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I had the distinct privilege of taking Harold Becker on a tour of McGavock Confederate Cemetery Sunday. His father’s unit – the 128th Indiana – was posted on the far left Union flank, near the Nashville-Decatur Railroad, part of Stiles’s Brigade. That brigade faced the onslaught of numerous Confederate units from Featherston’s Brigade on November 30th, 1864.
Unfortunately, hundreds of young CSA boys did not survive the clash that fateful day and Mr Becker walked pensively through the cemetery reflecting on that day his father must have wished never happened. Many of those casualties are buried in McGavock.
The UDC hosted the annual memorial service for McGavock Confederate Cemetery today. Senator Mark Norris shared some remarks.
Here are some photos of the event (see the full gallery here).
Once a year the United Daughters of the Confederacy hosts a memorial service for the fallen Confederate soldiers at McGavock Confederate Cemetery, near the Historic Carnton Plantation.
This year’s service will take place at 2pm rain or shine.
Here are several pictures from the 2008 service.
It recently snowed in Williamson County, Tennessee.
Carnton historian Eric Jacobson took this picture of the McGavock Confederate Cemtery next to Historic Carnton Plantation.
McGavock Confederate Cemetery
Here are few other pics from recent years with snow blanketing the cemetery. All pictures below courtesy of the Civil War Gazette.
Dr. Chris Losson, an author and teacher, discusses the unimaginable task for soldier and civilian alike to process the death, suffering, and carnage after the Battle of Franklin.
This is an excerpt from a lecture Dr. Losson gave at the June 2008 Franklin’s Charge symposium in Franklin, TN
Here is the layout of the McGavock Confederate Cemetery.
Lt. Gen. A.P. Stewart’s Corp
Loring’s Division: Maj. Gen. William W. Loring – 126
Scott’s Brigade: Brig Gen Thomas M. Scott – 15
27th Alabama – 4
35th Alabama – 2
49th Alabama – 0
55th Alabama – 3
57th Alabama – 2
12th Louisiana – 4
Featherston’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Winfield S. Featherston – 68
1st Mississippi – 6
3d Mississippi – 14
22d Mississippi – 8
31st Mississippi – 21
33d Mississippi – 10
40th Mississippi – 9
1st Mississippi Battalion – 0
Adams’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. John Adams – 43
6th Mississippi – 3
14th Mississippi – 10
15th Mississippi – 15
20th Mississippi – 10
23d Mississippi – 2
43d Mississippi – 3
Maj. Gen Edward C. Walthall’s Division – 90
Reynold’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Daniel H. Reynolds – 16
4th Arkansas – 1
9th Arkansas – 8
25th Arkansas – 0
1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles (dismounted) – 2
2d Arkansas Mounted Rifles (dismounted) – 3
Cantley’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Charles M. Shelley – 17
17th Alabama – 9
26th Alabama – 0
29th Alabama – 7
37th Mississippi – 1
Quarles’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. William A. Quarles – 57
Staff Officers – 1
1st Alabama – 19
42d Tennessee – 13
46th Tennessee – 6
48th Tennessee – not present at Franklin
49th Tennessee – 9
53d Tennessee – 2
55th Tennessee – 7
French’s Division: Maj. Gen. Samuel G. French – 117
Cockrell’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. F.M. Cockrell – 82
1st Missouri – 8
2nd Missouri – 13
3d Missouri – 15
4th Missouri – 5
5th Missouri – 12
6th Missouri – 7
1st Missouri Cavalry (dismounted) – 12
3d Missouri Cavalry Battalion (dismounted) – 10
Sears’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Claudius Sears – 34
4th Mississippi – 20
35th Mississippi – 4
36th Mississippi – 1
39th Mississippi – 7
46th Mississippi – 0
7th Mississippi Battalion – 2
Ector’s Brigade: Col. David Coleman – 1
39th North Carolina – 1
Ector’s also had the following regiments but they were all detached guarding the pontoon bridge and thus were not ‘engaged’ in the battle itself.
29th North Carolina
30th North Carolina
9th Texas
10th Texas Cavalry (dismounted)
14th Texas Cavarly (dismounted)
32d Texas Cavalry (dismounted)
Kolb’s Alabama Battery – 1
Maj. General Benjamin F. Cheatham’s Corps – 380
Cheatham’s Escort – 1
Cleburne’s Division: Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne – 174
Granbury’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Hiram B. Granbury
5th Confederate – 2
35th Tennessee
6th Texas – 7
7th Texas – 14
10th Texas – 12
15th Texas Cavalry – 3
17th Texas Cavalry – 0
18th Texas Cavalry – 1
24th Texas Cavalry – 6
25th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) – 4
Nutt’s Louisana Cavalry (dismounted)
Govan’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Daniel C. Govan
3d Confederate – 0
1st Arkansas – 9
2d Arkansas – 4
5th Arkansas – 2
6th Arkansas – 15
7th Arkansas – 8
8th Arkansas – 4
13th Arkansas – 0
15th Arkansas – 0
19th Arkansas – 1
24th Arkansas – 0
Lowrey’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Mark P. Lowrey (Franklin)
3d Mississippi Battalion – 8
5th Mississippi – 19
8th Mississippi – 26
32d Mississippi – 11
16th Alabama – 6
33d Alabama – 8
45th Alabama – 4
Brown’s (Cheatham’s Old) Division: Maj. Gen. John C. Brown – 177
Gordon’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. George W. Gordon – 51
11th Tennessee – 9
12th Tennessee – 5
13th Tennessee – 5
29th Tennessee – 13
47th Tennessee – 8
51st Tennessee – 9
52nd Tennessee – 0
154th Tennessee -2
Gist’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. States Rights Gist – 55
2d Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters – 0
8th Georgia Battalion – 5
46th Georgia – 9
65th Georgia – 4
16th South Carolina – 22
24th South Carolina – 15
Strahl’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Otho F. Strahl – 29
4th Tennessee – 8
5th Tennessee – 3
19th Tennessee – 6
24th Tennessee – 1
31st Tennessee – 5
33d Tennessee – 0
38th Tennessee – 3
41st Tennessee – 3
Carter’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. John C. Carter- 42
1st Tennessee – 1
4th Tennessee (provisional) – 0
6th Tennessee – 3
8th Tennessee – 6
9th Tennessee – 5
16th Tennessee – 13
27th Tennessee – 0
28th Tennessee – 5
50th Tennessee – 9
Bate’s Division: Maj. Gen. William B. Bate – 28
Staff Officers – 1
Jackson’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Henry R. Jackson – 14
1st Confederate – 5
1st Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters – 0
25th Georgia – 2
29th Georgia – 6
30th Georgia – 1
66th Georgia – 0
Smith’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Thomas B. Smith – 10
2d Tennessee – 1
10th Tennessee – 0
20th Tennessee – 1
37th Tennessee – 1
37th Georgia – 6
4th Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters – 1
Finley’s Brigade: Jesse J. Finley – 3
1st Florida – 1
3d Florida – 0
4th Florida – 0
6th Florida – 0
7th Florida – 2
1st Florida Cavalry (dismounted) – 0
Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee’s Corps – 55
Johnson’s Division: Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson – 52
Manigault’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Arthur M. Manigault – 6
24th Alabama – 0
28th Alabama – 0
34th Alabama – 1
10th South Carolina – 3
19th South Carolina – 2
Deas’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Zachariah C. Deas – 4
19th Alabama – 1
22d Alabama – 0
25th Alabama – 0
39th Alabama – 2
26th/50th Alabama
Brantley’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. William F. Brantley – 19
24th Mississippi – 6
27th Mississippi – 3
29th Mississippi – 2
30th Mississippi – 8
34th Mississippi – 0
Sharp’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Jacob H. Sharp – 23
7th Mississippi – 2
9th Mississippi – 2
10th Mississippi – 10
41st Mississippi – 8
44th Mississippi – 1
9th Battalion Mississippi Sharpshooters – 0
Clayton’s Division: Maj. Gen. Henry D. Clayton – 2
Gibson’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson – 2
1st Louisiana
4th Louisiana
13th Louisiana – 1
16th Louisiana
19th Louisiana – 1
20th Louisiana
25th Louisiana
30th Louisiana
4th Lousiana Battalion
14th Lousiana Battalion Sharpshooters
Stovall’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Marcellus A. Stovall
40th, 41st, 42d, 43d, 52d Georgia
Holtzclaw’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. James Holtzclaw
18th, 32d, 36th, 38th, 58th Alabama
Standford’s Mississippi Battery
Ma.j. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Cavalry Corps 11
CHALMER’s Division: Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers – 2
Rucker’s Brigade: Col. Edmund W. Rucker – 1
7th Alabama Cavalry
5th Miss Cavalry
7th Tenn Cavalry
12th Tenn Cavalry
14th Tenn Cavalry
15th Tenn Cavalry – 1 Cavalry
Forrest’s Regiment Tenn Cavalry
Biffle’s Brigade: Col. Jacob B. Biffle – 1
4th Tenn Cavalry – 1
10th Tenn Cavalry
BUFORD’s Division: Brig. Gen. Abraham Buford – 2
Bell’s Brigade: Col. Tyree H. Bell
2d, 19th, 20th, 21st Tenn Cavalry; Nixon’s Tenn Cavalry Regiment
Crossland’s Brigade: Col. Edward Crossland – 2
3d Kentucky Mounted Infantry – 1
7th Kentucky Mounted Infantry
8th Kentucky Mounted Infantry – 1
12th Kentucky Mounted Infantry
12th Kentucky Cavalry
Huey’s Kentucky Battalion
JACKSON’s Division: Brig. Gen. William H. Jackson – 7
Armstrong’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Frank C. Armstrong – 4
1st Miss Cavalry
2d Miss Cavalry
28th Miss Cavalry – 4
Ballentine’s Miss Regiment
Ross’s Brigade: Brig. Gen. Lawrence S. Ross – 3
3d Texas Cavalry – 3
5th Texas Cavalry
6th Texas Cavalry
9th Texas Cavalry
1st Texas Legion
ARTILLERY
Morton’s Tennessee Battery, Slocumb’s Louisiana Battery
The McGavock Confederate Cemetery is the largest privately held Confederate cemetery in the United States. It is located in Franklin, Tennessee. The nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers buried there were casualties during the Battle of Franklin that took place November 30, 1864. 780 of the soldiers’ identities are known today, leaving 558 as unknown but not forgotten.
This blog is intended to honor the men and boys who lie buried at the McGavock Cemetery, at Carnton, in Franklin, Tennessee. We encourage everyone who is interested in the Battle of Franklin (November 30, 1864) to participate in this blog conversation by commenting and nurturing the discussion forward.
The hope and purpose of this blog is to uncover facts, information, stories, etc., that will shed more light on the Confederate soldiers who rest at McGavock cemetery. We hope to be able to better tell the individual, and collective, stories of these brave men who fought and the hundreds of men that fell on that fateful day.
Email us: tellinghistory[at]yahoo.com
Confederate flags are placed at the side of every marker at McGavock on the first Sunday in June during a memorial service. The ceremony is served by a local Boy Scout troop.
Most of the Confederate (and Union dead) were buried “near and along the length of the Federal breastworks, which spanned the Southern edge of what was then Franklin,” according to Jacobson; The McGavock Confederate Cemetery, p. 21. Union dead were placed by twos in shallow grave in long rows by their comrades without marking the identities. Many of the Union dead were later removed either by family or loved ones or by the military and relocated in graves at home or buried at the Stones River National Cemetery in Murfreesboro, TN. The Union soldiers interred at Stone’s River were placed there by the 11th United States Color Troops, according to Jacobson: McGavock, p. 22.
However, the identities of the Confederate dead at Franklin, some 1,750, were mostly identified by burial teams the next day (December 1st). They were not buried in mass graves. Rather, soldier burial teams took great care to collect and identify their fallen comrades placing makeshift wooden markers at the head of the graves, identifying the men by name, rank, Regiment and the Company they served in.
Most of the Confederate dead found initial rest on the property of Fountain Branch Carter and James McNutt. Carter had the largest section of land with killed. He also lost his own son, Todd Carter, in the Battle of Franklin. The Carter-McNutt land would be but a temporary rest until the bodies were transferred to their permanent home some eighteen months later, in June 1866.
Source: excerpted from the Wikipedia article (authored by Tellinghistory, the owner of this blog site)
This image is a stereoview of citizens burying their dead after the battle of Fredericksburg
Following today’s memorial service for the nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers buried at McGavock Cemetery in Franklin, many people walked over near the Carnton gift shop to hear Carnton historian – Eric Jacobson – lead a brief ceremony to unveil the new historical marker placed on the ground where thousands of Loring’s men – mostly Mississippians walked across on the early evening of November 30, 1864 to face the near impenetrable Union left flank.
Jacobson, author of For Cause and for Country, detailed the tragic events of that Indian summer day in Franklin (November 30, 1864) and how Loring’s men would suffer nearly 30% casualties that day.
There are more Mississippi Confederate soldiers buried at McGavock than soldiers from any other Southern state. The only Confederate state that did not participate at the Battle of Franklin was the state of Virginia.
Hundreds of the Mississippi boys faced torid fire from Hoosier boys of the 120th, 63rd and 128th Indiana regiments (Stiles’s brigade) on 30 November 1864.
The marker cost about $800 to erect. It is a fitting tribute to the sacrifice and memory of thousands of Confederate soldiers who fought under Gen. Loring that fateful day in Middle Tennessee.
- The final man bearing the flag of the 15th Mississippi was shot as he reached the top of the Yankee parapet and then pulled inside. Both he and the flag were captured. Lt. Thaddeus O. Donoghue of the 14th Mississippi was killed near the guns of the 6th Ohio Battery. Col. Michael Farrell of the 15th Mississippi was horribly wounded in both legs and lost his left to amputation. Farrell, a popular officer, did not have a single living relative nor did he have any money or own any property before enlisting. Those who knew him admired him and said he fought for ‘principle and constitutional liberty.’ Col. Farrell’s injuries eventually led to his death on Christmas Day.
For Cause and for Country, Jacobson, p. 362.
Confederate reenactor Robert Brooks read the poem - The Same Canteen – by Civil War poet-soldier Miles O’Reilly, during the 2008 McGavock Cemetery memorial service.
Here are the words to the poem.
- There are bonds of all sorts in this world of ours,
Fetters of friendship and ties of flowers,
And true lover’s knots, I ween;
The girl and the boy are bound by a kiss,
But there’s never a bond, old friend, like this,
We have drank from the same Canteen!It was sometimes water, and sometimes milk,
And sometimes apple-jack “fine as silk;”
But whatever the tipple has been
We shared it together in bane or bliss,
And I warm to you, friend, when I think of this,
We drank from the same Canteen!
The rich and great sit down to dine,
They quaff to each other in sparkling wine,
From glasses of crystal and green;
But I guess in their golden potations they miss
The warmth of regard to be found in this,
We drank from the same Canteen!
We have shared our blankets and tents together,
And have marched and fought in all kinds of weather,
And hungry and full we have been;
Had days of battle and days of rest,
But this memory I cling to and love the best,
We drank from the same Canteen!
For when wounded I lay on the center slope,
With my blood flowing fast and so little hope
Upon which my faint spirit could lean;
Oh! then I remember you crawled to my side,
And bleeding so fast it seemed both must have died,
We drank from the same Canteen!
Pvt. Miles O’Reilly
As Mr. Brooks read the poem the reenactors in attendance all drank from the same canteen.
Scores of people came out to the McGavock Confederate Cemetery at the Carnton plantation in Franklin, Tennessee, Sunday June 1st at 2 p.m., to commemorate the service and sacrifice that some 1,500 Confederate soldiers made on November 30, 1864, during the Battle of Franklin. This is an annual event hosted by The Daughters of the Confederacy. Boy Scouts Troop #137 serves the event by placing flags near every headstone.
Fourteen Confederate reenactor soldiers (the 46th Tennessean Color Guard ) attended and gave a 21-gun salute to the nearly 1,500 Confederate-dead soldiers who are buried at McGavock. The 46th Tennessee Infantry was also specially honored.
The service was well-attended with probably nearly 75 people in attendance.
Outgoing Director of the Carter House, Thomas Cartwright, was the key-note speaker. He cited from memory several letters and accounts of soldiers who fought and died at Franklin. Cartwright cited the bravery and sacrifice of such men as Colonel Michael Farrell from 15th Mississippi.
Jim Drury, was the lone pipe musician, with the TN Scots Pipe Band. Drury ; the reenactors into the cemetery to begin the service with overcast skies and he walked singularly down the 14 feet path of the cemetery to end the service playing the well-known hymn Amazing Grace.
Many more pictures of the event can be found here.
Reporting for The Franklin Civil War Roundtable; Kraig McNutt.
The McGavock Confederate Cemetery is a real place one can visit in Franklin, TN, just a few minutes south of Nashville. It is the largest privately owned military cemetery in the United States. There are nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers resting at McGavock.
Almost 150 years ago some 60,000 American Civil War soldiers—North and South—met close to downtown Franklin on a beautiful Indian summer evening, November 30, 1864. The carnage resulting from this late autumn clash would have a devastating impact on Franklin and the Confederacy.
By late 1864, the South was in desperate need of a victory to maintain their way of life and their cause. It seemed that a Confederate victory in Nashville would revive the hopes of the Southern Confederate States, and maybe even turn the tide of a nearly four year old war. A war that had already costs hundreds of thousands of lives for both sides. Many thought that the Confederate Army of Tennessee, coming home to their native State, just might infuse the Southern cause with new energy and purpose.
So when Confederate John Bell Hood’s troops clashed with Union General John M. Schofield’s forces around the Fountain Branch Carter farm some 10,000 men became casualties of the blood-bath. The battle was fought from four to nine that day resulting in nearly 2,000 killed outright. The amazing thing is that the battle was completely unexpected because the Federal army was held up at Franklin, due to bridges being out, that delayed them from actually getting to Nashville.
Most of the battle was fought after dark, and also with rare hand-to-hand combat. Historians say it was the “bloodiest five hours of the American Civil War”.
The entire town of Franklin only had some 2,000 residents at that time. Imagine a town having to deal with battle casualties ten times its own size. The after-battle scene, caring and tending to the wounded and dying, dragged this sleepy little middle Tennessee town into a story of unimaginable horror. Every available home and business was used as a field-hospital to tend to the thousands of casualties.
The most famous Franklin field-hospital was the John and Carrie McGavock residence—Carnton. Carrie McGavock became famously known as the ‘Good Samaritan of Williamson County’ as a result of caring for the hundreds of wounded and dying in her own home. She would later be immortalized in Robert Hicks’s novel as the Widow of the South.
The scars would heal and the screams would subside but the memories would never fade nor the bloodstains be completely washed away from the floors of many Franklin homes. The ripple-effects of this battle can still be felt almost 150 years today. The recent story of how the preservation community in Franklin successfully reclaimed over 100 acres of original Franklin battlefield land—formerly a country club– is evidence that the Battle of Franklin has become the Battle FOR Franklin.
The plan is to use this newly reclaimed land as the main base for the future official National Franklin Battlefield Park. This newly reclaimed land is the largest, most successful battlefield reclamation project in the history of Civil War preservation in the United States.
At least 2,000 men were killed at Franklin, in just five hours. The South suffered 60-70 percent of the casualties. About 1,750 of the killed were on the Confederate side. Around 200 Union soldiers died. The percentage of men killed at Franklin-compared to the number of total men engaged– ranks as one of the highest kill-rates of any Civil War battle, far bloodier than even Gettysburg.
But for now appreciate this fact. The terrified residents of Franklin woke up the next morning—for those that could sleep– to a ghastly sight near their beloved town. Thousands of Confederate soldiers were lying on the cold ground. Many had died in the night from bleeding to death or from the sub-zero temperatures. Making it even worse was the fact that a couple hundred of these men claimed Tennessee as their native soil. Soil that would soon serve as a blanket for eternity for these brave soldiers, some just boys.
Farmers like James McNutt and Fountain Branch Carter must have been impacted for years afterwards. Their farms served as temporary cemeteries for the soldiers immediately after the battle. The Union army, whose objective was always to make it to Nashville and not fight at Franklin, evacuated during the late night of November 30th, leaving scores of their wounded and dying on the ground as well. Before they left they hastily buried as many of their own dead as they could.
By the afternoon of December 1st, 1864, hundreds of wounded Confederates had already been evacuated to local field-hospitals like Carnton, and in other homes of Franklin citizens. Local churches like St. Paul’s Episcopal, pictured right, were also used to care for the wounded and dying. Since John Bell Hood did not have much time, and he wanted to pursue Schofield’s army north, he detached some burial teams to take care of burying the hundreds of fallen Confederates at Franklin.
The burial teams had much work to do and it had to be done quickly. All of the Confederate dead were identified as best they could be, by name, state, rank, and regiment. They were then placed in long rows, usually by twos, in shallow two to three foot deep graves along the main line of entrenchments. The soldiers were given wooden markers to notate their identities. A Union soldier passing by two weeks later remarked that he counted over 1,700 Confederate graves.
About a year later the condition of the graves were already in poor condition. The wooden markers, now enduring their second winter, were being used for firewood and hogs and wild animals were disturbing the graves.
As one might imagine, this situation was unacceptable as a permanent solution to the final resting place for the Confederate dead. So, Col. John McGavock, and his wife Carrie, graciously donated about two acres of their farm land at Carnton to be used as a permanent cemetery for the fallen Confederates at Franklin. The challenge now would be getting the hastily buried soldiers on the battlefield moved from where they were originally interred to the new cemetery at Carnton. In an ironic twist of fate, Carnton comes from the Gaelic word ‘Cairn’. It means a “pile of memorial stones” used to honor fallen heroes.
Bids were solicited for the reburial work and a man by the name of George Cuppett, a veteran Confederate soldier with the 8th Texas Cavalry, was awarded the job to rebury the soldier-dead at a price of $5.00 per man. He had a small team helping him, including his brother Marcellus. The burial team worked for about ten weeks, from April until June 1866, reburying the dead. They took great care to keep as many of the men identified as possible.
George Cuppett started a ‘book of the dead’ in which the names and information on each soldier were carefully recorded. The book would be handed over to Carrie McGavock who kept it for over 40 years. Many family members of the soldiers buried at McGavock would correspond with Carrie through the following decades to gain information about their loved ones. For many years after the battle, people would travel from various southern States to Franklin in order to visit their loved-one’s grave and to personally meet Carrie McGavock. Some would return year after year.
One of the sadder stories related to this reburial process is that George Cuppett’s younger brother, Marcellus, who was helping with the reburials, mysteriously died during the reburial project. The McGavocks allowed him to be buried in the same cemetery. He was buried with the Texas soldiers. Marcellus Cuppett is the only civilian buried in McGavock Confederate Cemetery.
The cemetery has remained in private hands since 1866. An annual memorial service is held the first Sunday in June to honor the brave Southern soldiers. A local Boy Scout troop places flags next to each marker to honor their sacrifice.
If you come to Franklin make sure Carnton is on your list of stops. Plan at least one hour for the house tour and an additional 20-40 minutes to walk through the cemetery. This guidebook is a valuable resource for your self-guided tour through the cemetery.
They say there’s a place
where dreams have all gone
They never said where
but I think I know
It’s miles through the night
just over the dawn
on the road that will take me home
I know in my bones
I’ve been here before
The ground feels the same
though the land’s been torn
I’ve a long way to go
The stars tell me so
on this road that will take me home
Love waits for me ’round the bend
Leads me endlessly on
Surely sorrows shall find their end
and all our troubles will be gone
And I’ll know what I’ve lost
and all that I’ve won
when the road finally takes me home
And when I pass by
don’t lead me astray
Don’t try to stop me
Don’t stand in my way
I’m bound for the hills
where cool waters flow
on this road that will take me home
Love waits for me ’round the bend
Leads me endlessly on
Surely sorrows shall find their end
and all our troubles will be gone
And we’ll know what we’ve lost
and all that we’ve won
when the road finally takes me home
I’m going home
I’m going home
I’m going home
The reburial operation took place between April and June 1866. 1,481 bodies were reinterred in McGavock Cemetery. The cemetery has always stayed in private hands since 1866. It is the largest privately-owned military cemetery in the United States. The United Daughters of the Confederacy, Chapter 14, maintain the cemetery today.
There were 225 soldiers placed in an Unknown section—pictured right. Not even their state identity was even known.
Another 333 unknowns are spread out in state sections throughout the cemetery, their state identity having been known, but not their names. So of the total of 1,481 Confederate soldiers buried here, 780 are identified positively. Another 143 graves have some sort of identification, genuine or otherwise.
The cemetery layout is simple. Ten of the eleven Confederate States are represented at McGavock. Only Virginia is not. There are also two neutral States: Kentucky and Missouri. The entire cemetery can be leisurely walked in 20-30 minutes. Budget 30-45 minutes if you have this guidebook with you.
The cemetery is basically divided down the middle by a fourteen foot walking path. The cemetery lays facing east-west. The entrance is on the far west side.
Walking in, one will see the first section to the left dedicated to the states of Florida, Kentucky and North Carolina. These states had the fewest casualties: Florida 4, Kentucky 5, and NC had 2.
The next section, on the left, is the Unknown section. There are 225 men buried here. There is just one large marker to honor the unknown dead. The flag pole is also in this section.
Continuing down to the left side one will then find the following state sections, the number buried is indicated to the right.
Louisiana—19
South Carolina—51
Georgia—69
Alabama—129
Tennessee—230
Once you get into these sections, with individual plots, each row has 15 granite markers corresponding to a given soldier.
The markers are well-worn but originally had the initials of the soldiers engraved on the top, as well as the plot number for that section. Many of the markers today are unreadable, thus it can be difficult to locate a given marker without a little patience and knowledge of how the cemetery is laid out.
As you make your way down the entire left— north side – of the cemetery you will end in the Tennessee section. Cross over to the south side now, where the Texas section begins.
Now, working your way back to the front of the cemetery, you will run into these state sections as you walk back toward the west:
Texas—89
Missouri—130
Arkansas—104
Mississippi—424
Mississippi has more young men -424- buried at McGavock than any other state. The number of Mississippi boys reflect the brutal cost paid by Loring’s Division as it absorbed Union artillery shelling on the far left Union flank. The 31st MS has the highest number of known men buried at McGavock— twenty-one men.
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