Franklin Tennessee

Mom and I went to Franklin Tennessee today. We both had read the book "Widow Of The South" and was curious about the cemetery. I paid, what I thought was an outrageous, price to tour the house. It was money well spent. I learned more about the Plantation that was turned into a field hospital during the Civil War. One of the bloodiest battles happened in the town of Franklin right in front, back and side of Carnton Plantation. When you step on the front porch of the home, you will look out and see an open field. Soldiers lined up, marching two miles long engaged in battle starting at 4 p.m. and ending at 9 p.m. The South suffered a devastating loss. Wounded Confederate soldiers were brought to the Carnton Plantation. Soon every room in the house, with the exception of one was filled beyond capacity. The rest were put on the porches and the yard surrounding the house. At the time of the battle the home was carpeted throughout and as you walk through it today you can see the bloodstained hardwood floors. It is beyond my comprehension. The Union left the cleanup of the battlefield to the remaining Southern Army. The Confederate soldiers were buried in shallow graves, with a wooden marker. The Union soldiers were buried in trenches and were later exhumed and moved to the National Cemetery. In 1866, John and Carrie McGavock, concerned about the burial conditions of the Confederate dead designated nearly two acres of land near their family cemetery for the re-interment of close to 1,500 Confederates. The job to exhume the fallen soldiers and moved them went to the highest bidder. It cost the McGavocks $5 for each person, and the McGavocks provided a simple wooden coffin. They did a fantastic job of identifying the soldiers and recorded their names in a book that is on display at the Carnton Plantation. Their are many stories of families coming to see the final resting place of their loved one but the one that stood out in my memory was of a Georgia family. They came to exhume the body of a loved one and when they saw the cemetery they changed their minds. They returned the next year with a wagon full of Georgia soil and put the dirt on the grave on their soldier so he would be buried in Georgia soil.

Maplewood Cemetery

Mom and I went to Maplewood Cemetery in Pulaski Tennessee. What the city did with this historical cemetery was wonderful. A majority of the stones were covered by dirt. They were broken, the inscriptions nearly unreadable and the city restored the cemetery in a very unique way. Since the stones were scattered and they were not sure where they started originally they took the broken stones and made a memorial. It was a beautiful place and you could see the hard work put into it. I would have to say this was one of my favorite places.

Which Way Did I Go

We took off this morning earlier than normal. We both were ready for a change of scenery. The drive into Nashville was breathtaking. I am not sure how it happened but I ended up on a two lane, curvy road somewhere in Nashville. We went from the interestate to "where the hec are we" in less than 15 minutes. The "where the hec are we" went from "how the hec am I going to turn this rig around?" Fortunately we came up on a church with a large parking lot. Then we got back on Interstate 24. I told mom to call the park and get directions. He said "well you take 65 north to ...." This is not good because we were on Interstate 24E. So we drove until I could find a place to turn around and got on Interstate 24W and drove back through Nashville until I found 65 north. Once on 65 north I started relaxing. It was pretty stressful driving through Nashville twice. Then it hit me and mom at the same time, the exit numbers were going up instead of down. So I found a place to turn around and we got on 65 south, even though the man said north the numbers were saying something else. I drove through Nashville for the 3rd time. By now my stress level was off the scale because traffic was picking up. Besides that the three of us had to go to the restroom and mom was not going to move for fear that I would end up on a two lane road again. We did find the place and we are so far out in the boondocks that mom and I probably won't leave for a while. It is peaceful here, the park is beautiful, and I do not want to see Nashville for a long time.

Cornersville Tennessee