Sunday, March 2, 2008

Carnton Plantation, Franklin, TN

Haven't taken many new pictures in the last week, so I must call upon my reserves - these from 2004 and a vacation in Tennessee we took with some of my wife's family to visit their ancestral home in the north central part of the state. But these photos are not from there... these are from a side trip I begged for: a day visiting Civil War sites nearby - Murfeesboro and Fanklin.

But today's photos are specifically of Carnton Plantation outside of Franklin, TN, which is just south of Nashville. The home was built in 1826 by former Nashville mayor Randal McGavock and was in the McGavock family until 1911, when it was sold, but was returned to the Carnton Association in 1977 to be restored as a museum. It was first listed on the national registry of historic places in 1973.

The front of the main house, facing North towards Franklin:



The back of the house, which is actually the first thing you see when visiting (this is standing in front of the gift shop where you purchase tickets for the tour):


A view from the second story veranda of the house gardens:


A quick shot snapped out of the car window of the Confederate cemetery that occupies two acres of the plantation grounds:

They don't allow photography inside, but it has been restored to mid-nineteenth century decor, including the furniture, wall coverings, etc. Quite interesting. More interesting, if not certainly more ghoulish, are the numerous blood stains on the hardwood floors, left by wounded and dying Confederate soldiers during the Battle of Franklin in November 1864. The house was used as a field hospital and many hundreds of soldiers were brought here inside the house and all over the outside grounds. Six Confederate generals died in the attack on Franklin, and four of them wound up here at Carnton laid out side-by-side on the back porch after the battle, including the promising young Patrick Cleburne, who was engaged to be wed in just a few more weeks. Sad story.

For more info on Carnton you can visit their website at http://www.carnton.org/




3 comments:

Luiz Santilli Jr said...

Thanks for visiting and come back again.
My next posts will be written in Portuguese and English!

Luiz

Carla said...

Looks like an interesting place to visit. Ever visit The Hermitage in Nashville? We went there as children. My dad used to work there as a teenager and he wanted us to see it. I'd love to go back again and take my boys.

Alan said...

Luiz,

Thanks for visiting. I'll be sure to check out your new posts, and maybe learn a little Portugese while I'm at it - I only know a little Spanish - enough to get me in trouble! :)

Carla,

Nope, never really been to Nashville (driven through only) but would love to visit the Hermitage - the one in Nashville AND the one in Russia, especially the one in Russia. :)