Historic Monument
He stands proudly in the middle of Historic Downtown Franklin, Tennessee. Morning, noon and night, he stands with his chipped hat and rifle. You have probably driven, walked, jogged and passed him millions of times…but did you ever stop to wonder who he is and why he is camped out on Franklin’s square?
Having grown up in Franklin, and knowing that the statue in the middle of downtown was significant…I never knew the details behind him. The history lover in me got the best of my curiosities and I placed a call to the history experts in Franklin, TN…Historic Carnton Plantation. If you ever have a question about downtown Franklin, these are the people to go to for all of your inquiries.
After chatting with Carnton and reading an excerpt from Historic Williamson County by Virginia Bowman, I learned the following*:
- The statue represents the Confederate soldiers that fought in the Civil War.
- Franklin Chapter Number 14, United Daughters of the Confederacy raised $2,700 in funding for the monument.
- The statue’s bases are made of granite. The statue itself is made of Italian marble and is six feet, six inches tall.
- The grassy knoll that the statue rests on was purchased for over $500.
- Thirty-five years after the Battle of Franklin, on Nov. 30, 1899, the statue was erected.
- The soldier faces third avenue, because that is where most guests arrived by train.
- The chip on the soldier’s hat occurred a few weeks before the unveiling, when it was being raised the statue cracked against the granite shaft.
Photograph courtesy of Historic Carnton Plantation.
* All of these facts listed above come from my Virginia Bowman’s book, Historic Williamson County pages 128-129. To learn more about the monument, check out the book Historic Williamson County.
