Blockbuster novel is centered around the McGavock cemetery.

Robert Hicks, author of Widow of the South

“The setting for Hicks’ novel is Carnton Plantation, home of the McGavock family. The house was used as a field hospital in the days and weeks after the battle, and though many other homes in the area were used for the same purpose, it was at Carnton that, as legend has it, at least four dead generals were laid out on the back porch during the battle itself, and where the discarded arms and legs of wounded soldiers made a pile that reached as high as a second floor window. More importantly, Carnton was the home of the legendary “Widow of the South.” Rather than let the original battlefield and its shallow graves be plowed over, Carrie and John McGavock donated two acres of land adjacent to their own family cemetery for the reburial of the nearly 1,500 Confederates’ remains. Until the day she died, Carrie McGavock tended to the cemetery, taking care to mark the graves, record the names of the dead, and give some closure to those left behind.”
The Nashville Scene

As Hicks writes, “Those men were the chains that bound the living. They were the missing whose absence shackled the survivors in place, people afraid to move on for fear of being gone for their sudden return. They drew the living back to the war, back to that battlefield over and over and over again, reenacting its rituals and its skirmishes until they all would be dead.”

Visit author Robert Hick’s official web site.

Col Cassius E. Merrill tells of the bloodshed at Franklin

“Most of our battles from Virginia to Texas were fought by private soldiers, the generals trolling along ‘just to have it said,’ but Franklin was the general’s own, both in conception and execution. Franklin was no battle storm, but a cyclone, rather, which struck and seared the earth and left it red with blood and vocal with groans of dying men.”

Crownover, The Battle of Franklin, p.1

Sight of mass formations at Franklin must have been incredible

McGavock Cemetery has nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers buried on the grounds in front of Carnton. There is no doubt that scores, if not hundreds of them, were casualties resulting from the mass formations and marching the Confederate Army of Tennessee made on open ground, for nearly two miles, as the Rebels came upon the defended Federal line entrenched near downtown Franklin as the battle opened up.

During the Civil War, mass formations, assaulting defended breastworks, often led to mass casualties for the assaulting army. Franklin was no different.

About 4pm on November 30, 1864, C.S.A. General John Bell Hood launched a frontal attack against the Federal troops of the 23rd and 4th Corps of General John M. Schofield. The Confederate Army of Tennessee marched in mass formation across open ground, mostly flat, for nearly two miles before clashing with the Federal line.

On a few battlefields, massed enemy formations could be seen at a considerable distance, at least before the firing began in earnest. Robert G. Carter of the 22nd Massachusetts wrote of the sight of oncoming Confederates on the second day of Gettysburg: “The indistinct form of masses of men, presenting the usual, dirty, greyish, irregular line, were dimly visible and moving up with defiant yells, while here and there the cross-barred Confederate battle flags were plainly to be seen.” Rebel lines also were fully visible at Antietam, Franklin, Bentonville, and a number of other engagements.
The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat. Earl J. Hess, p. 12

View of terrain, looking south, Confederate Army of Tennessee marched across for over one mile at Battle of Franklin

Confederate General John Bell Hood had this basic view of the (then) open ground between Winstead Hill and the entrenched Federal line near Fountain Branch Carter’s property in November 1864. The entire Confederate Army of Tennessee (about 20,000) was positioned here, facing north as in the picture, before they started the quick-step march toward the Federal army (about 22,000).

Original view

Picture credit: Historical Markers of Williamson County, Rick Warwick, p. 174

Contemporary view

Picture credit: author of blog

McGavock’s describes the scene at Carnton after the Battle of Franklin.

John and Carrie McGavock’s describes the scene at Carnton after the Battle of Franklin.

‘Every room was filled, every bed had two poor, bleeding fellows, every spare space, niche, and corner under the stairs, in the hall, everywhere. And when the noble old house could hold no more, the yard was appropriated until the wounded and dead filled that.’

‘Our doctors were deficient in bandages and [Carrie McGavock] began by giving her old linen, then her towels and napkins, then her sheets and tableclothes, then her husband’s shirts and her own undergarments. … Unaffrighted by the sight of blood, unawed by horrid wounds, unblanched by ghastly death, she walked from room to room, from man to man, her very skirts stained in blood.’

Carnton is open Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday 1-5 p.m.

$10 for adults

$9 for seniors

$5 for children 6-12

$3 for grounds tour

Carnton is off Highway 431 (Lewisburg Pike) south of Franklin at 1345 Carnton Lane. For more information, call 615-794-0903.

Adjutant Robert B. Hurt, Jr., 55th TN is buried in Tennessee Section 51, plot #2.

Adjutant Robert B. Hurt, Jr., 55th TN is buried in Tennessee Section 51, plot #2.

According to military records, Hurt enlisted when he was eighteen years old, as a private in the 6th TN Infantry, Company H (Southern Guards), in Jackson, TN, in May 1861.

In October 1863 Hurt became an adjutant for the 46th/55th TN Infantry at Mobile, Alabama. His regiment joined Quarles Brigade in the defense of Atlanta. He somehow managed to escape the disaster at Ezra hurch his regiment saw, however, he would not be so lucky at Franklin (30 November 1864).

The commanding officer of the 55th TN - Maj. Joseph E. McDonald - also went down with Hurt.

Source for picture: Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Tennessee in the Civil War, McCaslin, 2007: p. 240.

The 15th Mississippi fought courageously at Franklin and suffered horrendous casualties

The 15th Mississippi was part of Gen Adams’ Brigade. This map shows the advance of Adams’ men on November 30, 1864 against the far left flank of the Union men defended by Casement and Stiles’ Brigades.

The assault of the Confederate men under Gen. Loring (Scott, Featherston and Adams) was extremely brutal and punishing for the Confederates. Besides the strategic positions maintained by Casement and Stiles against the railroad track, the 1st & 6th Ohio Battery guns were placed on a small hill behind Reilly’s Brigades and had a field-day pummeling the Loring men with grape and cannister. Many boys from Mississippi and Alabama lost their lives that evening and are now buried at McGavock Cemetery.

The following boys from the 15th Mississippi (Adams’ Brigade) are identified as buried in McGavock Confederate Cemetery according to Jacobson.

Section 22

#1 Col. Michael Farrell

The final man bearing the flag of the 15th Mississippi was shot as he reached the top of the Yankee parapet and then pulled inside. Both he and the flag were captured. Lt. Thaddeus O. Donoghue of the 14th Mississippi was killed near the guns of the 6th Ohio Battery. Col. Michael Farrell of the 15th Mississippi was horribly wounded in both legs and lost his left to amputation. Farrell, a popular officer, did not have a single living relative nor did he have any money or own any property before enlisting. Those who knew him admired him and said he fought for ‘principle and constitutional liberty.’ Col. Farrell’s injuries eventually led to his death on Christmas Day.
For Cause and for Country, Jacobson, p. 362.

Section 28

#105 Charles R. Hemphill Company I | View marker

#107 Sgt. Elias P. Keeton Company K | View marker

#108 Elisha N. McGuire Company K | View marker

#109 Edward K. Harper Company G | View marker

#111 Lt. John L. Greenhaw Company G | View marker

#112 Lt. Thomas W. Allen Company E | View marker

#113 Captain James T. Smith Company E | View marker

Section 39

#270 Theodore A. Shillinger Company F | View marker

Section 41

#291 Cpl. Joseph H. Reese Company F | View marker

#300 William M. Lott Company E | View marker
(see Jacobson, For Cause and Country, p. 361)

Section 46

#370 Sgt. James P. Campbell Company H | View marker

Section 47

#377 John C. Williams Company C | View marker

#378 Benjamin C. Gregory Company I | View marker

The Mississippi section at McGavock Confederate Cemetery

Miscellaneous info on the 15th Mississippi

“Crossing the river November 20, they marched with Stewart’s Corps to Columbia and on November 29, joined in the flank movement to Spring Hill. Following closely upon the Federal retreat from Columbia to Spring Hill, they were heroic participants in the bloody assault of the evening of November 30. general Adams was killed while leading his men against the second line of works, his horse falling across the parapet. Col. Robert Lowry, who succeeded to brigade command, reported that the flag of the fifteenth regiment was lost, four men having been shot down in bearing it forward to the works. Colonel Farrell, a brilliant officer, was mortally wounded, and Lieut.-Col. Binford took command of the regiment. Lieutenants Young and Allen were killed; Lieuts. Shuler, Irish, Campell, Hale, Tribble, wounded. The casualties of the brigade were 44 killed, 271 wounded, 23 missing. The effective strength of the brigade after the advance to Nashville was a little over 1,000, including six regiments. The position of Stewart’s Corps in front of Nashville was distinguished for steadiness in forming a new line to check the enemy and on the next day they repelled all assaults until the line broke over their left. In the last days of December they recrossed the Tennessee River and early in January the corps went into camp near Tupelo.”
http://www.choctawgrays.com/links.html

Recommended Read

Ben Wynne (Ph.D., 2000)
A Hard Trip: A History of the 15th Mississippi Infantry, CSA
(Mercer University Press, 2002)

The history of the 15th Mississippi Infantry in the social context of the western theater of the Civil War. Not strictly a military history, Ben Wynne examines in this book the social components of Confederate service in the context of the experiences of a single regiment. Wynne begins with a general overview of the political climate of the 1850s, localized to the region that produced the 15th Mississippi, then covers the regiment’s movements through the western theater, and ends with a localized treatment of the post-war social climate and the rise of Lost Cause mythology. The emphasis in this insightful and new approach to the Civil War focuses on the experiences of the men who served in the regiment, including their intrinsic connection to their communities, reasons that they enlisted, reactions to their first combat, views on conscription, accounts of major battles in the western theater, the ebb and flow of morale, desertion, and the post-war status of the men as heroes in a culture struggling to rationalize defeat.

Using first person accounts from letters, diaries, memoirs, and other primary materials, the book sets the 15th Mississippi in a personal context. The narrative is chronologically arranged by the events of the western theater of the Civil War. Emphasizing the real war and not a romanticized version, the story of this unique regiment follows a group of men who entered the war with visions of glory and honor but within one year came to recognize the true nature of the conflict.

Ben Wynne is an Assistant Professor of History at Gainesville State College.

Web links

Company A - Long Creek Rifles - site

Company K - Choctaw Grays - site

Two more Confederate soldiers’ pictures matched to their marker at McGavock

I picked up this handy resource at the Carnton gift shop recently.

It records the name and places of final restings of all Williamson County, TN, Confederate soldiers.

I found at least two more soldiers who died at Franklin and are buried at McGavock I previously did not have a picture of. Hurray!

They are:

• Sgt. Thomas Lindsey Murrell, 6th TN Infantry; TN sec 52, plot #7
• Pvt. William A. Thomas, 31st TN Infantry; TN sect 66, plot #219

Murrell, 6th TN

Thomas, 31st TN

1st Lt. James A. Tillman survives Franklin, 15 comrades do not

The 24th South Carolina served with Gist’s Brigade, Brown’s Division at Franklin. 1st Lt. James A Tillman served as an officer for the 24th South Carolina.

The 24th also fought at Franklin with the 46th and 65th Georgia; the 2nd Georgia Sharpshooters Battalion, and the 16th South Carolina.

The 24th was part of the regiments who clashed with the Union Brigades of Opdycke and Strickland near the Carter House, on the west side of the Columbia Pike.

Fifteen of Tillman’s comrades are known to be buried at McGavock Cemetery.

Picture credit: The Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 169)

Pvt. A.A. Crews lived through Franklin, not so for several comrades

The 29th AL faced the Union left flank of Casement’s Brigade on the Federal line at Franklin.  The 29th was part of Cantley’s Brigade, Walthall’s Division, on the eastern Union flank.

Here is Crew’s kepi he wore in the war, including at Franklin.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 163)

At least six of Crew’s comrades are known to be buried at McGavock Cemetery.  One can only wonder how may young men from Alabama were buried after the Battle of Franklin with kepis on their head just like this one.

Col. Ellison Capers, officer with 24th South Carolina, served at Franklin

This is the overcoat worn by Col. Ellison Capers, of the 24th South Carolina, Gist’s Brigade, Brown’s Division.  Fifteen (15) 24th SC boys are buried at McGavock Cemetery.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 150).

Regarding action Capers and the 24th saw at Franklin, Jacobson writes:

From the west side of the Columbia Turnpike, the sights of the artillery fire smashing into A.P. Stewart’s men was unforgettable. Everywhere the sights were incredible, almost breathtaking. Col. Ellison Capers was in the 24th South Carolina west of the pike and his regiment,  part of States Rights Gist’s Brigade, was on John Brown’s left flank. Some distance in advance and to the left of the South Carolinians stood magnificent Everbright mansion, home to the widowed Rebecca Bostick. But it was what Col. Capers saw to his right that he never forgot. At Capers and his fellow Palmetto Staters began to crest the rising terrain around Privet Knob, the ground stretching from the Columbia Pike to the Lewisburg Pike opened up into view. Capers wrote that ‘we beheld the magnificent spectacle the battle-field presented - bands were playing, general and staff officers and gallant couriers were riding in front of and between the lines, 100 battle-flags were waving in the smoke of battle, and bursting shells were wreathing the air with great circles of smoke, while 20,000 brave men were marching in perfect order against the foe.’”
Jacobson, For Cause and For Country: p. 278-279.

South Carolina head marker at McGavock.