The Confederate Charge at the Battle of Franklin 154 years ago was more fierce than Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg the year before. More than 63,000 men engaged in brutal fighting for five hours.
With nearly 10,000 dead, dying, and wounded men littering the battlefield surrounding the Carnton Plantation, it's easy to imagine the home becoming a makeshift hospital. If you tour Carnton today, you can't help but notice the blood stains on the wooded floor by every window and fireplace... the light sources at the time.
A door was removed from its frame to serve as a surgery table. Surgeons triaged the wounded, and operated on the ones who had a chance to survive. None had a chance to save their wounded limbs. Without morphine, whiskey, or pain-killers available, the luckiest of the wounded soldiers had their injuries treated by the removal of the wounded limb by surgeon's saw. Arms and legs were tossed out the windows at Carnton, and the pile was as high as the second floor windows. Rivers of blood flowed away from the house.
Photo Credit: CARNTON PLANTATION FACEBOOK PAGE
If you find yourself near Franklin in your travels, you owe it to yourself and children to stop by Carnton and learn this chapter of our nation's history as it happened, where it happened.
This is awesome, and very moving. Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Jennifer | Sunday, December 02, 2018 at 10:43 AM