Carnton Plantation (Civil War)- Nashville History

~Built by Randal McGavock, Nashville's first mayor (1824-1825).

~The plantation house, which is late-neoclassical, is considered architecturally and historically one of the most important buildings in the area.

~In its early years the mansion was a social and political center. Among the prominent visitors attending the many social events were Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk and Sam Houston.

~The plantation was used as a Confederate hospital after the bloody Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. 12 confederate soldiers were killed.

~ In 1866 the McGavock family donated two acres adjacent to their family cemetary for the burial of some 1,500 Confederate soldiers.

~The McGavock Confederate Cemetary is the country's largest private Confederate cemetary.

~The book "Widow of the South" was written about it. It is a fictional book though.