Carter House #4

Franklin is the blackest page in the history of the War of the Lost Cause. It was the bloodiest battle of modern times in any war. It was the finishing stroke to the Independence of the Southern Confederacy.
I was there. I saw it.
–Sam Watkins, 1st Tennessee Infantry

Battle of Franklin, cont'd. (I promise not to be as verbose today!)

As one would imagine, the Carter property did not survive unscathed. The Union had torn down barns and part of the cotton gin to build fortifications. Because the farm office and smoke house were right where the soldiers built the inner breastworks, they received a lot of damage from musket and gun fire. And, after the battle, the main house became a hospital for wounded soldiers.

The farm office (above) has the distinction of having the most bullet holes of any building still standing from the war. The photo above is of the south and west walls of the office. At left is a photo of the south wall of the smoke house. Note the holes left by musket balls. In all, there are over 1,000 bullet and musket holes still visible in the walls of the Carter House buildings. (Click on the photos to enlarge them and get a better look at the damage.)

Unfortunately, damage to their property was not the devastation the family faced. When the Carter family emerged from the cellar at the end of the battle, they found that the Union army had pushed on to Nashville. However, their elation at having survived unscathed and having the Union gone dimmed rather quickly when a Confederate soldier told them that Capt. Theodrick (Tod) Carter, Fountain's 24-year old son, had been wounded in battle.

Moscow Carter, Tod's oldest brother, immediately went out to the fields to find Tod. Soon, Fountain Branch Carter, three of Todd's sisters, a sister-in-law, and neighbors joined in the search. (Keep in mind that it was near midnight at this point, and there were no street lights.) The group carried lanterns and torches and had to wend their way over the fortifications, through the trenches and through the blood and the bodies of wounded and deceased soldiers piled on their property. Just before daybreak, they found Tod about 500 feet from the house and carried him back to the house where he had been born. He died two days later from head wounds.

Called the "Gettysburg of the West," the five-hour Battle of Franklin was one of the bloodiest of the war. Of the 22,000 infantry and 5,000 calvary soldiers fighting for the Union, 2500 were either wounded, captured or killed. Of the Confederacy's 20.100 infantry and 5,000 calvary soldiers, over 7,000 were wounded, captured or killed. Four Confederate generals were killed, while only one Union general was wounded. More soldiers from the Confederate Army of Tennessee were killed (1750+) were killed in that five-hour battle than in the five-day Battle of Shiloh or the three-day Battle of Stones River.

The State of Tennessee bought the Carter House in 1951 and opened it to the public two years later. It is a Registered Historic Landmark and serves as a monument to all the soldiers who fought there.

There is an effort to restore as much of the battlefield as possible. In 2005, the City of Franklin purchased a lot about 100 yards from the Carter House where, for years, a Pizza Hut stood. That was the site of the Carter cotton gin and the Union's main breastworks (fortifications) and was near where Confederate General Patrick Clebourne fell. In addition, last year, the Carter House Association acquired 1/2 acre of land adjacent to the property and a key part of the battlefield.

On the anniversary of the battle every year, volunteers light 10,000 luminaries to commemorate the casualties of the Battle of Franklin.

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.