Monday, March 8, 2010

Confederate Cemetery at Franklin

In the spring of 1866 the Confederate dead were reinterred on the McGavock family estate. Their house, Carnton, had been a field hospital during the battle and as discussed in a previous post is now open for paid tours. The cemetery is also open to the public. The dead have been grouped by state and there are individual headstones with as much information as possible for each man.

Each state also has a marker with the number of dead from that state. The state historical society marker lists the internments at 1496 but if you tally the totals from each state marker the total is 1481.

Here are some shots of the cemetery. Its a rather simple design, one big central walkway with burials in lines on either side.








Once I was there and flags for each state were out. I like the look of that too.






On the south side of the Confederate cemetery is the McGavock family cemetery.

Additionally General Johnson Kelly Duncan is buried here. Duncan was born in 1827 in Pennsylvania and graduated 5th in the West Point class of 1849. He resigned in 1855 and did some engineering work in Louisiana. When the war began he became colonel of the 1st Louisiana Regular Artillery but in January 1862 was promoted to brigadier general and put in charge of the lower Mississippi River defenses (Forts Jackson and St. Philip). He was captured when the forts fell and after his exchange became Bragg's chief of staff. He died of malaria in Knoxville on December 18, 1862 and was later buried here.



And now the state markers.
Alabama

Arkansas

Florida

Georgia

Kentucky

Louisiana


Mississippi

Missouri

North Carolina

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

The Unknowns

4 comments:

Scott Stemler said...

Nick,
Thanks for the posts on Franklin. This is a battlefield that I have not been able to visit yet, but definitely plan to. I love the amount of photos that you use, it really helps to get a visual feel for the battlefield, although it does not beat walking the field. Your photos from a couple of years ago actually helped me when I visited Chickamauga last year.
Great job!
Scott

Nick said...

I'm glad my photos helped you visit Chickamauga. What's preserved at Franklin is very well done, its just that there is not much preserved. Oh well. I guess for every Chickamauga we have to accept a Franklin. Too bad the Congresses of the 1890s didn't have more money for battlefields, just imagine if all the big battles were preserved.

Chris Evans said...

Supposedly one of the reasons that Franklin did not establish a military park was that the residents didn't want to preserve the scene of such a tragic Confederate defeat. I think that was a big mistake as tourism to a nice battlefield and visitors center would have been a boon for the town of Franklin. It would have been a very good place to interpret the late campaigns of the Army of Tennessee. It is a real shame as I find it a very evocative and moving battle.
Chris

Harold said...

I live in Kansas now, but I grew up in Northwest Georgia in the area of Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and the Atlanta Campaign. I happened to find your blog when I was looking for some pictures of monuments at Chickamauga Battlefield and I think it's great. These pictures reminded me of an old Confederate cemetery near Resaca we visited when I was a kid. If you ever return to that area, get off I-75 at Dalton and take old U.S. 41 south to Resaca, and I think you pass right by it. If you ever plan getting back to that area or just want somebody to chat Civil War with, you can email me at voyageur66762@yahoo.com
Harold