Rippavilla this month will host several guided, candlelight tours in commemoration of the Battle of Spring Hill.
Guests will hear U.S. Civil War reenactors offering firsthand accounts of Union and Confederate soldiers as they tour the beautiful plantation mansion by candlelight. As part of the tour, “Susan Cheairs” will read a letter from her husband, Nat, who is imprisoned during this memorable night.
Tours will run every 15 minutes between 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, with the final tour of the evening at 8:45 p.m.
On Nov. 29, 1864, the Union Army, under the command of Major General John M. Schofield, slipped past Confederate forces in Spring Hill. The following morning, after receiving news that the Federal Army escaped his trap, Confederate Commander Lt. General John Bell Hood ordered his senior officers to meet at Rippavilla for a breakfast meeting. According to published research, Hood ordered his army to march to Franklin, where one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War occurred.
Candlelight tour admission is $15 per person and may be purchased online, www.rippavilla.org, or by phone, 931-486-9037. This annual event takes place at Rippavilla Plantation, 5700 Main St., in Spring Hill.
