Carnton
Encyclopedia
Carnton is a historic plantation
house and museum in Franklin
in Williamson County, Tennessee
. Carnton is the setting for the novel The Widow of the South, by author Robert Hicks
. The sprawling farm and its buildings played an important role during and immediately after the Battle of Franklin
during the American Civil War
.
, settling in Nashville, Tennessee
. Significant work on the home started in the mid 1820s using slave labor
. McGavock named the property after his father’s birthplace in County Antrim, Ireland
. The term “Carnton“ was derived from a Gaelic
word cairn
that means “a pile of stones”. A cairn is sometimes a pile of stones marking a grave, which makes this place name a sad prophecy.
Early on, the main house was adjoined to the smokehouse or kitchen by a two-story wing. The smokehouse was the first structure in the property (c. 1815). The kitchen was destroyed by a tornado in 1909. The remains can clearly be seen today and were being excavated by archaeologists.
James K. Polk
and was good friends with President Andrew Jackson
, who stayed in the McGavock home on more than one occasion. Jackson gave a rocking chair to the McGavocks, and it is one of the several original artifacts or pieces of furniture one can see when touring the home today.
The home was ready for the McGavock family to permanently occupy in the late 1820s. At the time it was 1,400 acres (6 km²) of which 500 acres (2 km²) was used for farming. In the 1830s, McGavock had 250 hogs, cattle, and sheep.
John McGavock started renovating the home in the late 1840s, preferring a Greek Revival style to the Federal style it was birthed from. Thus, he added a two-story Greek Revival portico and two dormers in the attic. In the 1850s, McGavock added a two-story porch onto the rear of the home.
There are Greek Revival touches in the interior as well, including then-fashionable wallpapers, faux-painting and carpets in most every room. Three distinct wallpaper patterns have been discovered on the third floor. The central passage downstairs appears much as it did in 1864 during the Civil War. The wallpaper design, though a reproduction, is based on a popular design for the time. The parlor also saw a Greek Revival upgrade in the form of a fireplace mantel, new wallpaper and carpeting. The china set in the dining room is original to the McGavock family and contains over 200 pieces, all hand-made, each completely unique. The clock on the mantel in the parlor is original to the family and it still works, counting the time like it did in the hours after the Battle of Franklin in December 1864.
In December 1848 John married his cousin Carrie Winder of Ducros Plantation House in Thibodaux, Louisiana
. The couple had five children but only two would survive past 1864. McGavock sent his slaves to Alabama
in 1862, so in 1864 there were no McGavock slaves present.
was about $339,000 in 1860, which is about $6 million in 2007 dollars. Among the crops the McGavocks grew in the mid-19th century in middle Tennessee
were wheat, corn, oats, hay, and potatoes. The McGavocks were also involved in raising and breeding thoroughbred
horses.
Carnton became the epicenter for tending the wounded and dying after the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. The home was situated less than one mile (1.6 km) from the location of the activity that took place on the far Union Eastern flank. Since most of the battle took place after dark, from 5 to 9 p.m., the McGavocks witnessed the fire and explosion of guns and muskets that permeated the sky over Franklin on that Indian summer
evening.
More than 1,750 Confederates lost their lives at Franklin. It was on Carnton's back porch that four Confederate
generals’ bodies—Patrick Cleburne
, John Adams, Otho F. Strahl
and Hiram B. Granbury
—were laid out for a few hours after the Battle of Franklin.
Some 6,000 soldiers were wounded and another 1,000 were missing. After the battle, many Franklin-area homes were converted into temporary field hospital
s, but Carnton by far was the largest hospital site. Hundreds of Confederate wounded and dying were tended by Carrie McGavock and the family after the battle. Some estimates say that as many as 300 Confederate soldiers were cared for by the McGavocks inside Carnton alone. Scores, if not hundreds more, were spread out through the rest of the property, including in the slave cabins. Some wounded had to simply sleep outside during the frigid nights, when the temperature reached below zero.
Carrie's two children, Hattie (then nine) and son Winder (then seven) witnessed the carnage as well, probably providing some basic assistance to the surgeons as well. Many of the floors in Carnton became stained as the Confederate blood soaked through the carpets and seeped into the wood floors. Many blood stains are still present today. The heaviest stains are in the children’s bedroom which was used as an operating room. Today one can gather a sense of the tragedy by examining the medical equipment and supplies displayed.
John M. Schofield evacuated toward Nashville, leaving all the dead, including (several hundred) Union soldiers, and the wounded who were unable to walk as well. So morning, the 750 residents of Franklin faced an unimaginable scene of what to do with over 2,500 dead soldiers, most of those being 1,750 Confederates.
Confederate General John Bell Hood
gave orders to burial details to work through the battlefield and gather the Rebel dead by units, regiment
s, and companies. He did not want the Southern boys buried in mass graves, whose identities would sure to be lost in time. Most of the 1,750 boys were identified by name, rank and unit before being buried on the battlefield in shallow graves two to three feet deep. Wooden markers were created to mark their identity. Many of the soldiers were originally buried on property belonging to Fountain Branch Carter and James McNutt. Many of the Union soldiers were re-interred at the Stones River National Cemetery in Murfreesboro
.
for the sum of $5.00 per soldier.
A team of four individuals led by George Cuppett took responsibility for the reburial operation in the spring of 1866. By June, some ten weeks after the start, the last Confederate soldier was laid to rest at McGavock Cemetery. Some 1,481 Rebel soldiers would now be at peace. Soldiers from every Southern state in the Confederacy
, except Virginia, is represented in the cemetery.
Sadly, George Cuppett’s brother, Marcellus, died during the process of the reburials. Just 25 years old, he is buried at the head of the Texas
section in the McGavock Cemetery. He is the only civilian interred there.
Time has not been favorable to the identities of the Confederate soldiers though. 780 Confederate soldiers’ identities are positively identified, leaving some 558 as officially listed as unknown.
magazine praying, mentioning about Carrie McGavock in 1905:
Today, the McGavock Confederate Cemetery is the largest privately owned and maintained military cemetery in the United States. The Franklin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
has maintained the cemetery since 1905.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1973. The listing is for an area of 26 acres (10.5 ha), including one contributing building and one contributing site. Also included is one non-contributing site,.
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
house and museum in Franklin
Franklin, Tennessee
Franklin is a city within and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 62,487 as of the 2010 census Franklin is located approximately south of downtown Nashville.-History:...
in Williamson County, Tennessee
Williamson County, Tennessee
Williamson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010 US Census, the population was 183,182. The County's seat is Franklin, and it is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is named after Hugh Williamson, a...
. Carnton is the setting for the novel The Widow of the South, by author Robert Hicks
Robert Hicks (American author)
Robert Hicks is the author of The New York Times Bestseller The Widow of the South and has played a major role in preserving the historic Carnton mansion, a focal point in the Battle of Franklin .-Early Life and Arts Background:...
. The sprawling farm and its buildings played an important role during and immediately after the Battle of Franklin
Battle of Franklin II
The Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864, at Franklin, Tennessee, as part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War. It was one of the worst disasters of the war for the Confederate States Army. Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee conducted...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Initial construction
The first construction at Carnton took place in 1815 by Randal McGavock (1768–1843), who had emigrated from VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, settling in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. Significant work on the home started in the mid 1820s using slave labor
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. McGavock named the property after his father’s birthplace in County Antrim, Ireland
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
. The term “Carnton“ was derived from a Gaelic
Goidelic languages
The Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...
word cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
that means “a pile of stones”. A cairn is sometimes a pile of stones marking a grave, which makes this place name a sad prophecy.
Early on, the main house was adjoined to the smokehouse or kitchen by a two-story wing. The smokehouse was the first structure in the property (c. 1815). The kitchen was destroyed by a tornado in 1909. The remains can clearly be seen today and were being excavated by archaeologists.
Patriarch: Randal McGavock
Randal McGavock was a prominent local politician, serving as Mayor of Nashville for a one-year term in 1824. He knew PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
James K. Polk
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...
and was good friends with President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, who stayed in the McGavock home on more than one occasion. Jackson gave a rocking chair to the McGavocks, and it is one of the several original artifacts or pieces of furniture one can see when touring the home today.
The home was ready for the McGavock family to permanently occupy in the late 1820s. At the time it was 1,400 acres (6 km²) of which 500 acres (2 km²) was used for farming. In the 1830s, McGavock had 250 hogs, cattle, and sheep.
Son: Col. John McGavock
Randal McGavock died in 1843, leaving his property to two sons, James and John (1815–1893). John took possession of the Carnton property. He continued to farm it until his death in 1893. John married Carrie Winder (1829–1905), who is famously known as the "Widow of the South".John McGavock started renovating the home in the late 1840s, preferring a Greek Revival style to the Federal style it was birthed from. Thus, he added a two-story Greek Revival portico and two dormers in the attic. In the 1850s, McGavock added a two-story porch onto the rear of the home.
There are Greek Revival touches in the interior as well, including then-fashionable wallpapers, faux-painting and carpets in most every room. Three distinct wallpaper patterns have been discovered on the third floor. The central passage downstairs appears much as it did in 1864 during the Civil War. The wallpaper design, though a reproduction, is based on a popular design for the time. The parlor also saw a Greek Revival upgrade in the form of a fireplace mantel, new wallpaper and carpeting. The china set in the dining room is original to the McGavock family and contains over 200 pieces, all hand-made, each completely unique. The clock on the mantel in the parlor is original to the family and it still works, counting the time like it did in the hours after the Battle of Franklin in December 1864.
In December 1848 John married his cousin Carrie Winder of Ducros Plantation House in Thibodaux, Louisiana
Thibodaux, Louisiana
Thibodaux is a small city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 14,431 at the 2000 census. Thibodaux is a principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux...
. The couple had five children but only two would survive past 1864. McGavock sent his slaves to Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
in 1862, so in 1864 there were no McGavock slaves present.
Carnton during the Civil War
Just prior to the Civil War, the McGavock’s net worthNet worth
In business, net worth is the total assets minus total outside liabilities of an individual or a company. For a company, this is called shareholders' preference and may be referred to as book value. Net worth is stated as at a particular year in time...
was about $339,000 in 1860, which is about $6 million in 2007 dollars. Among the crops the McGavocks grew in the mid-19th century in middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....
were wheat, corn, oats, hay, and potatoes. The McGavocks were also involved in raising and breeding thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horses.
Carnton became the epicenter for tending the wounded and dying after the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. The home was situated less than one mile (1.6 km) from the location of the activity that took place on the far Union Eastern flank. Since most of the battle took place after dark, from 5 to 9 p.m., the McGavocks witnessed the fire and explosion of guns and muskets that permeated the sky over Franklin on that Indian summer
Indian summer
An Indian summer is a meteorological phenomenon that occurs in the autumn. It refers to a period of considerably above normal temperatures, accompanied by dry and hazy conditions, usually after there has been a killing frost...
evening.
More than 1,750 Confederates lost their lives at Franklin. It was on Carnton's back porch that four Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
generals’ bodies—Patrick Cleburne
Patrick Cleburne
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was an Irish American soldier, best known for his service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, where he rose to the rank of major general....
, John Adams, Otho F. Strahl
Otho F. Strahl
Otho French Strahl was an attorney and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was one of a small number of Southern generals who were born in the North.-Biography:...
and Hiram B. Granbury
Hiram B. Granbury
Hiram Bronson Granbury was a lawyer and county judge in Texas before the American Civil War . He organized a volunteer company for the Confederate States Army after the outbreak of the Civil War and became its captain. He rose to the grade of brigadier general in the Confederate army...
—were laid out for a few hours after the Battle of Franklin.
Some 6,000 soldiers were wounded and another 1,000 were missing. After the battle, many Franklin-area homes were converted into temporary field hospital
Field hospital
A field hospital is a large mobile medical unit that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities...
s, but Carnton by far was the largest hospital site. Hundreds of Confederate wounded and dying were tended by Carrie McGavock and the family after the battle. Some estimates say that as many as 300 Confederate soldiers were cared for by the McGavocks inside Carnton alone. Scores, if not hundreds more, were spread out through the rest of the property, including in the slave cabins. Some wounded had to simply sleep outside during the frigid nights, when the temperature reached below zero.
Carrie Winder McGavock – Widow of the South
Carrie led the Good Samaritan services for the family on behalf of the Southern soldiers after the battle. She made breakfast the following morning, and witnesses say her dress was blood soaked at the bottom. Doubtless, many soldiers died inside the home or out on the grounds of the plantation due to the horrible Battle of Franklin. At least 150 died the first night.Carrie's two children, Hattie (then nine) and son Winder (then seven) witnessed the carnage as well, probably providing some basic assistance to the surgeons as well. Many of the floors in Carnton became stained as the Confederate blood soaked through the carpets and seeped into the wood floors. Many blood stains are still present today. The heaviest stains are in the children’s bedroom which was used as an operating room. Today one can gather a sense of the tragedy by examining the medical equipment and supplies displayed.
Initial burial of the soldiers – December 1864
After the battle, at 1a.m. on December 1, Union forces under Maj. Gen.Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
John M. Schofield evacuated toward Nashville, leaving all the dead, including (several hundred) Union soldiers, and the wounded who were unable to walk as well. So morning, the 750 residents of Franklin faced an unimaginable scene of what to do with over 2,500 dead soldiers, most of those being 1,750 Confederates.
Confederate General John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood had a reputation for bravery and aggressiveness that sometimes bordered on recklessness...
gave orders to burial details to work through the battlefield and gather the Rebel dead by units, regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
s, and companies. He did not want the Southern boys buried in mass graves, whose identities would sure to be lost in time. Most of the 1,750 boys were identified by name, rank and unit before being buried on the battlefield in shallow graves two to three feet deep. Wooden markers were created to mark their identity. Many of the soldiers were originally buried on property belonging to Fountain Branch Carter and James McNutt. Many of the Union soldiers were re-interred at the Stones River National Cemetery in Murfreesboro
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
.
Deterioration of the graves – 1865 through April 1866
Over the next eighteen months (from all of 1865 through the first half of 1866) many of the markers were either rotting or used for firewood, and the writing on the boards was disappearing. Thus, to preserve the graves, John and Carrie McGavock donated 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) of their property to be designated as an area for the Confederate dead to be re-interred. The citizens of Franklin raised the funding and the soldiers were exhumed and re-interred in the Mcgavock Confederate CemeteryMcGavock Confederate Cemetery
The McGavock Confederate Cemetery, , the largest privately held Confederate cemetery in the United States is located in Franklin, Tennessee. It was established on land donated by the McGavock planter family....
for the sum of $5.00 per soldier.
A team of four individuals led by George Cuppett took responsibility for the reburial operation in the spring of 1866. By June, some ten weeks after the start, the last Confederate soldier was laid to rest at McGavock Cemetery. Some 1,481 Rebel soldiers would now be at peace. Soldiers from every Southern state in the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, except Virginia, is represented in the cemetery.
Sadly, George Cuppett’s brother, Marcellus, died during the process of the reburials. Just 25 years old, he is buried at the head of the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
section in the McGavock Cemetery. He is the only civilian interred there.
Soldiers' identities preserved originally
The McGavocks, especially Carrie, took great care to preserve the identity of the Confederate soldiers. The original names and identities of the soldiers were recorded in a cemetery record book, probably by George Cuppett, and the book fell into the watchful hands of Carrie after the battle. The original book is on display upstairs in Carnton.Time has not been favorable to the identities of the Confederate soldiers though. 780 Confederate soldiers’ identities are positively identified, leaving some 558 as officially listed as unknown.
Carrie's devotion
It would fall to the McGavocks to care for the nearly 1,500 Confederate dead for the remainder of their lives. John McGavock died in 1893 and Carrie in 1905. Carrie McGavock's shepherding of the fallen of Franklin lasted 41 years. Rev. John W. Hanner was quoted in Confederate VeteranConfederate Veteran
The Confederate Veteran was a newsmagazine, published monthly from 1893-1932. It furnished Confederate veterans of the American Civil War and other readers with articles and pictures regarding that war. It remains a valuable historical resource, as the archives contain many thousands of names and...
magazine praying, mentioning about Carrie McGavock in 1905:
We thank thee for the . . . feeble knees she lifted up, for the many hearts she comforted, the needy ones she supplied, the sick she ministered unto, and the boys she found in abject want and mothered and reared into worthy manhood. In the last day they will rise up and call her blessed. Today she is not, because thou hast taken her; and we are left to sorrow for the Good Samaritan of Williamson County, a name richly merited by her.
Today, the McGavock Confederate Cemetery is the largest privately owned and maintained military cemetery in the United States. The Franklin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
United Daughters of the Confederacy
The United Daughters of the Confederacy is a women's heritage association dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served in the military and died in service to the Confederate States of America . UDC began as the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, organized in 1894 by...
has maintained the cemetery since 1905.
Carnton's post-McGavock years and restoration - 1907 until present
When Winder McGavock died in 1907, his widow sold the house a few years later (c. 1911). Since then, Carnton has passed through the hands of several owners. By the late 1970s, the property was in horrible disrepair and nearly unsalvageable. However, in 1978 Carnton fell into the hands of the Carnton Association when they acquired the house and 10 acres (40,468.6 m²). The property has been in constant renovation since, and by the late 1990s it was restored to its former elegance and glory. Carnton has never received any funding or support from local, state or the Federal government. The private sector is responsible for the success of preserving the plantation.Historic site
Today, Carnton receives visitors from all over the world as many people visit to learn the true story of the Widow of the South, Carrie McGavock.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1973. The listing is for an area of 26 acres (10.5 ha), including one contributing building and one contributing site. Also included is one non-contributing site,.
Further reading
- The McGavock Confederate Cemetery: A Revised and Updated Compilation. Eric A. Jacobson.
- The Carnton Association