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Adjutant Robert B. Hurt, Jr., 55th TN is buried in Tennessee Section 51, plot #2.

According to military records, Hurt enlisted when he was eighteen years old, as a private in the 6th TN Infantry, Company H (Southern Guards), in Jackson, TN, in May 1861.

In October 1863 Hurt became an adjutant for the 46th/55th TN Infantry at Mobile, Alabama. His regiment joined Quarles Brigade in the defense of Atlanta. He somehow managed to escape the disaster at Ezra hurch his regiment saw, however, he would not be so lucky at Franklin (30 November 1864).

The commanding officer of the 55th TN - Maj. Joseph E. McDonald - also went down with Hurt.

Source for picture: Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Tennessee in the Civil War, McCaslin, 2007: p. 240.

The 15th Mississippi was part of Gen Adams’ Brigade. This map shows the advance of Adams’ men on November 30, 1864 against the far left flank of the Union men defended by Casement and Stiles’ Brigades.

The assault of the Confederate men under Gen. Loring (Scott, Featherston and Adams) was extremely brutal and punishing for the Confederates. Besides the strategic positions maintained by Casement and Stiles against the railroad track, the 1st & 6th Ohio Battery guns were placed on a small hill behind Reilly’s Brigades and had a field-day pummeling the Loring men with grape and cannister. Many boys from Mississippi and Alabama lost their lives that evening and are now buried at McGavock Cemetery.

The following boys from the 15th Mississippi (Adams’ Brigade) are identified as buried in McGavock Confederate Cemetery according to Jacobson.

Section 22

#1 Col. Michael Farrell

The final man bearing the flag of the 15th Mississippi was shot as he reached the top of the Yankee parapet and then pulled inside. Both he and the flag were captured. Lt. Thaddeus O. Donoghue of the 14th Mississippi was killed near the guns of the 6th Ohio Battery. Col. Michael Farrell of the 15th Mississippi was horribly wounded in both legs and lost his left to amputation. Farrell, a popular officer, did not have a single living relative nor did he have any money or own any property before enlisting. Those who knew him admired him and said he fought for ‘principle and constitutional liberty.’ Col. Farrell’s injuries eventually led to his death on Christmas Day.
For Cause and for Country, Jacobson, p. 362.

Section 28

#105 Charles R. Hemphill Company I | View marker

#107 Sgt. Elias P. Keeton Company K | View marker

#108 Elisha N. McGuire Company K | View marker

#109 Edward K. Harper Company G | View marker

#111 Lt. John L. Greenhaw Company G | View marker

#112 Lt. Thomas W. Allen Company E | View marker

#113 Captain James T. Smith Company E | View marker

Section 39

#270 Theodore A. Shillinger Company F | View marker

Section 41

#291 Cpl. Joseph H. Reese Company F | View marker

#300 William M. Lott Company E | View marker
(see Jacobson, For Cause and Country, p. 361)

Section 46

#370 Sgt. James P. Campbell Company H | View marker

Section 47

#377 John C. Williams Company C | View marker

#378 Benjamin C. Gregory Company I | View marker

The Mississippi section at McGavock Confederate Cemetery

Miscellaneous info on the 15th Mississippi

“Crossing the river November 20, they marched with Stewart’s Corps to Columbia and on November 29, joined in the flank movement to Spring Hill. Following closely upon the Federal retreat from Columbia to Spring Hill, they were heroic participants in the bloody assault of the evening of November 30. general Adams was killed while leading his men against the second line of works, his horse falling across the parapet. Col. Robert Lowry, who succeeded to brigade command, reported that the flag of the fifteenth regiment was lost, four men having been shot down in bearing it forward to the works. Colonel Farrell, a brilliant officer, was mortally wounded, and Lieut.-Col. Binford took command of the regiment. Lieutenants Young and Allen were killed; Lieuts. Shuler, Irish, Campell, Hale, Tribble, wounded. The casualties of the brigade were 44 killed, 271 wounded, 23 missing. The effective strength of the brigade after the advance to Nashville was a little over 1,000, including six regiments. The position of Stewart’s Corps in front of Nashville was distinguished for steadiness in forming a new line to check the enemy and on the next day they repelled all assaults until the line broke over their left. In the last days of December they recrossed the Tennessee River and early in January the corps went into camp near Tupelo.”
http://www.choctawgrays.com/links.html

Recommended Read

Ben Wynne (Ph.D., 2000)
A Hard Trip: A History of the 15th Mississippi Infantry, CSA
(Mercer University Press, 2002)

The history of the 15th Mississippi Infantry in the social context of the western theater of the Civil War. Not strictly a military history, Ben Wynne examines in this book the social components of Confederate service in the context of the experiences of a single regiment. Wynne begins with a general overview of the political climate of the 1850s, localized to the region that produced the 15th Mississippi, then covers the regiment’s movements through the western theater, and ends with a localized treatment of the post-war social climate and the rise of Lost Cause mythology. The emphasis in this insightful and new approach to the Civil War focuses on the experiences of the men who served in the regiment, including their intrinsic connection to their communities, reasons that they enlisted, reactions to their first combat, views on conscription, accounts of major battles in the western theater, the ebb and flow of morale, desertion, and the post-war status of the men as heroes in a culture struggling to rationalize defeat.

Using first person accounts from letters, diaries, memoirs, and other primary materials, the book sets the 15th Mississippi in a personal context. The narrative is chronologically arranged by the events of the western theater of the Civil War. Emphasizing the real war and not a romanticized version, the story of this unique regiment follows a group of men who entered the war with visions of glory and honor but within one year came to recognize the true nature of the conflict.

Ben Wynne is an Assistant Professor of History at Gainesville State College.

Web links

Company A - Long Creek Rifles - site

Company K - Choctaw Grays - site

The Confederate Army of Tennessee marched across over open ground for over a mile before they finally reached the Federal line near downtown Franklin. A soldier in the 104th Ohio wrote about that scene. Hess writes about this kind of troop assault movement then quotes the Ohio soldier:

When the terrain and vegetation allowed the troops to fire at longer ranges, they could maximize the damage done to attacking forces. At the battle of Franklin, Confederate division advanced over open, rolling ground for a mile before they attacked heavy fortifications. The Federals were ready for them and opened fire as soon as they could. Andrew Moon of the 104th Ohio scampered over the battlefield that night before his regiment pulled out of the works.

“Well, for 400 yards in front, I could hardly step without stepping on dead and wounded men. The ground was in a perfect slop and mud with blood and, oh, such cries that would come up from the wounded was awful.”

The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat. Earl J. Hess, p. 156

Massed troop formation in the re-enactment of the Battle of Franklin.

About 4pm on November 30, 1864, C.S.A. General John Bell Hood launched a frontal attack against the Federal troops of the 23rd and 4th Corps of General John M. Schofield. The Confederate Army of Tennessee marched in mass formation across open ground, mostly flat, for nearly two miles before clashing with the Federal line.

On a few battlefields, massed enemy formations could be seen at a considerable distance, at least before the firing began in earnest. Robert G. Carter of the 22nd Massachusetts wrote of the sight of oncoming Confederates on the second day of Gettysburg: “The indistinct form of masses of men, presenting the usual, dirty, greyish, irregular line, were dimly visible and moving up with defiant yells, while here and there the cross-barred Confederate battle flags were plainly to be seen.” Rebel lines also were fully visible at Antietam, Franklin, Bentonville, and a number of other engagements.
The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat. Earl J. Hess, p. 12

View of terrain, looking south, Confederate Army of Tennessee marched across for over one mile at Battle of Franklin

Confederate General John Bell Hood had this basic view of the (then) open ground between Winstead Hill and the entrenched Federal line near Fountain Branch Carter’s property in November 1864. The entire Confederate Army of Tennessee (about 20,000) was positioned here, facing north as in the picture, before they started the quick-step march toward the Federal army (about 22,000).

Original view

Picture credit: Historical Markers of Williamson County, Rick Warwick, p. 174

Contemporary view

Picture credit: author of blog

The 24th South Carolina served with Gist’s Brigade, Brown’s Division at Franklin. 1st Lt. James A Tillman served as an officer for the 24th South Carolina.

The 24th also fought at Franklin with the 46th and 65th Georgia; the 2nd Georgia Sharpshooters Battalion, and the 16th South Carolina.

The 24th was part of the regiments who clashed with the Union Brigades of Opdycke and Strickland near the Carter House, on the west side of the Columbia Pike.

Fifteen of Tillman’s comrades are known to be buried at McGavock Cemetery.

Picture credit: The Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 169)

Thomas Lindsay Murrell fought for the 6th TN and was killed at Franklin (Nov 30, 1864). He is buried in the TN section #52, plot #7 at McGavock Confederate Cemetery.

The 29th AL faced the Union left flank of Casement’s Brigade on the Federal line at Franklin. The 29th was part of Cantley’s Brigade, Walthall’s Division, on the eastern Union flank.

Here is Crew’s kepi he wore in the war, including at Franklin.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 163)

At least six of Crew’s comrades are known to be buried at McGavock Cemetery. One can only wonder how may young men from Alabama were buried after the Battle of Franklin with kepis on their head just like this one.

This is the overcoat worn by Col. Ellison Capers, of the 24th South Carolina, Gist’s Brigade, Brown’s Division. Fifteen (15) 24th SC boys are buried at McGavock Cemetery.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 150).

Regarding action Capers and the 24th saw at Franklin, Jacobson writes:

From the west side of the Columbia Turnpike, the sights of the artillery fire smashing into A.P. Stewart’s men was unforgettable. Everywhere the sights were incredible, almost breathtaking. Col. Ellison Capers was in the 24th South Carolina west of the pike and his regiment, part of States Rights Gist’s Brigade, was on John Brown’s left flank. Some distance in advance and to the left of the South Carolinians stood magnificent Everbright mansion, home to the widowed Rebecca Bostick. But it was what Col. Capers saw to his right that he never forgot. At Capers and his fellow Palmetto Staters began to crest the rising terrain around Privet Knob, the ground stretching from the Columbia Pike to the Lewisburg Pike opened up into view. Capers wrote that ‘we beheld the magnificent spectacle the battle-field presented - bands were playing, general and staff officers and gallant couriers were riding in front of and between the lines, 100 battle-flags were waving in the smoke of battle, and bursting shells were wreathing the air with great circles of smoke, while 20,000 brave men were marching in perfect order against the foe.’”
Jacobson, For Cause and For Country: p. 278-279.

South Carolina head marker at McGavock.

The 4th Missouri carried this flag which was presented to them in April of 1862 in Springfield, Missouri. The 4th fought for Cockrell’s Brigade, French’s Division alongside the: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th Missouri Infantry, and the 1st Missouri Cavalry (dismounted) and 3rd Missouri Cavalry Battalion (dismounted).

Cockrell’s Brigade fought to the immediate Confederate right of Cleburne’s Division, assaulting the Federal line at Franklin where the Union Brigades of Reilly and Casement came together.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 260).

There are five known-identified 4th MO soldiers buried at McGavock, a light number compared to the other infantries it fought with. It is likely that there are several 4th MO boys buried as ‘unknowns’ at McGavock.

John L. Russell fought with the 6th Arkansas Company C., at Franklin. He was part of Cleburne’s Division, Govan’s Brigade. Company C was known as the Dallas Rifles.

The 6th Arkansas also fought with the 2nd-15th, 5th-13th, 7th, 8th, and 19th-24th Arkansas regiments. This regiment saw heavy action around the Cotton Gin at Franklin.

The 6th Arkansas regimental flag looked like this is in the Autumn of 1862.

Picture Credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 259).

Forty-three of Govan’s Brigade are buried at McGavock, fifteen of those are from the 6th Arkansas; the most of all the Arkansas regiments.

Speaking of the action the Arkansas regiments saw at Franklin, including Russell’s 6th, Jacobson writes:

“Rebel troops, likely from Cleburne’s Division, pounced on the battery’s four guns [i.e., the guns of the 1st Battery, Kentucky Light Artillery] and hurriedly began turning them around to fire on the Federals. But the Confederates had a serious problem on their hands. When the Yankee artillerists had bounded away, they took with them the friction primers needed to fire the rifled guns. The crafty Southern infantrymen looked to improvise. A Federal officer nearby saw them pouring gunpowder ‘from their musket cartridges’ into the vent holes.”

A friction primer (above) was a small brass tube filled with powder, inserted in the vent and used to ignite the main charge.

Frank Gray and John Russell of Co. C. 6th Arkansas Infantry. Twenty Nine year old John Russell was the Uncle of 21 year old Frank Gray. They are buried side by side in the Arkansas Section, Grave 12 & 11 respectfully. Source attribute for this info: T. Burgess.

Extra notes:

According to this web site: John L. Russell was a private when he enlisted on 3 June 1861 at Little Rock, Arkansas; in the Dallas Rifles. He was transferred from Co I, 30 June 1862. Russell was captured 10 October 1862 at Harrodsburg, KY. Then sent to Vicksburg, MS for exchange 5 Dec 1862. He was 26 years old when he was exchanged 22 Dec 1862.

Additional reading:

Calvin L. Collier, First In - Last Out: The Capitol Guards, Arkansas Brigade (Unit history and muster rolls for Company A.)

Captain Starke H. Oliver, 24th Alabama, in his Confederate officer’s uniform, holding gloves in his left hand, resting his left elbow on a tall covered stand on which lies his kepi.

Oliver was from a noted Mobile, Alabama family and undoubtedly knew Miss Sue Tarleton as well as Patrick R. Cleburne.

Oliver was mentioned in dispatches as having provided personal care to a mortally wounded Union artillery officer during the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864. Oliver eventually became the commanding officer of the 24th Alabama, holding the temporary appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel.

Oliver is mentioned in the Official Records of the War of Rebellion.

The 24th Alabama was organized at Mobile in August, 1861. In April it was ordered to Corinth, and was under fire at Farmington, May 9th, and Blackland, June 4, 1862. It was in the Kentucky campaign, but did not become engaged; lost heavily at Murfreesboro, and was distinguished at Chickamauga, where it lost over 30 per cent of its number, and also at Missionary Ridge.

It was with General Johnston in the campaign of 1864, and fought in most of the battles from Dalton to Jonesboro.

It was at Columbia, Tenn., November 29th; at Franklin, November 30th, and at Nashville, December 15th and 16th. Capt. W. B. Smith and Lieutenant Cooper were killed at Murfreesboro, Capt. Wm. J. O’Brien at Chickamauga, and Capt. John B. Hazard, mortally wounded at Missionary Ridge, was taken prisoner and died at Johnson’s Island.

Its commanders were Cols. William A. Buck and Newton N. Davis, Lieut.-Cols. Benjamin F. Sawyer, Wm. B. Dennett, Geo. A. Jennison and Wm. M. LeBaron, Maj. Junius J. Pierce. Capts. S. H. Oliver and Thos. J. Kimbell were at times in command of regiment. Source: Confederate Military History, vol. VIII, p. 131.

The 6th Mississippi Regimental flag, Company D, also known as Lowry’s Rifles. The 6th was in Adams’s Brigade, Loring’s Division. The 6th saw action to the right of Cleburne’s Division, assaulting the Federal line facing fire from Casement’s and Reilly’s Brigades.

There are three known-identified 6th MS boys buried at McGavock. It’s very likely there are numerous more unknown buried at McGavock as their known dead is a very low amount for Mississippi regiments, and considering the 6th MS saw action to the Union left of the Cotton Gin.

Picture Credit” Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 259).

“The casualties of the corps,” reported Lieut.-Gen. Stewart, “were something over 2,000 in killed, wounded and missing. Among them were many of our best officers and bravest men. Brig.-Gen. John Adams was killed, his horse being found lying across the inner line of the enemy’s works.” The casualties of Adams’ Brigade were the heaviest of the division — 10 officers and 34 men killed; 39 officers and 232 men wounded, 23 missing. Col. Robert Lowry took command of the brigade, which, on December 9, reported an aggregate present 1,769, effective 1,047, prisoners of war 50.

Dunbar Rowland’s “Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898

The 14th MS fought with Adams’s Brigade, Loring’s Division. The 14th faced heavy casualties near the Cotton Gin. As the 14th MS assaulted the Union line at the Gin, the colors displayed a picture of Lady Liberty holding a picture of Jefferson Davis.

The 14th also fought with: 6th, 15th, 20th, 23dand 43d Mississippi regiments. Many boys from the 14th MS are buried at McGavock. One wonder show many young men and boys saw this flag emblem in the final moments of their lives as the died on the Franklin battlefield.

There are at least ten young men from the 14th MS buried at McGavock Cemetery.

There’s a fascinating story behind this particular emblem/patch see below. Color Bearer Andrew S. Payne of the 14th Mississippi cut this emblem away from the rest of the flag when the 14th surrendered at Ft. Donelson and sewed the patch into the interior lining of his coat to keep it from falling into Federal hands. When Payne and his fellow comrades were paroled in October 1862 he returned the shield to his regiment.

Picture credit: An Illustrated History of the Civil War, (p. 136).

Major Williams J. Crook, 13th Tennessee Infantry, was lucky enough to survive the Battle of Franklin. The 13th was part of Vaughan’s Brigade, under Brig Gen George B. Gordon. The 13th TN fought with the 11th, 12th/47th, 29th and 51st/52nd TN Infantries at Franklin.

The 13th TN was on the furthest right of the advancing Gordon Brigade, just west of the Columbia Turnpike. Gordon’s men overtook Wagner’s (Union) men as they retreated back behind the Federal line in the opening battle sequence. Once reaching the Federal line in front of the Fountain Branch Carter farm, Gordon’s Brigade and he 13th TN met fierce resistance from Opdycke’s and Strickland’s Brigades. There was brutal hand-to-hand fighting here.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy, (p. 16

Five of Crook’s fellow regimental comrades - 13th Tennesseans - rest peacefully from the guns at McGavock Cemetery in Franklin.

Joseph Henry Mitchell enlisted in the J.W. Thompson Invincibles in Company E of the 23rd MS Infantry. The picture below shows him in a brown uniform with black chest braids which may have been influenced by the “Army of Mississippi” regulations.

He is holding a foot artillery sword and has a .44cal Colt Army revolver tucked into his belt, which is fastened with a US Army pattern 1834 general service clasp.

Mitchell fought with the 23rd MS at Franklin, in Adams’s Brigade. The 23rd saw action around the Cotton Gin at Franklin. He would’ve faced fire from two Union Brigades; Reilly’s and Casement’s. He survived Franklin, though some of his comrades were not as lucky.

Picture credit: The Confederate Army 1861-1865: South Carolina and Mississippi, p. 33.

The 29th AL faced the Union left flank of Casement’s Brigade on the Federal line at Franklin. The 29th was part of Cantley’s Brigade, Walthall’s Division, on the eastern Union flank.

Here is Crew’s kepi he wore in the war, including at Franklin.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 163)

At least six of Crew’s comrades are known to be buried at McGavock Cemetery. One can only wonder how may young men from Alabama were buried after the Battle of Franklin with kepis on their head just like this one.

Pvt. John D. Jones was a member of the 39th MS Infantry, Sears’ Brigade, French’s Division. He was killed at Franklin and is buried in Mississippi section 23; plot #30.

The 39th MS was in the Sears Brigade. Sears was behind Cockrell’s Brigade as the two French Division brigades assaulted the Federal line right at the center of the Carter Gin action.

Picture credit: The Confederate Army 1861-1865: South Carolina and Mississippi, p. 37

This is the overcoat worn by Col. Ellison Capers, of the 24th South Carolina, Gist’s Brigade, Brown’s Division. Fifteen (15) 24th SC boys are buried at McGavock Cemetery.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 150).

Regarding action Capers and the 24th saw at Franklin, Jacobson writes:

From the west side of the Columbia Turnpike, the sights of the artillery fire smashing into A.P. Stewart’s men was unforgettable. Everywhere the sights were incredible, almost breathtaking. Col. Ellison Capers was in the 24th South Carolina west of the pike and his regiment, part of States Rights Gist’s Brigade, was on John Brown’s left flank. Some distance in advance and to the left of the South Carolinians stood magnificent Everbright mansion, home to the widowed Rebecca Bostick. But it was what Col. Capers saw to his right that he never forgot. At Capers and his fellow Palmetto Staters began to crest the rising terrain around Privet Knob, the ground stretching from the Columbia Pike to the Lewisburg Pike opened up into view. Capers wrote that ‘we beheld the magnificent spectacle the battle-field presented - bands were playing, general and staff officers and gallant couriers were riding in front of and between the lines, 100 battle-flags were waving in the smoke of battle, and bursting shells were wreathing the air with great circles of smoke, while 20,000 brave men were marching in perfect order against the foe.’”
Jacobson, For Cause and For Country: p. 278-279.

Major Williams J. Crook, 13th Tennessee Infantry, was lucky enough to survive the Battle of Franklin. The 13th was part of Vaughan’s Brigade, under Brig Gen George B. Gordon. The 13th TN fought with the 11th, 12th/47th, 29th and 51st/52nd TN Infantries at Franklin.

The 13th TN was on the furthest right of the advancing Gordon Brigade, just west of the Columbia Turnpike. Gordon’s men overtook Wagner’s (Union) men as they retreated back behind the Federal line in the opening battle sequence. Once reaching the Federal line in front of the Fountain Branch Carter farm, Gordon’s Brigade and he 13th TN met fierce resistance from Opdycke’s and Strickland’s Brigades. There was brutal hand-to-hand fighting here.

This hat was worn by Crook during the Civil War.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy, (p. 16

Five of Crook’s fellow regimental comrades - 13th Tennesseans - rest peacefully from the guns at McGavock Cemetery in Franklin.

The 39th Georgia Infantry was at Franklin alongside the 24th, 36th and 56th Georgia regiments. All members of Cumming’s Brigade, Stevenson’s Division. Duncan is listed as being from Walker County, GA at the time of his enlistment, March 4, 1862.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy, (p. 37, 139)

Randal McGavock (d. 1843) was a prominent local politician, even serving as Mayor of Nashville for a one-year term in 1824. Randal knew President James K. Polk and was good friends with President Andrew Jackson who stayed in the McGavock home on more than one occasion. Jackson gave a rocking chair to the McGavocks and it is one of the several original artifacts or pieces of furniture one can see when touring the home today.

The home was ready for the McGavock family to permanently occupy in the late 1820s. At the time it was 1400 acres of which 500 acres was used for farming. McGavock – in the 1830s – had 250 hogs, cattle and sheep.

Randal died in 1843 leaving his property to two sons, James and John (1815 - 1893). John (pictured right) took possession of the Carnton property. He continued to farm it until his death in 1893. John married Carrie Winder (1829 - 1905), who is famously known as the “Widow of the South” based on Robert Hicks’s novel.

Randal started renovating the home in the late 1840s preferring a Greek revival style to the Federal style it was birthed from. Thus, he added a two-story Greek revival portico and two dormers in the attic. In the 1850s McGavock added a two-story porch on to the rear of the home. It was on this porch that four Confederate Generals’ bodies – Patrick Cleburne, John Adams (Confederate Army officer), Otho F. Strahl and Hiram B. Granbury - were laid out for a few hours of the Battle of Franklin (November 30, 1864).

In December 1848 John married his cousin Carrie Winder of Ducros Plantation House in Thibaudaux, Louisiana. The couple had five children but only two would survive past 1864. McGavock sent his slaves to Alabama in 1862 so in 1864 there were no McGavock slaves present.

Source: excerpted from the Wikipedia article (authored by Tellinghistory, the owner of this blog site)

The famous back porch were the four Confederate Generals were laid out after the Battle of Franklin, the evening of November 30, 1864.

George Cuppett wrote the names and information related to the identity of each soldier in the McGavock cemetery book (Jacobson: McGavock, pp. 39-44). After he finished the re-burials in mid 1866 he turned over the care of the book, and the dead, to the McGavock’s. Wood headboards were replaced with granite markers in 1896 by the John McEweb Bivouac veterans organization. The ongoing responsibility of maintaining the cemetery would fall on to the able and compassionate hands of Carrie McGavock, a labor of love she shouldered until her death in 1905. The original book is on display upstairs in Carnton.

It would fall to the McGavock’s to care for the nearly 1,500 Confederate dead for the remainder of their lives. John died in 1893 and Carrie in 1905. Carrie’s shepherding of the fallen of Franklin lasted 41 years. Rev. John W. Hanner was quoted in The Confederate Veteran magazine praying, mentioning about Carrie in 1905 (CV 30, p. 448):

We thank thee for the . . . feeble knees she lifted up, for the many hearts she comforted, the needy ones she supplied, the sick she ministered unto, and the boys she found in abject want and mothered and reared into worthy manhood. In the last day they will rise up and call her blessed. Today she is not, because thou hast taken her; and we are left to sorrow for the Good Samaritan of Williamson County, a name richly merited by her. (Quoted in Jacobson:McGavock, p. 37)

Time has not been favorable to the identities of the soldiers though. Today 780 Confederate soldiers’ identities are positively identified, leaving some 558 as officially listed as unknown.

Today, the McGavock Confederate Cemetery is the largest privately owned-maintained military cemetery in the United States. The Franklin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy have maintained the cemetery now since 1905.

Source: excerpted from the Wikipedia article (authored by Tellinghistory, the owner of this blog site)

Letter from First Lieutenant Silas Hart of the 40th Ohio Infantry, Company B.

Vinings Station Ga.
July 7 1864

Hart writes of Company B’s participation in the Atlanta Campaign:

We have been having very hard times since you left and have lost a great many in sick wounded prisoners and killed. Co. B has got to be a very small Co. We have lost fourteen in killed wounded and prisoners. I suppose you have heard all who were taken prisoner and it is use less for me to name them. on the night of June 29th Converse was in command of the picket in front our regt and was killed, there is thirty two present in Co. B now. I think in about two months more we will be on our road home. We are now lying in the bank of the Chattahoochie River and the rebels shooting at us like they did at Mockasin Point. I am in hopes that there will not be any more of us hurt as we get stationed to the rear.

Silas Hart mustered into Company B on 17 September 1861 and mustered out as a First Lieutenant on 7 October 1864 at Atlanta, Georgia. The 40th Ohio was engaged at Middle Creek, Franklin, Shelbyville, Tullahoma, Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain.

Source: Nate Sanders online auction