Carter House and Grounds - Franklin, TN

8/12/2019 Carter House and Grounds - Franklin, TN

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The Carter House and Grounds in Franklin TN

Excerpts from: Jacobson, Eric A. (2013-11-01). For Cause and Country: A Study of the Affair at Spring Hill & the Battle

of Franklin (O'More Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Picture credits: Kraig McNutt Civil War Collection

Description of the Carter House

The Carter House is a red brick building with a front length of fifty-four feet.

Today the house looks almost exactly as it did in 1864. The front of the Carter

home faces east and at its center are white double doors. When these doors are

closed they form an eight-panel colonial pattern. The doors are flanked by

beautiful Doric columns and topped with a fanlight transom. Halfway between

the doorway and each end of the house is a twelve-pane window and these are

also flanked by Doric columns. Perhaps the most distinguishable feature of the

house are the stepped parapet walls that adorn each end of the home. Each wallis topped off by prominent chimneys.

Directly inside through the double-front door is a twelve by twenty foot hall. On

each side of the hall is a room measuring nineteen by twenty feet. There is a

fireplace and two windows in each room. One of the windows is a large twelve-

pane type, the other is a smaller window near the fireplace. The room on the

south end of the house was a bedroom and family room while the other served

as the parlor. Six-panel colonial doors open from the family room to a back

porch, and a door at the end of the hall leads to the porch as well. The porch


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runs north and south, but has a right, or westerly, wing that fronts a frame ell.

This ell contains two small rooms.

The upper section of the house is a half story with two rooms flanking the

landing. Each upstairs room measures twelve by twenty feet. Sadly this upper

portion of the house was the scene of a tragic accident years before the war.

Samuel Carter was only four years old when he fell through the balusters directly

above the hall in 1837. He died almost instantly, one of four Carter sons who

died before the war. 18


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the area, Carter had done well for himself. Sadly he lost his beloved Mary, who

was known as Polly, in 1852. Mr. Carter may have been a widower, but he had

much to enjoy and loved the company of his family, especially as he moved into

his later years. Little could he have imagined what those years would bring. His

red brick house on the outskirts of Franklin had been home for nearly four

decades. Now the elder Carter and his family looked to their house forprotection. 20

The stone-walled basement of the Carter House is divided into three sections, or

rough rooms, and there the family and others sought refuge from the battle.

Init ial work by Federals on the breastworks around the Carter House.

All across the farm the work of an army continued. It was a beautiful morning,

and many of the men shed their coats and rolled up their sleeves as theyworked. Within the first hour or two the works southeast of the Carter House had

started to take on an impressive appearance. (Kindle Locations 4390-4392).

Wagners l ine in relation to the Carter House?

The position of Wagners men has been variously stated as being from several

hundred yards south of the main line to as much as a half mile. The latter figure

is far more accurate. While much of the ground in the Harpeth Valley is

effectively flat, there are a number of areas that rise gently and fall away into

shallow swales. Conrad posted his men on such a slight rise. The distance


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between it and the Carter House was measured by Moscow Carter after the

battle, and he stated the total equaled 160 rods. A rod is equal to 16.5 feet so

the distance was almost precisely a half mile. Moving north from the crest of the

rise, the terrain slowly drops away until a low point is reached at the base of

Carter Hill. This low-lying area wound west toward the locust grove and was only

a short distance in front of the main defensive line. (Kindle Locations 4774-4780).


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Gen Cox occupies the Carter House opening moments . . .

Inside the main Union line, at the Carter House, there was both fear and frantic

activity. Soon after Jacob Cox had taken the house as his headquarters Fountain

Branch Carter had asked the general if there was going to be a battle and if so,

should he remove himself and his family from the premises. Cox responded thatthe family should not leave unless a battle was imminent and added it did not

appear that Hood was likely to attack. Cox also said as long as the headquarters

of the Twenty-Third Corps was in and around the house no damage would come

to it. However, he warned Carter that if he decided to leave and the

headquarters were moved, the house could easily be ransacked by Federal

troops. Carter took Coxs advice, and he and his family chose to stay. For a short

time it seemed as if the generals counsel had been accurate. But then matters

abruptly changed. When the Confederates began their advance, Moscow Carter

used a heavy cedar ladder to climb to the roof of the house and watch the

martial sight. No sooner had some Federal troops made him come down thanthe battle erupted to the south. Events unfolded so quickly there was no time

for the Carters to evacuate their home. Panic and dread spread quickly. Like a

violent and unforseen gale the battle that no one thought was coming was

doing exactly that, and it was heading toward the Carter home. (Kindle

Locations 5578-5588).


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Gordons Tennesseans advance toward the Carter House

South of this bedlam, John Brown pushed his advantage. While Gordons

Tennesseans fragmented the Union line west of Columbia Pike and pushed

toward the Carter House, Gists Brigade plowed into the locust grove. Gists

horse was shot through the neck and began rearing on its hind legs andthrashing violently. Forced to dismount under fire near a sugar maple tree, the

general sprinted forward with the right of his brigade. Already the Georgians

and South Carolinians had enveloped the right flank of John Lanes advanced

Federal brigade. Now they pushed the advance force of the enemy pell-mell

into the locust abatis strung along the front of the Yankee works. Many fleeing

Northerners were captured and sent to the rear and others where shot down

by their own men when the main line convulsed to life with volleys of fire. Col.

Ellison Capers, who commanded the 24th South Carolina in Gists Brigade, was

caught in the storm and recalled how the locust trees arrested the forward

movement. He said it was a formidable and fearful obstruction... But Capersalso said the Federal fire slackened to let their advance troops in, and so the

Rebel troops took advantage of the opportunity and worked through the locust

tangle. Then this one great human mass, which was already absorbing galling

casualties, surged up the slope toward the main line of defense, which again

exploded with fire. (Kindle Locations 6385-6396).


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Opdyckes Brigade posted behind the Carter House

About 200 yards north of the Carter House, Opdyckes Brigade had been enjoying

its first rest in almost twenty -four hours. The men had stacked their arms and torn

boards from a nearby fence to start fires. Soon they were boiling coffee and frying

bacon and side pork, readying what one soldier described as an afternoonbreakfast long overdue. Yet the respite was short-lived. A sudden loud clamor was

followed by the roar of battle on the other side of Carter Hill. Moments later a most

horrible stampede of frightened recruits and panic-stricken men came pouring

over the hill. The mob of men streamed past Opdyckes troops, the quickest of foot

soon disappearing in the direction of town. Meanwhile, more and more troops

continued to spill rearward. The veterans in Opdyckes Brigade could almost sense

the brewing disaster. The men quickly gathered their rifles and began to form their

respective regiments. Meanwhile, Opdycke rode forward far enough to see that the

soldiers fleeing to the rear were not just Wagners men as he had first thought. It

was quite clear that Federal troops were abandoning the center of the main line,

and Opdycke knew at once he had to get his brigade up to help. 141 Opdycke wasalive to the situation and immediately decided to align his brigade and push

forward. In the heat of the moment, however, there was a communication

breakdown. One unit, Lt. Col. George W. Smiths consolidated 74th/88th Illinois,

shifted to the east side of the road as part of the planned advance, but before

anything else could be completed, Maj. Thomas W. Motherspaws 73rd Illinois

lurched forward. Motherspaw, who was astride his horse, could see the chaos near

the front, and it is unclear what caused his regiment to move so suddenly. Either he

believed that Opdycke had issued orders to charge or he simply acted on his own.

Whatever the case, Motherspaw called out to his men, Forward, 73d, to the

works! His troops raised a yell and charged. (Kindle Locations 6510-6524).


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The kil l ing zone around the Carter House

The peaceful Carter yard was transformed into a killing zone. After the war a

Confederate soldier wrote that at Franklin it seemed as if the devil had full

possession of the earth, and those who survived the carnage around the Carter

House likely would not have disagreed. (Kindle Locations 6568-6570).

40

th

Indiana action around the Carter House

Pvt. James ORiley of the 40th Indiana was among those from Wagners Division

who had rallied along the secondary line. He confronted a Confederate flag

bearer near the Carter House and plunged his bayonet through the man. ORiley

then carried off his flag in triumph. (Kindle Locations 6644-6647).

Near the Carter gin

. . . . east of Columbia Pike. Between the cotton gin and the road Confederate

soldiers, predominantly from Cleburnes Division, forced the 100th Ohio and a

some of the 104th Ohio to flee from the main line of breastworks. The hastywithdrawal by the Ohioans also put the guns of the 1st Kentucky Battery in a

terrible fix. A Kentucky artillerist recalled how one moment he was firing his

piece and the next he saw a Rebel officer shooting a fellow gunner dead. All of a

sudden there were Confederates everywhere, capturing some of the

Kentuckians and forcing others to turn and run. In what seemed like the blink of

an eye the Union line in this sector, commanded by James Reilly, was in just as


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much trouble as the stretch west of the road. Fortunately for Reilly he had

reserves in exactly the right place. (Kindle Locations 6653-6660).

Beam from the original cotton gin

Yankee dead in the Carter yard

The men in the burial parties identified the bodies of the dead as best they

could. Crude wooden headboards were erected for most providing basic

information such as a name, a rank, and a unit. Yet there were not only

Confederate dead to deal with, but also the bodies of Federal soldiers. MoscowCarter counted fifty-seven dead Yankees in the yard between the smokehouse

and a spot some thirty yards north of the house. Pvt. Robert Holman, 49th

Tennessee, said he counted forty-three dead Federals lying near the Carter

House porch. At least some of the Northern dead, and perhaps all, were buried

by fellow Federal soldiers who had been captured in the battle. One of them,

Pvt. Matthew Lehnhoff of the 183rd Ohio, wrote that he along with other


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prisoners was ordered on December 1 to bury the federal dead. The sights

were sickening and heartbreaking. Lehnhoff said he found his friend, Pvt.

Christian Wolf, shot through the head and clinging to what life remained in him.

A bullet had torn into Wolfs right temple and exited on the left side of his head.

Lehnhoff said both of Wolfs eyes were protruding a fingers length from the

sockets. He guessed Wolf could not have lived another hour in such acondition, but Lehnhoff had to move on and continue digging graves. Some of

the Northern dead were stripped naked before being buried, and their clothing

and boots confiscated by Confederate troops who were dressed in tattered

uniforms that were nearly falling off. (Kindle Locations 8647-8658).


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The Smoke House

Cox intended the retrenchment to serve only as a mechanism by which to block the

pike. Men from the 44th Missouri, however, began to throw up earthworks west of the

Carter smokehouse. One of the 44th Missouri officers wrote of the men erecting

defenses so it is clear they constructed their own line of works.

Jacobson, Eric A. (2013-11-01). For Cause and Country: A Study of the Affair at

Spring Hill & the Battle of Franklin (Kindle Locations 4502-4504). O'More

Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Back in rear of the center Bridges posted his own battery of the Illinois Light Artillery

and Battery A, 1st Ohio Light Artillery near Columbia Pike. The four guns of the 20th

Ohio Light Battery were also rolled into place west of the Carter smokehouse. The 20th

Ohio guns, 12-pounder brass Napoleons commanded by Lt. John S. Burdick, offered

superb infantry support. Because the guns were placed higher up the Carter Hill slope ,they would be able to fire directly over the heads of the men on the main line and

sweep the ground in their front. Finally, Capt. Bridges directed the four guns of Battery

B, Pennsylvania Light Artillery to form up on a slight knoll immediately east of Carters

Creek Pike, almost directly in rear of the 80th Indiana. 59



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The author previously believed the retrenchment extended across the south side of the

Carter office and smokehouse. Subsequent research has shown that to be false. The

retrenchment was only meant to block the pike and the earthworks constructed on both

sides of the pike by reserve troops, and especially by the 44th Missouri west of the

smokehouse, were distinct and separate from the retrenchment. Throughout the text

the terms retrenchment and retrenched line have been, where appropriate,replaced with the more accurate secondary line. For a detailed discussion of this see

Baptism of Fire, by Eric A. Jacobson and Richard A. Rupp, p. 131-135.




Just before the fighting began, Lt. Charles Scovill had been ordered to take command

of the 20th Ohios guns west of the Carter smokehouse because the batterys

commander, Lt. John Burdick, was a junior officer. Scovill, the commander of Battery A,1st Ohio, stepped in and quickly went to work. As the battle raged the cannons added

their thunder to the tempest. Unlucky Confederates who surged around the west side

of the smokehouse found themselves facing off against the 20th Ohio Napoleons. The

explosions from the guns ripped men to pieces and sent body parts flying in all

directions. Yet some of Browns men pushed nearly to the muzzles.


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The bloody struggle on the Carter property drew men like a magnet. Hundreds of

Wagners troops from the advanced line joined the fight as did some from SilasStricklands command who earlier had fled the main line. One soldier from the 50th

Ohio got inside the Carter smokehouse and began shooting his rifle out a window on

the buildings west side. In places the Federal troops were from four to six men deep

and the fire they produced was extraordinary. 153





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The fighting in and around the Carter garden was some of the most vicious of the entire

war. The garden occupied about two square acres and lay just south and southeast of

the smokehouse and office building. It was heavily occupied by Confederate soldiers,

largely from Browns Division. After pulling back following the collision with the 44th

Missouri and Emerson Opdyckes men, the Rebels hunkered down where they could

and continued a ferocious close quarters battle.




It still displays its scars from the battle, but the smokehouse and office building are themost vivid reminders of what happened there. The southern faces of both buildings are

covered with hundreds of holes and pockmarks caused by the impact of bullets. The

east wall of the smokehouse is scattered with a variety of whitish ricochet marks, the

lead residue from bullets literally seared into the brick. To gaze upon those exposed

walls is to look at history and have it stare back at you. As you walk between the

buildings, treading the same ground as did both Federal and Confederate soldiers


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during a few frantic moments, the emotions can run high. To





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The Carter Office

Across the road what was left of the 50th Ohio largely fell back to the area of the

retrenchment, which crossed the pike and ran up to the Carter office. When the

Confederates cracked the center, forcing the 50th Ohio from its position, that regiment

lost significant numbers. Over 100 men were killed, wounded, captured, or missing, andmore than half of them fell into the latter two categories. In fact, more than half the

regiment, which was already much reduced by hard fighting, was wiped out at Franklin.

Among those captured were Pvts. Michael Gilmore, Henry Jordan, Lawrence King, and

George W. Shearer. All had enlisted around the same time in mid-1862 and had fought

together for two years. They would spend the rest of the war as prisoners and survived

their confinement. But in cruel twist of fate all four would die together aboard the

steamer Sultana when it sank in April 1865. 135


Spring Hill & the Battle of Franklin (Kindle Locations 6466-6473). O'MorePublishing. Kindle Edition.

The author previously believed the retrenchment extended across the south side of the

Carter office and smokehouse. Subsequent research has shown that to be false. The

retrenchment was only meant to block the pike and the earthworks constructed on both

sides of the pike by reserve troops, and especially by the 44th Missouri west of the


18/18

smokehouse, were distinct and separate from the retrenchment. Throughout the text

the terms retrenchment and retrenched line have been, where appropriate,

replaced with the more accurate secondary line. For a detailed discussion of this see

Baptism of Fire, by Eric A. Jacobson and Richard A. Rupp, p. 131-135.

Jacobson, Eric A. (2013-11-01). For Cause and Country: A Study of the Affair atSpring Hill & the Battle of Franklin (Kindle Locations 5000-5005). O'More


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Carter House and Grounds - Franklin, TN