A Lost Battlefield is Reclaimed

A Lost Battlefield is Reclaimed. . Today, dozens of Southern soldiers killed on this ground are buried at the McGavock Confederate Cemetery at Carnton. The Federal dead are mostly buried at Stones River National Cemetery in Murfreesboro, although a few who were wounded and later died in Nashville are buried in the National Cemetery there., After the war, this ground was once again farmed by the Carter family, and as the years passed Moscow Carter sold it. For well over a century this area was covered by modern buildings and homes. At least four businesses occupied this hallowed ground well into the 21st century., As you look around at the battlefield, especially to the north and to the east, the viewshed that you see did not exist more than a few years ago. The effort to reclaim the Franklin battlefield has also been one to reclaim an historic landscape., Take a moment to consider what happened here and how important it is to our collective history., This ground existed before there was a Tennessee or a United States. For the better part of sixty years, it was owned by the Carter family. For half of that time the ground was worked by enslaved people., For about five hours on November 30, 1864, it was a kind of hell on Earth. On it the Carters had to learn how to navigate a post-war world that was confusing, maddening, and divisive. Then it was owned by other people, who lived their lives as they saw fit., Today, through the efforts of Franklin's Charge, the City of Franklin, the American Battlefield Trust, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, and the Battle of Franklin Trust, it has been preserved for you and for the future., (captions) , McGavock Confederate Cemetery, circa 1900 Courtesy Battle of Franklin Trust, Carter smokehouse, circa 1904 (above) and battlefield, circa 1950 (right) Courtesy Battle of Franklin Trust