Chapter 20 - Hello Chattanooga

We decided to check out Chattanooga as we made our way home on our road trip. On the way we stopped in Franklin and visited the Carnton Plantation. If you aren't terribly familiar with Civil War history, Franklin is home to one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The Battle of Franklin took place November 30, 1864 and was considered a draw between the Union and the Confederate armies. The Carnton Plantation owned by the McGavock family was co-opted into serving as a field hospital for the Confederates. The McGavocks and their two children (ages 9 and 7) assisted in taking care of the soldiers and even helped in surgery. There are still bloodstains on the wooden floors in the bedroom used as an operating room.

Offering two acres of their own land, the McGavocks initiated and oversaw the identifying and reinterring of nearly 1,500 Confederate soldiers previously buried in mass graves.

Carrie McGavock, committed to identifying and honoring these brave men whose relations had previously been in ignorance of their fate, kept a book of the soldiers' names, regiments, and ranks. She maintained the cemetery until her death in 1905, often helping families find their loved ones' graves.

Chattanooga is famous for Glenn Miller's hit Chattanooga Choo Choo. There is even a hotel in the old train station known as the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel which is housed in the old train station. It was closed when we were there but we plan on going back and spending more time there.

Our return trip home took us through Helen, Georgia. This is a beautiful little Bavarian town located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. While you could definitely spend a few days there enjoying all it has to offer, we walked the town, had lunch, and continued home.

Some books I recommend that took place in and around the areas we visited are Widow of the South by Robert Hicks, The Battle of Franklin: When the Devil Had Full Possession of the Earth by James Knight, Beverly Barton books Don't Cry and Don't Say a Word, and The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare by Kimberly Brock.

Have you seen this part of the US? Please share your thoughts!