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Carnton
Carnton is a historic plantation home built in 1826 in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The property, comprising 1,420 acres (5.7 km2), played an important role during and immediately after the Battle of Franklin during the American Civil War. Carnton was situated less than one mile (1.6 km) from the location of the 1864 battle's Union Army eastern flank, and it became the principal temporary field hospital for tending the wounded. More than 1,750 Confederate soldiers lost their lives at Franklin, and on Carnton's back porch four deceased Confederate generals' bodies were laid out for a few hours after the battle. The life of Carrie McGavock, who lived at Carnton during the civil war, was the subject of a best-selling novel in 2005 by Robert Hicks, entitled The Widow of the South. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and became a museum managed by The Battle of Franklin Trust, a non-profit organization.
Carnton is a red brick Federal-style 11-room residence, that was completed in 1826 by Randal McGavock using slave labor. Built on a raised limestone foundation, the southern facing entrance façade is a two-story, five-bay block with a side-facing gabled roof, covered in tin, with two dormer windows, and slightly projecting end chimneys. A central two-story pedimented portico in the Greek Revival-style was added in 1847 by McGavock's son John McGavock. The two-story portico contains four, square Ionic columns with beveled recessed panels, and a simple vase shape balustrade on each level. The balustrade encloses the second-story balcony. Decorative corbels and scrollwork are found on the fascia above the first level, and the columns at the corners of the portico are matched by pilasters on the front façade. The doorway is flanked by engaged columns and sidelights, with a semi-circular fanlight above. A two-level Greek Revival gallery with seven two-story Doric columns, and using the same balustrade as seen on the front portico, is located on the rear of the house. The gallery runs the length of the house, extending at one end to take advantage of southerly breezes.
The interior has Greek Revival touches due to the remodeling done by John McGavock in 1847, including then-fashionable wallpapers, faux-painting and carpets in most every room. Three distinct wallpaper patterns have been discovered on the third floor. The central passage downstairs appears much as it did in 1864 during the Civil War. The wallpaper design, though a reproduction, is based on a popular design for the time. The parlor also saw a Greek Revival upgrade in the form of a fireplace mantel, new wallpaper and carpeting. The working clock on the parlor mantel and the 200-piece china set in the dining room is original to the McGavock family, as well as a rocking chair given by President Andrew Jackson. Many of the floors in Carnton are stained due to the house being used as Confederate hospital after the Battle of Franklin. The heaviest stains are found in one of the southern facing bedrooms which was used as an operating room, as a result of the blood soaking through the carpets and seeping into the wood floors.
Randal McGavock planted cedars along the driveway leading up to the house, while his son extended the planting of cedars and boxwood along the herringbone patterned brick walkway that he had installed between the portico and the driveway. In preparation for his marriage in 1847 to Carrie Winder, John McGavock created a 1-acre (0.40 ha) garden to the west of the house based on the writings of Andrew Jackson Downing, the "father of American landscape architecture." The working garden had vegetable squares, each surrounded by ornamental borders, but the presence of a large Osage orange tree in the center of the southeast quadrant suggests that vegetable growing was eventually discontinued in garden plots nearest the house. The garden was surrounded by a white picket fence as well as a high board fence on the north side, to protect the plants from animals and severe weather. The fence also gave a degree of privacy to the occupants of the house from the outbuildings and the many slaves moving about on the grounds.
The garden was neglected throughout the 20th-century, but enough physical evidence remained through archeological research, photographs and letters to indicate its extent and layout, that the garden was recreated in 1996–97 to how it looked in 1869. The daffodil, hosta, and peony collection is composed entirely of varieties available in Middle Tennessee prior to 1869. Carnton is believed to house the largest historic daffodil collection in the South, representing 40 varieties in use before 1869.
To the northwest of the house on a 2-acre (0.81 ha) section of the property is the McGavock Confederate Cemetery, the largest privately owned military cemetery in the United States. Donated by the McGavock family as a permanent burial ground for the soldiers killed in the Battle of Franklin, the cemetery is organized by state resulting in thirteen sections separated by a 14-foot (4.3 m) pathway. The cemetery is maintained by The Franklin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Randal McGavock (1768-1843), migrated from Virginia and settled in Nashville, Tennessee becoming a prominent local politician. He served as Mayor of Nashville for a one-year term in 1824 and was acquainted with President James K. Polk and good friends with President Andrew Jackson, who resided at The Hermitage near Nashville. Jackson was a guest of the McGavocks on more than one occasion. McGavock named his property near Franklin after his father's birthplace in County Antrim, Ireland. The name "Carnton" was derived from the Gaelic word cairn which means "a pile of stones." A cairn sometimes marks a burial site.
The first construction at Carnton was a smokehouse constructed in 1815 that was adjoined to the main house built in 1826 by a two-story kitchen wing. The mansion sat on 1,400 acres (6 km2) of which 500 acres (2 km2) was used for farming. Among the crops the McGavocks grew in the mid-19th century in middle Tennessee were wheat, corn, oats, hay, and potatoes. The McGavocks were also involved in raising and breeding livestock and thoroughbred horses. Randal McGavock's daughter, Elizabeth, married William Giles Harding of Belle Meade Plantation that became an internationally renowned thoroughbred farm.
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Carnton
Carnton is a historic plantation home built in 1826 in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The property, comprising 1,420 acres (5.7 km2), played an important role during and immediately after the Battle of Franklin during the American Civil War. Carnton was situated less than one mile (1.6 km) from the location of the 1864 battle's Union Army eastern flank, and it became the principal temporary field hospital for tending the wounded. More than 1,750 Confederate soldiers lost their lives at Franklin, and on Carnton's back porch four deceased Confederate generals' bodies were laid out for a few hours after the battle. The life of Carrie McGavock, who lived at Carnton during the civil war, was the subject of a best-selling novel in 2005 by Robert Hicks, entitled The Widow of the South. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and became a museum managed by The Battle of Franklin Trust, a non-profit organization.
Carnton is a red brick Federal-style 11-room residence, that was completed in 1826 by Randal McGavock using slave labor. Built on a raised limestone foundation, the southern facing entrance façade is a two-story, five-bay block with a side-facing gabled roof, covered in tin, with two dormer windows, and slightly projecting end chimneys. A central two-story pedimented portico in the Greek Revival-style was added in 1847 by McGavock's son John McGavock. The two-story portico contains four, square Ionic columns with beveled recessed panels, and a simple vase shape balustrade on each level. The balustrade encloses the second-story balcony. Decorative corbels and scrollwork are found on the fascia above the first level, and the columns at the corners of the portico are matched by pilasters on the front façade. The doorway is flanked by engaged columns and sidelights, with a semi-circular fanlight above. A two-level Greek Revival gallery with seven two-story Doric columns, and using the same balustrade as seen on the front portico, is located on the rear of the house. The gallery runs the length of the house, extending at one end to take advantage of southerly breezes.
The interior has Greek Revival touches due to the remodeling done by John McGavock in 1847, including then-fashionable wallpapers, faux-painting and carpets in most every room. Three distinct wallpaper patterns have been discovered on the third floor. The central passage downstairs appears much as it did in 1864 during the Civil War. The wallpaper design, though a reproduction, is based on a popular design for the time. The parlor also saw a Greek Revival upgrade in the form of a fireplace mantel, new wallpaper and carpeting. The working clock on the parlor mantel and the 200-piece china set in the dining room is original to the McGavock family, as well as a rocking chair given by President Andrew Jackson. Many of the floors in Carnton are stained due to the house being used as Confederate hospital after the Battle of Franklin. The heaviest stains are found in one of the southern facing bedrooms which was used as an operating room, as a result of the blood soaking through the carpets and seeping into the wood floors.
Randal McGavock planted cedars along the driveway leading up to the house, while his son extended the planting of cedars and boxwood along the herringbone patterned brick walkway that he had installed between the portico and the driveway. In preparation for his marriage in 1847 to Carrie Winder, John McGavock created a 1-acre (0.40 ha) garden to the west of the house based on the writings of Andrew Jackson Downing, the "father of American landscape architecture." The working garden had vegetable squares, each surrounded by ornamental borders, but the presence of a large Osage orange tree in the center of the southeast quadrant suggests that vegetable growing was eventually discontinued in garden plots nearest the house. The garden was surrounded by a white picket fence as well as a high board fence on the north side, to protect the plants from animals and severe weather. The fence also gave a degree of privacy to the occupants of the house from the outbuildings and the many slaves moving about on the grounds.
The garden was neglected throughout the 20th-century, but enough physical evidence remained through archeological research, photographs and letters to indicate its extent and layout, that the garden was recreated in 1996–97 to how it looked in 1869. The daffodil, hosta, and peony collection is composed entirely of varieties available in Middle Tennessee prior to 1869. Carnton is believed to house the largest historic daffodil collection in the South, representing 40 varieties in use before 1869.
To the northwest of the house on a 2-acre (0.81 ha) section of the property is the McGavock Confederate Cemetery, the largest privately owned military cemetery in the United States. Donated by the McGavock family as a permanent burial ground for the soldiers killed in the Battle of Franklin, the cemetery is organized by state resulting in thirteen sections separated by a 14-foot (4.3 m) pathway. The cemetery is maintained by The Franklin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Randal McGavock (1768-1843), migrated from Virginia and settled in Nashville, Tennessee becoming a prominent local politician. He served as Mayor of Nashville for a one-year term in 1824 and was acquainted with President James K. Polk and good friends with President Andrew Jackson, who resided at The Hermitage near Nashville. Jackson was a guest of the McGavocks on more than one occasion. McGavock named his property near Franklin after his father's birthplace in County Antrim, Ireland. The name "Carnton" was derived from the Gaelic word cairn which means "a pile of stones." A cairn sometimes marks a burial site.
The first construction at Carnton was a smokehouse constructed in 1815 that was adjoined to the main house built in 1826 by a two-story kitchen wing. The mansion sat on 1,400 acres (6 km2) of which 500 acres (2 km2) was used for farming. Among the crops the McGavocks grew in the mid-19th century in middle Tennessee were wheat, corn, oats, hay, and potatoes. The McGavocks were also involved in raising and breeding livestock and thoroughbred horses. Randal McGavock's daughter, Elizabeth, married William Giles Harding of Belle Meade Plantation that became an internationally renowned thoroughbred farm.
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