Day 3 - Franklin, Tenn

We spent today in historic Franklin, Tennessee, about 20 miles south of Nashville. Franklin is famous for one of the most ferocious, but little know, battles of the Civil War. It occurred on November 20, 1864, just a few months before the end of the war in April, 1865. About 45,000 men met in this small town to fight for the possession of Nashville, which was held by a small Union army. The battle started at about 4:00pm and lasted for about 5 hours. By the time it was concluded more than 9,500 soldiers were dead or wounded. They were left for the town to deal with. For all practical purposes this was the death of the Army of Tennessee, the last of the Confederate Armies. To put this in perspective this is more Americans than were killed on the first day of the invasion of Normandy - D Day 1. The town square of Franklin. The statue is a Confederate memorial. Most of the center of town is a historic district.
There are several historic sites that are well preserved in town. These are bullet holes in the Carter House. Several of the out building have hundreds of bullet holes. This was part of the Union Defenses of the town. Part of them are still visible. An interesting side note is the citizens of Franklin were reluctant to preserve these sites because they wanted to put the nightmare of this battle behind them. The battle was fought throughout the entire town. About 7,500 people lived in Franklin then.

Have you read the book "Widow of the South"? Cheryl read it and was delighted to visit the site where it takes place - Carnton Plantation. The Carnton Plantation served as a major hospital during the battle. Upwards of 700 Confederate casualties were operated on in this home. Seven surgeons worked for days here. The last patient didn't leave until July, 1865. Well after the war was over.

The Confederate attack occurred across the fields in front of this plantation. The owner eventually donated several acres of land in front of the plantation to serve as a Confederate cemetery.

We got a tour from the historian of the site. A young man named Eric Jacobson who has written 2 books on the battles in the area and the cemetery. He was incredibly informative; telling us many anecdotal stories of the plantation and the battle. I purchased one of his books about the battles of Spring Hill and Franklin.Soldiers from all but 2 Confederate states are buried in this cemetery. This was where many of the soldiers of General Hood's Army lay buried.

The Confederate cemetery with the main house of Carnton Plantation is in the background.

Tomorrow is Cheryl's birthday and we have plans to do a couple of special things. Check back and see what happened.