80. He is buried, along with many other luminaries of Chattanooga’s past, in Forest Hills Cemetery in St. Elmo. James B. Frazier, his son, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee.
Perhaps Congressman Wamp’s bid for the highest office in the state will meet with success. If so, such an event would indeed be momentous for Tennessee and for Chattanooga.