Fairmount to dedicate new monument to Civil War veteran Friday

A Civil War veteran and his wife are being honored with a monument at Fairmount Memorial Park.

Thomas Redding Tannatt was seriously wounded during the Petersburg Campaign on June 16, 1864, when he was struck in the head with a minie ball.

He was later elevated to brevet-general as an honorary promotion.

After the war, he and his wife, Elizabeth Forster Tannatt, moved west to Walla Walla where Thomas Tannatt served as mayor and sought appointment to the office of territorial governor in 1885.

“Relocating to Farmington in April 1893, Thomas accepted a position as a member of the Board of Regents of Washington Agricultural College (present-day WSU),” according to a news release from the Fairmount Memorial Association.

Elizabeth Tannatt joined the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and was involved in the Woman’s Relief Corps as well as the campaign for women’s suffrage.

“Elizabeth continued in her philanthropic work and was a moving force in forming the Esther Reed Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the first in Spokane on June 14, 1900 (Flag Day),” the news release said.

She was also involved in Red Cross.

The couple came to Spokane in 1906.

“The couple embraced the West, always seeking civic improvement and volunteerism in their new environment,” the news release said.

Thomas Tannatt died on Dec. 20, 1913. Elizabeth Tannatt died on Feb. 22, 1920.

The Tannatt monument will be dedicated on Friday at 1 p.m. at Fairmount Memorial Park, 5200 W. Wellesley Ave.

A previous version of this article listed an incorrect date for the memorial, due to a reporter’s error. It was updated to reflect the Friday, July 14, event.