Harriet (McGavock) Cowan (1855 - 1932)

Born 2 Jul 1855 in Carnton, Williamson, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Died 19 Jul 1932 at age 77 in Franklin, Williamson, Tennessee, United States

Biography

Hattie McGavock was 9 years old during the Civil War, when Battle of Franklin was fought on her family's plantation, and their home became a field hospital for the wounded soldiers.

For nine-year-old Hattie and seven-year-old Winder McGavock, November 30 began as a relatively ordinary Wednesday. It was unseasonably warm. Indian summer. While Federal troops were entrenching near the Carter House, they would have heard nothing. But by afternoon, Confederate troops could be seen unspooling themselves across the fields to the south.

In the afternoon, a chaplain from William Loring’s Division came to the house and told John and Carrie McGavock their home would be needed as a field hospital. By the end of the evening, more than three hundred wounded men would be inside their house and at least that many outside. While there was a room set aside in the house for the family, they do not seem to have used it. According to the soldiers, they spent that night caring for them, even the children. One soldier specifically mentioned that seven-year-old boy walking around with a tin cup of water.

The events of that evening, and the coming days, made a lasting impression on the children. The year before her death, Hattie gave a newspaper interview. The interviewer asked her what she remembered from that night. She recalled soldiers spread out beneath “our spacious shade trees and all around the grounds.” She noticed the confusion of the cattle due to the unusual smells of battle. She also said, “I remember the smell of blood. The house was full of it.”

Sources

Burial (21 July 1932) Mt. Hope Cemetery, Franklin, Williamson, Tennessee:

Find A Grave: Memorial #74498774

Book: Widow of the South

Census Records:

Residence (1860) 1st District, Williamson, Tennessee, United States

Residence (1880) District 10, Williamson, Tennessee, United States

Residence (1900) Civil District 9 (excl. Franklin town), Williamson, Tennessee, United States

Residence (1910) Franklin, Williamson, Tennessee, United States

Residence (1920) Franklin, Williamson, Tennessee, United States

Residence (1930) Franklin, Williamson, Tennessee, United States

Residence (19 Jul 1932) Franklin, Tennessee

Secondary Source :

"Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 20 April 2021, 15:32), entry for Harriet "Hattie' Young McGavock (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LYRP-THS ); contributed by various users.