Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Carnton Plantation

Two years ago I read the book "The Widow of the South" based on the life of Carrie McGavok. She and her husband opened their house up after the battle of Franklin. 300 wounded were in the house at one point with the upstairs children's room serving as a surgery. There are still blood stains in the wood floor today.


At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of November 30, 1864, Carnton was witness to one of the bloodiest battles of the entire Civil War. The Confederate Army of Tennessee furiously assaulted Union troops entrenched along the southern edge of Franklin. The Battle of Franklin was the bloodiest five hours of combat during the Civil War, a massive frontal assault larger than Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. Although it was short in duration, some 9,500 soldiers were killed, wounded, captured or missing. Nearly 7,000 of that number were Confederate. Carnton served as the largest field hospital in the area for hundreds of wounded and dying Confederate soldiers who were brought to the site for surgeries and medical care.




I was lucky enough to visit this historic plantation in late February. The plantation is not far from Nashville and is now considered the most haunted place in Tennessee.




The McGavocks donated 2 acres of their land to become a Confederate Cemetary, the largest private one in the nation.




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