December’s Header Image: The Carter Office Building at Franklin
This month’s header image on ECW’s main page comes to us courtesy of Joe Ricci, historian at the Battle of Franklin Trust. Joe was on hand (as you might expect) for the 160th anniversary of the battle of Franklin, with events spanning Nov. 29 right on through this weekend. You can read about Joe’s adventures during the anniversary here.
The image shows off the bullet holes in the wall of the Carter plantation office building, which sat adjacent to the Carter house. Lit up from the inside during the annual luminaria, the bullet holes offer a stunning testament to the ferocity of the fighting that took place around the house, which sat at the center of the Confederate breakthrough along the Columbia Pike.
Stunning!
I visited last Friday!
Looking at the damaged office, the smoke house, and the main house is sobering. Inside the office, the sunlight passed through the bullet holes in walls and struck at least six places on my body. All would have been lethal hits.
In the basement of the main house, I could image the fear of the 28 people who sought safety there. Being a father, I wondered how or if I could have comforted my own five children if we had been in that basement. I couldn’t answer that question.
If you haven’t been there you need to go.