Anniversary Getaway

My parents had agreed to watch the kids so David and I could get away for 5 days down to Nashville, Tennessee to celebrate our 15th anniversary a little early. I can not even express in words how extremely excited I was about this time away with David. We left after church on a Sunday and enjoyed talking most of the 4 hour drive down to Nashville. We arrived in the late afternoon, just in time for me to cheer Spain to a victory in the final game of World Cup. We ate dinner at a little Mexican restaurant and then enjoyed a nice, QUIET, relaxing evening. Around 3:00am I woke with severe stomach pains and for the next two days, instead of touring Nashville, I was moaning and groaning in our hotel room, suffering from one of the worst stomach flus I have ever had. Poor David! He was stuck in a hotel room for 2 days caring for me.
So, we didn't see Nashville but Wednesday we did visit the little town of Franklin, the whole reason for us going to Nashville for our getaway. Several years ago I read the book "Widow of the South" which relates the story of the McGavock family whose plantation home was turned into a field hospital during the Battle of Franklin in the Civil War. I've been dying to visit this plantation since reading the book and since Franklin is only about 20 minutes south of Nashville, I finally got my wish. It was an extremely hot day and I was still a little weak but I enjoyed our visit immensely.

The Battle of Franklin is a battle that most people have never even heard of. On November 30, 1864, the small community of 750 people in Franklin, Tennessee was overrun with Confederate and Union forces. At 4pm General John Bell Hood launched a massive frontal assault on the Union position, an attack which was bigger than Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. The combat raged for 5 hours, leaving over 9,000 dead, wounded or missing; most of the battle took place in the dark with the Confederate and Union armies at times killing their own men due to most of the battle being fought in the dark. At that late stage of the Civil War, what a waste of life!

During the Civil War, the Carnton Plantation was the home of Colonel John and Carrie McGavock. Late on the afternoon of November 30, Carrie stood at the end of her walk and watched part of the Confederate Army, about 20,000 troops, pass around her home, shaking the ground with the strength of their numbers. Carrie recognized one of the soldiers and called to him. This soldier rode up to her; they had known each other when she was younger. This recognition between them led to Carnton being selected as a field hospital.


The Battle of Franklin cost the lives of 6 Confederate generals - the bodies of 4 of them were laid out on the back porch as the men of the Confederate Army filed past and paid their last respects.


Many of the soldiers were carried to Carnton, grievously wounded, for surgeries and medical care. More than 300 wounded and dying soldiers filled the rooms, the porch, and the surrounding grounds and fields. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house but it was a beautiful home and a very interesting tour. Two of the rooms upstairs were used as surgery rooms and the floors are still stained with the blood of the men treated there. We know exactly where the surgery table was set up in the nursery room because one can still see where the surgeon stood - his footprints are outlined on the floor by bloodstains. It was an eerie feeling standing there, feeling the sadness, knowing what had taken place those many years ago.

After the battle, the dead were buried where they fell in shallow graves. In the spring of 1866, John and Carrie McGavock had the bodies of Confederate soldiers properly buried on their land adjoining their own family cemetary. The cemetary holds close to 1,500 graves, making it the largest private military cemetary in our nation.


Although several graves are of unknown soldiers, Carrie kept a careful record of the other graves and organized the cemetary by states.


After spending the morning at the Carnton plantation, we headed into the town of Franklin and visited the Carter House, considered the epicenter for the Battle of Franklin. It was here that vicious hand-to-hand fighting between the two sides took place.

The house and its surrounding buildings are scarred by more than 1,000 bullet holes, still visible today.



On Thursday we started for home. As we drove I was busy crocheting but happened to look up just in time to see a big sign "Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, next exit". Considering Abraham Lincoln is my favorite president, I quickly told David to get off - we were going to be spontaneous and do something NOT originally planned! We went to two spots: the Sinking Spring Farm, considered his birthplace, and Knob Creek Farm, his childhood home. Both spots are very much unchanged from what they would have looked like when Lincoln was a boy.



The memorial to Abraham Lincoln at Spring Creek...unfortunately it was under construction.

The beautiful fields at Knob Creek.

Despite my illness, David and I really enjoyed our time away. It just always goes by too quickly.