Carnton Plantation Today

Story and Photos By Lennon Parker

Source: Historical information on this page, from Carnton Plantation

"The wounded, in hundreds, were brought to Carnton during the battle, and all the night after. And when the noble old house could hold no more, the yard was appropriated until the wounded and dead filled that...." -Col. W.D.

Gale, Adjutant General of Stewarts Corp, Army of Tennessee

Another home I had the honor of visiting is the Carnton Plantation. While walking the grounds I had the same feelings as I did while touring the Carter home, but this time I felt a lot of sadness, especially inside the home where I saw the blood stains in the floor and realizing all the blood shed that was lost in that room.

The home was built in 1826 by Randal McGavock, who served as mayor of Nashville at one time. Frequent visitors to the home were historical figures such as American presidents, James K. Polk and Andrew Jackson. The McGavock's were a wealthy family, the average Middle Tennessee family owned about $9,800 in property. John McGavock owned $150,000. The home was inherited to Randal's son, John McGavock after his death in 1843. John married Carrie Elizabeth Winder in 1848. Together they had five children.

Life on the plantation would soon change for the McGavock family. At 4 p.m. on Wednesday, November 30, 1864 the battle of Franklin would start and Carnton was a witness to the one of the bloodies battles in American history. The Carnton home served as the largest field hospital in the area for hundreds of wounded and dying Confederate soldiers brought to the site for surgeries and medical care.

Carrie McGavock has gone down in history for the special care she gave to the injured by helping them in everyway she could while covered with blood. She was called "The Good Samaritan of Williamson County" for her many acts of loving service to Confederate soldiers. Later, after the battle she and her husband would designate two acres of land adjacent to their 19th century family cemetery as a final burial place for nearly 1,500 Confederates.

Up until her death, Carrie would walk the cemetery with a book with each name and where they were buried. Today, that book is on display at Carnton. Because of her devotion she is known to many as the widow of the south in which a historical fiction novel was written about her by Robert Hicks. I read the book in three hours after purchasing it at the home and it was very well written and an excellent time piece book. I couldn't put it down. I recommend it to anyone who is fascinated with the era.

Carnton Plantation did suffer financially during the Civil War with the loss of its slave labor and the economy devastation in the south. The acres around the home were leased to tenant farmers, and over the years all but 48 acres were eventually sold. The McGavock family owned Carnton until 1911. In 1978, the Carnton Association, Inc. rescued the house from years of neglect and disrepair. Today, through donations, tours they are able to restore the home which I will say they have done a magnificent job. During the you are shown pictures of before and after of how the home appeared before the association took it over and its absolutely amazing.

Pictured is Carnton Plantation. The home was built in 1826 by Randal McGavock, who served as mayor of Nashville at one time. Frequent visitors to the home were historical figures such as American presidents, James K. Polk and Andrew Jackson.   When I first saw this house I couldn't get over how beautiful it looked from a distance. I could only imagine how it looked in its day before the battle.

This is the back of the house and oh yeah, that's me on the porch. I wanted to share this picture with myself in it to show how big this house is.   I sat on one of the rocking chairs and the view is the family and confederate cemetery. I also could close my eyes and vision the scenery Carrie and her husband had seen that day right in front of them.

Pictured is a close up of the porch.   On the morning of December 1 the bodies of four Confederate generals killed during the fighting, Patrick Cleburne, Hiram Granbury, John Adams and Otho Strahl laid right there on that porch.

Pictured is the smoke house. A plantations smoke house was more than just a building where meat was preserved; it was a symbol of southern identity by southerners or outsiders alike.   While a variety of meats could be smoked, most smokehouses in the south were filled primarily with pork in the 19th century.

Pictured is the inside of the smoke house at Carnton.

Pictured is the slave house. At Carnton the 1860 census shows the McGavock's owned 39 slaves living in 11 dwellings over 640 acres, making it one of the country's larger plantations with a cash value of $339,000.

Following the Battle of Franklin in 1866, John and Carrie McGavock collected and buried the bodies of 1,496 Confederates. The five general officers killed were interred elsewhere after being brought to the house. Other Confederates were later buried at this cemetery, including Brig. Gen. Johnston K. Duncan.   Today, the McGavock Confederate Cemetery is a lasting memorial honoring those fallen soldiers, and is the largest privately owned military cemetery in the nation.

Carrie and John McGavock's headstone at the family section of the cemetery.

Pictured is the McGavock Family Cemetery. Buried here, beginning ca. 1818, are the remains of numerous family members. Among them are Randal McGavock (1768-1843), planter and political leader who built Carnton; his son, Col. John McGavock (1815-1893), successful farmer and civic leader who was instrumental in disinterring the Confederate dead from the Franklin battlefield and reburying them adjacent to this cemetery; and John's wife, Carrie Winder McGavock (1829-1905). This venerable Southern mother was called "The Good Samaritan of Williamson County" for her many acts of loving service to Confederate soldiers.

Design by Lennon Parker