Confederate Circle at Mt. Olivet:
1201 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, TN 37210
After the Civil War, women formed an association to raise funds to purchase a distinct plot of land at the cemetery for the interment of Confederate dead. It was used for the interment of soldiers who had died on nearby battlegrounds and as a memorial to their sacrifice. Women organized such memorial associations and raised money for interment of Southern soldiers in cities across the South and areas where there were concentrations of bodies. The Nashville memorial association arranged for burials of about 1,500 soldiers here. Confederate veterans were also eligible for burial. – Wikipedia
Confederate Memorial Hall: The chamber was constructed in 1856, when Mount Olivet opened, as a holding vault. Underground, it allowed the deceased to be kept at cooler temperatures. Embalming procedures improved in the 1860’s, but the structure is believed to have been used well into the 20th Century. It is open to the public and includes a timeline of significant individuals related to the Civil War in Nashville. The Hall located on the left main drive, on the right side near the crest of the hill.
Notable Civil War Related Burials:
- Adelicia Acklen, wealthy Nashville businesswoman and socialite.
- William B. Bate, Governor of Tennessee (1883 to 1887), Confederate general
- Battle, Fannie (Mary Francis) (1842-1924), Confederate spy and social reformer.
- William N.R, Bealle, Confederate brigadier general
- John Bell, United States Senator and presidential candidate
- George P. Buell, Union Army general
- Benjamin F. (“Frank”) Cheatham, Confederate general
- Mark R. Cockrill (1788-1872), cattleman, planter, and “Wool King of the World”.
- Thruston Sr., Gates Phillips (1835-1912) Union Brevet Brigadier General. Lawyer, businessman and author.
- Alvan Cullem Gillem, Union general and post-bellum Indian fighter
- Adolphus Heiman (1809 – 1862), Prussian-born American architect and soldier; later becoming a Confederate Colonel
- William Hicks Jackson, Confederate general
- Mary Kate Patterson Kyle (1844-1931) Coleman’s Scouts Confederate spy, first woman to be buried in Confederate Circle
- George Maney, Confederate general and U.S. Ambassador to Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay
- Randal William McGavock (1826–1863), Mayor of Nashville from 1858 to 1859 and Confederate Lt. Colonel who was killed in the Battle of Raymond.
- Colonel Buckner H. Payne (1799-1889), clergyman, publisher, merchant and racist pamphleteer.[8]
- James E. Rains, Confederate general killed in the 1862 Battle of Murfreesboro
- John Hugh Smith (1819–1870), Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee three times, from 1845 to 1846, from 1850 to 1853, and from 1862 to 1865.[2]
- Thomas Benton Smith (1838 – 1923), Confederate brigadier general
Confederate Circle
Seven Confederate generals are buried in or around the circle. They are William B. Bate, William N.R, Bealle, Benjamin Franklin Cheatham, William H. Jackson, George E. Maney, James E. Rains, and Thomas Benton Smith. Other prominent Nashville Confederates, Colonels Adolphus Heiman and Randall McGavock, lie nearby.
This 45-foot granite monument marks the center of the Confederate Circle.
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