Existing comment:
The Tennessee Confederate Soldiers' Home and Cemetery:
In 1856, the State of Tennessee purchased 500 acres of Andrew Jackson's Hermitage property. The state allowed the Jackson family to remain on the property until Sarah Jackson died in 1887. Two years later, the state chartered The Ladies' Hermitage Association and gave the organization the Hermitage mansion. Jackson's tomb, and the twenty-five acres surrounding the mansion. The Tennessee Confederate Soldiers' Home received the remaining 475 acres. The Soldiers' Home Trustees used most of land for an extensive farming operation that provided the home with food and income.
An early plan to house each veteran in a separate cottage proved too costly. The Soldiers' Home Trustees then decided to build a single large, dormitory style building for all the veterans. From 1892 to 1933, the Tennessee Confederate Soldiers' Home provided shelter, comfort, and medical attention to over 700 Confederate veterans.
This cemetery, which is laid out in a series of circles, holds the remains of 487 men who died in the home. The pathways through the cemetery represent a Saint Andrews Cross, the cross on the Confederate battle flag. In 1911, the State of Tennessee donated the granite monument that rests in the center of the cemetery. The state also provided the granite memorial posts that support the gate on Lebanon Road. The United Daughters of the Confederacy dedicated the posts on Confederate Memorial Day in 1941. |