McGavock Confederate Cemetery The McGavock Confederate Cemetery the largest privately held Confederate cemetery in the United States is located in Franklin , Tennessee . It was established on land donated by the McGavock planter family . The nearly 1 , 500 Confederate soldiers buried there were casualties of the Battle of Franklin that took place November 30 , 1864 . While 780 of the soldiers have been identified , 558 are still unknown . Since 1905 the cemetery has been maintained by the Franklin chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy . History . The aftermath of the Battle of Franklin , which took place during the night of November 30 , 1864 , left a total of nearly 9 , 500 soldiers , Union and Confederate dead , wounded , captured or missing . More than 6200 were Confederate troops . Their final losses were estimated at 1 , 750 dead ; 3800 wounded and the remainder missing or captured . The population of Franklin in 1860 was just over 900 . When Franklin residents awoke on the morning of December 1 , their concern was how to bury thousands of soldiers and care for the wounded . Colonel John and Carrie McGavock ' s plantation home , Carnton , was situated less than one mile ( 1 . 6 km ) from the center of the action that took place on the Union Eastern flank at Franklin . Due to its geographical proximity , Carnton served as the largest field hospital in the area for hundreds of wounded and dying Confederate soldiers . Carrie Winder McGavock led the efforts , supervising the logistics , ordering slave workers , and donating food , clothing and supplies to care for the wounded and dying . Carrie ' s two surviving children , Hattie ( age nine ) and Winder ( age seven ) , served as medical aides throughout the evening as well . At least 150 Confederate soldiers died the first night at Carnton . Most of the Confederate ( and Union dead ) were buried by soldiers and workers " near and along the length of the Federal breastworks , which spanned the southern edge of what was then Franklin . " . Union dead were placed by twos in shallow graves in long rows by their comrades without marking the identities . Many of the Union dead were later removed either by family or loved ones , or by the military and relocated in graves at home , or reinterred at the Stones River National Cemetery in Murfreesboro , Tennessee . The 11th United States Colored Troops managed the reinterment of the Union soldiers at Stones River . It was not until the next day of December 1 that burial teams identified most of the 1 , 750 Confederate dead near Carnton . Soldier burial teams collected and identified their comrades . They placed makeshift wooden markers at the head of the graves to identify individuals by name , rank , regiment and company . Most of the Confederate dead were buried on the properties of Fountain Branch Carter and James McNutt . Carter had the largest section of land with interments . He lost his own son , Todd Carter , in the Battle of Franklin . The Carter - McNutt land was temporary rest until the remains were transferred to a permanent cemetery some eighteen months later in June 1866 . Deterioration of the graves . By the spring of 1866 , the condition of the graves and markers were worsening . Many of the wooden markers were beginning to be hard to read , and some had been used as firewood at a time of shortages . The full identities of these men were in danger . The McGavocks of Carnton donated of their property to be used as a permanent burial ground for the soldiers . Citizens of Franklin began raising funds to exhume and re - bury nearly 1 , 500 Confederate soldiers to the field just northwest of the Carnton house . With enough money raised to get started , the group paid George Cuppett to manage the re - burial operation . He was paid $ 5 . 00 for each soldier . The work was " done in order to have removed from fields exposed to the plow - share , the remains of all those who were buried , " according to Col . John McGavock . Cuppett was assisted by his brother Marcellus and two others . The entire operation took ten weeks and was completed in June 1866 . Marcellus , 25 years old , fell ill during the process and died . He was buried at the head of the Texas section in the cemetery . George Cuppett wrote , " My hole ( sic ) heart is with the brave & noble Confederate dead who fell whilst battling for their writes ( sic ) and Libertys ( sic ) . " ( Jacobson : McGavock , p . 25 ) Soldiers from every Southern state in the Confederacy , except Virginia , are represented in the cemetery . Wooden headboards with the soldier ' s personal identification were installed . Footboards were added in 1867 . McGavock Cemetery book . George Cuppett wrote the names and information related to the identity of each soldier in a cemetery book . After he finished the re - burials in mid - 1866 , he turned over the care of the book to the McGavocks . In 1896 , the " John McEweb Bivouac " veterans organization raised funds to replace the wooden headboards with granite markers . Carrie McGavock managed the maintenance of the cemetery with African - American workers until her death in 1905 . The original cemetery book is on display upstairs in the Carnton great house . After 1905 , the Franklin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy took over financial responsibility to maintain the cemetery . Today 780 Confederate soldiers ’ identities are positively identified , leaving some 558 as officially listed as unknown . The cemetery today . The cemetery is located off Lewisburg Pike just a few minutes from downtown Franklin . The graves take up a section of the Carnton plantation property . The thirteen sections are organized by states . The two sections are separated by a pathway . On the left side , upon entering are the following sections ( with the number of dead buried in parentheses ) : left front row one will find North Carolina ( 2 ) , Kentucky ( 5 ) and Florida ( 4 ) . Next section , Unknown ( 225 ) . Next section , Louisiana ( 19 ) . Next section , South Carolina ( 51 ) . Next section , Georgia ( 69 ) . Next section , Alabama ( 129 ) . Next section , Tennessee ( 230 ) . On the right side , upon entering are the following sections ( with the number of dead buried in parentheses ) : Mississippi ( 424 ) , the State with the largest number of men who died at Franklin . Next section , Arkansas ( 104 ) . Next section , Missouri ( 130 ) . Next section , Texas ( 89 ) .