Contributions
The work required to maintain this historic treasure is an expensive endeavor. Your contributions are deeply appreciated and, of course, tax deductible. Read more about our fundraising campaign. Send donations to:

McGavock Confederate Cemetery
c/o First Farmers Bank
1536 W. McEwen Drive
Franklin, TN 37067

Louise Beauchamp, Nancy Bassett, Chuck Isaacs and Eric Jacobson of Battle of Franklin Trust presenting $5,000 check

February 4, 2013 Joan Wherley with Middle TN Electric Customers Care presents $5,000 check to trustees. pictured left to right Marlene Holmes, Louise Beauchamp, Joan Wherley and Susan Hardy

	McGavock Cemetery at sunrise photo courtesy of Robin Hood, Photographer

After the November 30, 1864 Battle of Franklin, fallen Confederate soldiers were buried on the battlefield. Makeshift wooden markers were placed to identify the dead. Two years later, as the markers became increasingly difficult to read, the citizens of Franklin began raising funds to exhume and re-inter 1,480 soldiers on property donated by the McGavock family of Carnton. Veterans assisted in maintaining the graves, and in 1911 the deed to the cemetery and right-of-way from Lewisburg Pike was presented to the newly chartered McGavock Confederate Cemetery Corporation. The corporation continues to maintain and oversee the burial ground today.

History
After the Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864, the Union Army withdrew into Nashville leaving casualties of over 8,000 soldiers. Confederate General John Bell Hood left a burial detail in Franklin for two days. Confederate soldiers were buried near the Carter House breastworks with the graves arranged in plots according to the states from which the soldiers came. As winter wore on, many of the headboards were fading or were used for firewood by the poor. Seeing the great need, Colonel John McGavock and family donated two acres of land adjoining the family graveyard, to be used for a final resting place for the soldiers.

In April 1866, he and other citizens formed a committee and began raising money to remove the bodies. Again, each soldier was laid to rest by state and each known name was registered in the Book of the Dead. Colonel McGavock’s wife, Caroline Winder McGavock, continued to maintain the official register of the dead and welcome families and comrades of the fallen who wished to pay their respects. At the same time, the John L. McEwen Bivouac of Veterans assisted in maintaining the graves and in 1890 appointed a committee to maintain the cemetery and raise funds to replace the wooden headboards with the granite markers you see today. In 1911 Mrs. Winder McGavock and Carnton owners, Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Shelton, presented the trustees of the newly chartered McGavock Confederate Cemetery, the deed to the cemetery and the right-of-way for light vehicles from the Lewisburg Pike along the 30-foot avenue leading to their property. While serving as President of the cemetery, W.D. Shelton gave an additional ten feet along the avenue making a “wide driveway from the Pike to the Cemetery.” The Trustees continued to maintain the cemetery and avenue and reported in the minute book in 1919 that the cost of the bridge repair was $275.00 and with the new permanent rock road, “nothing else will need to be done to it in our lifetime.” ln 1925 only three of the trustees were in attendance at their meeting and as these veterans passed away, the care of the cemetery devolved upon their wives who were active in the Daughters of the Confederacy. In 1926 the trustees voted to allow members elected by Franklin Chapter #14 to serve as such trustees. The chapter had been responsible for placing the statue of the Confederate Soldier in the town square in Franklin in 1899, developing Winstead Hill as a memorial park, and raising funds for the Confederate Veteran’s Home and the Confederate Memorial Hall on the Peabody Campus in Nashville.

In 1989 the Daughters published a small cemetery book in an effort to tell the history of the cemetery and offer the only published list of the dead that could be purchased. The list was copied from the 1947 printed “blue book.” Profits from the sale of the booklet would be used toward the upkeep of the cemetery. The booklet is now in its sixth publication.

In November 1989 the re-enactment of the Battle of Franklin brought a donation of $13,000 to the Daughters for the restoration needed in the cemetery. Graham Reed was persuaded to undertake the tedious process of restoring the stones and monuments. Since those original monies were donated, fund raising efforts have continued. Descendants, Civil War Round Tables, State organizations of Sons of Confederate Veterans, re-enactments, local banks, businesses, and the Franklin Memorial Association have contributed approximately $60,000 for the restoration of the stones, and repairs to the iron fence. The Tennessee Historical Commission contributes small grants toward ground maintenance and local Sons of the Confederate Veterans  have helped with maintenance and care in the past.

Today, the McGavock Confederate Cemetery Corporation serves as the official organization that maintains the cemetery. Trustees are elected by the board from the Franklin Chapter #14 UDC and serve today as when the original organization was formed in 1911. Each June the Daughters hold a memorial service to remember the fallen soldiers who gave their lives for their homeland and for a cause so dear.

A&S Restoration Inc.

A&S Cleaning Unknown Soldier's monument Donated Services by A&S for Memorial Day Service

In 1996 the cemetery trustees completed a $60,000 project with stonemason, Graham Reed.  Repair was made to many of the damaged headstones, monuments and iron fence.  Mr. Reed undertook much of the work at his own expense and only once have the stones been cleaned to remove the lichen and algae since that time.  Now, many of the headstones cannot be read and upon consultation, A&S Restoration has agreed to clean and seal the stones for $24,000.  After they are cleaned (and before sealed), it will be determined how many need to be re-marked and this will be a large expense.  Because of the unknown cost and the ongoing expenses of insurance, grass cutting, tree trimming, iron fence repairs, the trustees feel the need to raise a minimum of $50,000 to ensure the ongoing protection for the site. 

The A&S Restoration Company is under the management of Mr. Dallas Upchurch who has many years in the field of historic stone restoration.  He recently completed the work of restoration at the historic Nashville City Cemetery.  The project took two years and his work comes highly recommended by the Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission.  Mr. Upchurch plans to clean the stones with a Bio Wash and seal by applying PROSOCO’s Natural Stone Treatment for sealing purposes.  We have full confidence in his efforts.

Annual Memorial Service

A memorial service for the fallen soldiers was held in June 2012.  The service was hosted by the McGavock Confederate Cemetery Corporation and the Franklin Chapter #14 United Daughters of the Confederacy featuring Patrick McIntyre, Executive Director of the Tennessee Historical Commission, as guest speaker.  Confederate flags were placed on the graves of those killed in the battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864 in loving remembrance by Boy Scout Troop #137.  Jim Drurly, Pipe Major for Tennessee Scots Pipe Band performed with Presentation and Salute to Arms by the 46th Tennesseans. 

Guest speaker Patrick McIntyre with Nancy Bassett, Nicholas Lane, Louise Beauchamp and Miss Kathleen McIntyre	Nancy Bassett with Graham Reed of the 46th Tennessean	Boy Scout troop #137 of Franklin places flags on graves of 1,481 graves
Rick Warwick, speaker for 2011 Memorial Service is pictured with Nancy Bassett, chairman	The 21 gun salute by 46 Tennesseans	Scouts placing the flags

McGavock Confederate Cemetery Corporation Trustees

• Nancy W. Bassett, Chairman
• Louise J. Beauchamp, Superintendent 
• Marlene Holmes, Secretary
• Susan Hardy, Treasurer
• Bertha Maye Gathman
• Virginia Bowman
• Ann Moran
• Lynn Garrett
• Jane Brophy