1 of 4
Carnton Plantation
2 of 4
McGavock Confederate Cemetary
3 of 4
Lotz House
4 of 4
Carter House
The problem was this: We were stuck on a bad tour and could not melt away from the group to escape. Our hipster guide with the 'I'm-so-bored” monotone voice had shut the door behind us.
'We're trapped,” I whispered to one of my companions.
'If you don't get me out of here, like, right now, I'm going to flip out,” she said.
carter house
We were standing in the historic Carter House, whose occupants witnessed the bloodiest five hours of the Civil War, hunkering down in the basement as 10,000 men were killed, wounded, or captured on terra firma aboveand this guy was making it sound as riveting as a filibuster on C-SPAN. How dare he make this boring! The Battle of Franklin was one of the most brutal conflicts of that war, which still feels very much alive in this historic Williamson County city. Nearly 150 years later, bullets found in a backyard are so commonplace, they fail to excite. ('Oh, that's nice, honey, put it with your other toys.”)
The guide droned onward: '…blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”
I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and pretended to look concerned as I read the screen. Then, I disappeared into the other room and came back, looking even more concerned.
I walked up to the guide, interrupting him, and whispered in his ear. 'Hey, buddy, I'm an ER doc, and I've been called in. Can you let us out? Really sorry about this.”
Ten seconds later, we were skipping across the grass that, most likely, still covered bullets and bones from that fateful day in 1864.
'We're free!” my companion exclaimed.
Carnton Plantation
The next stop on our Civil War history trail was just down the road: the mansion at Carnton Plantation, which served as a field hospital for the Confederates during the Battle of Franklin. Creepy but cool: Seeing the blood stains on the wood floors beneath the windows and fireplaces where surgeons sawed off soldiers' arms and legs. Creepy but sweet: After the battle, the owners (John and Carrie McGavock) had the Confederate soldiers' bodies exhumed from the backyard pit in which they had been dumped, then sorted them by Southern state and reburied them with proper headstones behind the mansion. Carrie would spend the rest of her life trying to connect widows and mothers with the remains of their husbands and sons.
lotz house
Our favorite Civil War stop in Franklin was the Lotz House, and that's solely because of J.T. Thompson, who bought the home years ago to save it from becoming a Mexican restaurant named Lotz-a Tacos. (True story.)
J.T. is a big man, a native Texan, and his passion for the Lotz House, its occupants, and the Battle of Franklin probably make him the best tour guide I've ever had. Anywhere. His monologue was perfectly peppered with humor and poignancy. He vividly painted the scene of that horrible day, told from the point of view of the Lotz family, and he explained how the battle forever changed the lives of the Lotz children, whose yard was so densely filled with dead soldiers, they leaned against each other like fallen dominoes.
'I cried, like, twice,” said one of my companions as we walked back to the car.
'I think I have a crush on J.T.,” said the other.
'Me too,” I admitted.
Ad Hudler is a novelist and a concierge at a luxury Nashville hotel.
Lotz house In the News:
(November 2013) It was recently annouced that historian John Marler has completed a two year archeological excavation project in the Lotz House cellar uncovering and meticulously documenting approximately 900 Civil War relics and items connected with civilian life from the mid to late 1800's.
This project was started in August, 2011 when Marler was showing Lotz House Executive Director J.T. Thompson jars of Waltham Watch tins in varying stages of conservation he had collected from the basement of the 19th century cellar in Petersburg, Virginia. Thompson asked if Marler was interested in checking out the Lotz House cellar to see if there were any artifacts.
Marler's findings help tell the story of the battle as iron canister spheres, bullets and remnants of leather Civil War accoutrements were found in the dirt. It also demonstrates that the Lotz family at one time used the cellar as their resting place as doll and toy pieces, along with china pieces were recovered.
Visitors who tour the Lotz House will now have an opportunity to see some of the many items ranging from canister shots, bullets and Civil War uniform buttons and buckles to civilian items such as a whiskey flask bearing a patriotic eagle, doll parts, toys and chips of china.