| Description |
Tom Pitts wasn't the first to search the construction site near a Tennessee town square. "My predecessor had done a thorough job," he acknowledges, "but before leaving I decided to check near a large iron pipe, since the small coil I was using would allow me to work closer to it than he had. A loud signal made me suspect I'd found a can, but just 3" down lay an ornately engraved silver piece dated 1865!" Believed to have been fashioned from a Spanish 8 reales, it is inscribed, "Presented to Miss FEC for Meritorious Conduct 1865"; and on the reverse, "Fort Donelson, Port Hudson, Vicksburg, Jackson, Jonesboro, Franklin, Nashville, Bentonville." Research leads Tom to believe that the medal was awarded to Felicia E. Cowan. Born in 1843, she lived in the community where it was found, married Confederate veteran Albert Frierson in 1865, and died in 1896. Tom also theorizes that she may have served as a nurse during the war, and says, "I would appreciate any information that other readers can provide on this subject, so that her story can be told in fullness and clarity, and she can receive her due recognition in history." |
