Battle of Franklin - Carter House #3

During the battles for Atlanta in July, 1864, Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederate States) named General John Bell Hood to replace General Joseph Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennessee. Davis did so because he felt that Johnston, although successful in many battles, was too cautious, and Davis thought Hood would be more aggressive in engaging the Union. This is important to know because of what would transpire in Franklin, TN later that year.

Hood did not fare well against Sherman who, by September, had control of Atlanta. As he pulled his forces out of Atlanta, Hood burned supply depots and military facilities to prevent the Union from taking control of them. In November, 1864, Sherman burned Atlanta to the ground and started his march to the sea. Hood, determined to destroy the Union divisions heading back to Nashville, started to devise a plan to stop them and failed to do so during a battle at Spring Hill on November 29.

General Schofield and his troops were able to sneak past Hood's Army of Tennessee in the middle of the night, arriving in Franklin around 1:00 AM. As I mentioned yesterday, General Cox awoke the Carter family and commandeered their home. Throughout the day, soldiers worked at building fortifications on the Carter property.

Hood, angered that the Union had slipped by him, made plans to attack. The generals commanding Hood's troops strongly objected to the plan, but Hood was determined. At 4:00 PM, the Army of Tennessee launched their attack.

While the Union expected an attack, they didn't believe Hood would be reckless enough to attack their larger and fortified armies. Word that the Confederates were attacking was a bit of a surprise, and the Carter family, servants and neighbors (who had been assured they were probably not in danger early that day) had little time to flee to safer positions in town. Instead, 23 men, women and children crowded into the Carter House cellar for the duration of the battle. It was pitch black, and they could hear all of the sounds of war - guns. . . cannons. . . screams. . . moans. . . shouts. . . (Having been in that cellar in the middle of the day, I can tell you that it is DARK!)

For five hours, the two sides battled. The fighting was brutal and very bloody. Men were shot, clubbed, stabbed, choked, punched and bayoneted to death. In addition to the darkness due to time of day, the gun and cannon fire produced so much smoke that the men could not tell who was on which side. One soldier used a knife to claw a hole in the back door of Carter House so that he could crawl in and escape. Another died after being bayoneted on the front steps of the house.

When the fighting stopped that night, most of the remaining Union forces headed to Nashville. The Carters came out of the basement to find their home now being used as a hospital for wounded soldiers, and to get some devastating news.

But, that's tomorrow's story. . .

Carter House #2

Today's view of Carter House, while not the most beautiful, serves the purpose of showing you the position of the house in relation to other buildings around it. The house, of course, is the two-story building in front. The small, brick building directly behind it ( which I showed in yesterday's post) was the kitchen. The three buildings on the right side of the photo are, from left to right in the photo at right, the farm office, smoke house, and slave cabin. Except for the slave cabin, all the buildings are original to the site.

A note about the kitchen: Because of the climate and social conventions in the south, the kitchens of the home were normally in a separate building that sat behind the house or mansion. Fireplaces were the main source of "cooking fuel" at the time, and in the south's warm climate, the heat thrown from the fires would make the homes very hot and uncomfortable in the summer. In addition, since slaves did the cooking, social standards dictated that they not work where the master of the house lived.

Fountain Branch Carter did have slaves, but he gave them their freedom at the time of the war. Several left, but several stayed on and were with the family throughout and after the Civil War.

The Battle of Franklin: There were actually two Battles of Franklin. The Union had controlled Franklin and Williamson County since early in 1862. In April, 1863, the Confederates tried to take back control, but lost and retreated back to Spring Hill (south of Franklin). In September, 1864, Sherman's forces won control of Atlanta and started to plan their "march to the sea." The majority of the divisions in that area stayed with Sherman, but General Schofield and a regiment from Ohio headed back to Tennessee and Nashville.

And, in November, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood was determined to stop the Union soldiers from getting back to Nashville. In the early morning of November 30, 1864, Union General Jacob Cox woke the Carter family and took over Carter House as the field headquarters for the upcoming battle. Cox's men built breastworks (fortifications) about 100 yards south of the house. The inner breastworks sat 60 feet from the main house, right next to the farm office, smoke house, and slave cabins.

The Carter family asked Cox if they should flee the property, but Cox assured them they would be all right and should probably stay to claim their property after the battle. At the time, there were 23 people in the home, including Fountain Branch Carter, his oldest son Moscow, Moscow's family, and assorted other relatives and neighbors.

Tomorrow, we'll take a closer look at the Battle of Franklin's affect on the Carters and their property.

Carter House

In 1829, Fountain Branch Carter purchased 19 acres of land on Columbia Turnpike in Franklin. The following year, he built a two-story, brick home on the property (above) which was, at the time, considered "in the country" even though it was a mere four-five blocks from downtown Franklin's Main Street. (You can see a map of the locations by clicking here.)

An industrious man, Carter held many jobs, including county surveyor, farmer, merchant, and more. In addition, he operated a cotton gin, manufactured and sold shoes and boots, and bought and sold property. Over the years, he purchased more land and eventually owned 288 acres on both sides of Columbia Turnpike. (Note: Carter was on the committee that oversaw the building of the Historic Franklin Presbyterian Church in 1841. See my post from two days ago for information on it.)

Carter and his wife, Mary, had 12 children, eight of whom survived to adulthood. Mary passed away in 1852, nine years before the start of the Civil War, and 12 years before her property became the site of the bloodiest battle of the war - The Battle of Franklin.

A couple of interesting facts about Carter House: I took the photo of the house from the sidewalk in front. From where I stood, I could see the intersection of Main Street and Columbia. The house is right in the middle of other residences. One of the Carter children, four-year old Samuel, died when he fell through the house's banister to the entry hall below. The house played an important role in the Battle of Franklin. Three of the Carter sons fought in the Civil War, and one died during the Battle of Franklin.

Do you know what the building in the photo above right is?

Tomorrow I'll show you more of the Carter House property and tell you a bit about the Battle of Franklin and the house's role in it.

Thanksgiving

If the only prayer you said
in your whole life was,
"Thank you," that would suffice.
~ Meister Eckhart

Because it's Thanksgiving Day in America, I thought I would post a photo of a display I found outside of a store in downtown Franklin. While so many places have already put away the signs of fall for holiday decorations, many of the Franklin stores still had autumn-themed displays out. All that will change, I'm sure, by the weekend's end.

Tomorrow, I'll take you to Carter House, which is a mere couple of blocks from downtown Franklin.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Historic Franklin Presbyterian Church

In 1811, Rev. Gideon Blackburn organized a Presbyterian church near the city cemetery in Franklin, Tn. In 1842, the congregation built a church on the corner of Main Street and 5th Avenue in downtown Franklin. After the Battle of Franklin, the church, like every other building in the downtown area, became a hospital for the troops. While the war caused a lot of damage to the church, a fire in 1905 destroyed it, requiring reconstruction of the church.

As Franklin grew, so did church membership, and in late 1980s/early 1990s, some members pushed for expansion, which would mean moving out of the historic building. However, in 1992, the members of the church who wanted to stay in the downtown location organized the Historic Franklin Presbyterian Church which still stands on the corner of Main Street and 5th Avenue (above).

The photo I posted of Main Street yesterday shows the north side of the block, looking west. The intersection indicated by the street signs is where the church stands, although it is on the south side of Main Street.

Tomorrow, we'll look at another historic site in Franklin.

Historic Downtown Franklin

A few miles east of Westhaven is the 15-block historic district of downtown Franklin, Tennessee. Renovated historic buildings and brick sidewalks line both sides of the classic, American Main Street (shown above) and today house a variety of boutiques (including a Chico's) and cafes (including Starbucks, of course). If you like antiques, Franklin has a lot of them, and has received the distinction of being named One of the Five Best Places in America to Antique Shop. Franklin has actually won a number of awards, including Clean Cities Award, Great American City Award, Tree City, USA Award, and Preserve America's Community Award.

Founded in 1799, Franklin was originally a wealthy, agricultural community and, actually, the center of the plantation economy of the area. The Civil War changed all that. Union Troops occupied Franklin for over three years, and most businesses died. The Battle of Franklin (more on that this week) turned most businesses and homes in the area into hospitals. It took over 100 years for Franklin to recover.

Today, Franklin is again a wealthy, thriving community. Developments chip away at the bucolic farmland on the outskirts of town bringing people - and economic growth - to the area. Money Magazine has named Franklin one of the Top Ten Places to Retire in the US, and one of the Top Ten Places to Live in the US.

For the next few days, we'll look at some of the attractions in this historic town.

Westhaven

Since I showed you an abandoned home yesterday, I thought I would show you Westhaven today. Located in Franklin, Westhaven is a 1500-acre master-planned community of single-family homes, mini mansions, condos, duplexes and townhomes. The community has five, separate neighborhoods, each with its own neighborhood center - a common area open for public use.

Modeled after the small-town neighborhoods of yesterday, Westhaven has tree-lined streets, sidewalks, parks a golf club, tennis courts, and more. In addition, the town center (currently under construction) will house doctors' offices, a bank, stores, cafes, condos and more, all within walking distance of the homes.

The homes on both sides of the street shown above face a beautiful greenspace down the middle of the boulevard. The homes in the photo are mostly duplexes, while the homes on the side of the street that you don't see are stand-alone homes. All garages in this subdivision are behind the homes, and the individual yards - both front and back - are relatively small. Prices start in the low $400,000s and top $1,000,000.

The more than 2500 homes in Westhaven sit on what was once farmland. Westhaven is about 16 miles south of downtown Nashville.

Auction!

While out on another of our weekend drives to nowhere in particular, we passed this abandoned house not too far from the road I posted the other day. The auction sign caught my eye, and I took the photo without reading the sign. I thought, at the time, that this house and land were up for auction. After all, the land is in a prime location on a highway that runs between Davidson and Williamson Counties. There is a lot of building going on around there, and it could be a good commercial property. However, once I got home, I noticed that the advertised auction is for a 7200 square foot house and 50 acres of land in Centerville, TN, which is about 50 miles from Nashville.

Still, I couldn't get this house out of my mind. I wonder who lived there. . . .when they left. . . . why they left. . . .

Women's Basketball

Michael had to head to a meeting in Knoxville yesterday, and I went along for the ride. While there, we passed the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, and I thought I would post a photo of it since women's basketball is popular both in the state (UT Lady Volunteers) and Nashville (Lady Commodores).

Dr. James Naismith invented basketball in 1891, and a year later, Senda Berenson adapted the rules for women's play. Within two years, women were playing basketball on the college level, and the game has continued to grow in popularity. In recent years, the US National Team has won the Olympic Gold medal three times, and the bronze medal once.

Coach Pat Summit, who has headed the Lady Vols for 34 years, receives credit for making basketball popular at the once-football dominated University of Tennessee. She was in the inaugural class of WBHOF inductees in 1999, and was also inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. She has over 900 wins and fewer than 200 losses over her career.

Women's basketball is also popular at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. In the six years she's been at Vanderbilt, coach Melanie Balcomb has taken the Lady Commodores to the NCAA regional finals fives straight years.

For more information on the WBHOF, click here.

Y'all Come Back

I recently saw this sign hanging at the exit of a festival held downtown, and it made me think of how I swore I would never say, "Y'all" (That's the correct spelling, by the way.) when we moved to Atlanta back in the 80s. HA! Within a few days, "y'all" was part of my vocabulary.

You guys. Youse. How else do we Americans pluralize "you?"