Saint Antoine sur la Rievier-aux-Raisins

 THE WIDOW OF THE SOUTH

 

It all started with a book.  A very good book.   First read by Doris, she recommended it to her friend Linda.  Liking the book, Linda recommended it to her daughter Alison, her sister Rana (me), and her friend Diane.  Diane recommended it to her sister Julie.  The book, “The Widow of the South” by Robert Hicks was the fictionalized story of a true event that happened at the end of the Civil War.

The synopsis of the story was this: There was a huge battle fought in Frankfort Tennessee that should never have been fought.  The war was all but over. Still, the two opposing sides met on field of battle, and after the battle. 9200 men and boys lay dead and dying.

The Confederate leaders commandeered a nearby plantation Called Carnton House as a field hospital, and soon its’ corridors and bedrooms were filled with the detritus of war. The mistress of the house, Carrie McGavock and her lifetime companion (and slave) Mariah, and her young daughter, tore sheets for bandages, carried water and food, and sat with some of the men and boys to give what comfort they could, by soft words and letters to their loved ones.  The bedroom where the surgeons removed injured limbs has blood stains that were so deep they remain to this day. The open windows provided air and light, and severed limbs were tossed out of them to be disposed of later.  It was a brutal time. But worse was yet to come. After the battle, which lasted all of five hours, the Union forced removed their dead for burial elsewhere.  The Confederate dead were buried on the field of battle, which was owned by a Franklin resident. 

After a period of time the ravages of war were eased and the owner of the field of battle wanted to use his land again.  Aghast at the thought of plowing up the dead, Mrs. McGavock rallied the town, raising funds to disinter the dead.  She hired some men, used some volunteers, and soon there were over 1000 bodies to re-bury.  She and her husband donated 2 acres adjacent to their family cemetery for the new resting place.  The group of dedicated men did all they could to identify the corpses. Most of them had regimental insignia on their clothing, so even if they didn’t know the name, they knew what state the soldier was from.  The cemetery is laid out in rows, state by state, with an obelisk stating the name of the state, and how many dead were buried there.  One obelisk simply states unknown soldiers for those with no identification at all. Mrs McGavock had a black book where she recorded any and all information she could find on each person.  That book is on display at Carnton house.  

We toured the house, heard the history and the stories of the family and the cemetery.  It is now registered with the State of Kentucky and not coming out of the family’s pocket anymore.  There are docents dressed in Civil War era dress who guide the tours and give insight into the era, the devastation, and the horrors of the time.  That a gentle, secluded woman, mourning her lost children would rise from her bed and become a force to be reckoned with is inspiring.  (They also pointed out some of the "literary licenses" taken by the author).  But the story is true, the cemetery with it's grim obelisks noting the numbers of the dead are real.  It reminded me of a favorite poem, "In Flanders Field" by John McCrae.  In Flanders fields the poppies grow among the crosses, row on row."  We wondered about the many families who never know where their son, brother, husband father fell.  They would have been relieved to know someone cared.  And that someone was a Southern woman who knew these men and boys deserved and needed a final resting place, even if she had to provide it herself.