Based on
a true story, this extraordinary book
about one of the last great battles of the
Civil War is a must. Carrie McGavock's teenage
decision to wear only black was a foreshadowing
of the life she would lead. The privileged
daughter of a plantation owner, she sank into
depression after the deaths of three of her
five children. It wasn't until a confederate
general commandeered her home as a hospital
and she tended the wounded soldiers of the
Battle of Franklin that she discovered her
true purpose in life. Over 9,200 men died
in that battle, and 1,500 of the confederate
casualties were buried in the fields behind
Carrie's home. When she learned that a neighbor
was planning to cultivate the meadow and plow
their bodies into the earth, she and her husband
arranged to have the 1,500 fallen soldiers
buried on their property, Carnton Plantation.
She spent the rest of her life tending those
graves, keeping records of the boys' deaths
and contacting their families to inform them
of their sons' final hours, becoming known
as the Widow of the South...[More]
