August 18, 2025 • 18 mins
Scott and Jenn dive into the fascinating history of Woodlawn Plantation, which once served as General Sherman's Civil War headquarters. This charming spot in La Grange, Tennessee, is more than just a pretty face; it was a strategic hub during a tumultuous time. We explore the plantation's past, from its antebellum grandeur to its role as a hospital for soldiers on both sides of the war. With stories of ghostly encounters and artifacts from the Civil War era, this episode showcases why Woodlawn is a hidden gem for history lovers. So, buckle up, because we’re about to take you on a wild ride through time!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Today, we journey to a small,picturesque town in Tennessee where
the whispers of the pastresonate through the grand halls
of Woodlawn Plantation in LaGrange. Once a symbol of Southern
prosperity, a silent witnessto a nation's divide, and now a testament
to enduring history, Woodlawnhas seen it all. Join us as we uncover
(00:22):
the captivating saga of thisiconic estate, from its antebellum
grandeur to its pivotal roleduring the Civil War and the lives
that unfolded within itshistoric wal settle in. Because the
story of Woodlawn Plantationbegins now. Welcome to Talk with
(00:44):
History. I'm your host, Scott,here with my wife and historian,
Jen.
Hello.
On this podcast, we give youinsights to our history Inspired
World Travels, YouTube channelJourney and examine history through
deeper conversations with thecurious, the explorers and the history
lovers out there. All right,Jen, so this is some backyard history
(01:09):
for us.
Yes.
Now, this is one I didn't havea chance to get out to. You were
able to go out to Woodlawn,which kind of the tagline, the kind
of eye catcher is that thiswas General Sherman's. William Tecumseh
Sherman. Like the march tothe. Through Atlanta and the burning
and all the stuff thatSherman. It was his headquarters
(01:30):
for a couple months for. For afew months during the Civil War.
1862.
Yeah.
Yes. So we were driving, Ithink we were going to do Buford
Pusser. I think we were doingWalking Tall. And we were driving
basically eastbound from wherewe live, Memphis, straight across
the bottom part of Tennessee.And we drove by this historic marker.
(01:52):
And that's when I have thatbumper sticker, and you can order
them if you want. I break forhistoric markers, which I honestly
do. And I told you, slow down.That said something about Sherman
and it says W on. And if youturned your head, it looked like
this huge Greek revival style.
Antebellum, big, big pillars,all the stuff.
Mansion, very Tara esque. AndI was like, oh, how cool is that?
(02:16):
And it says, this house wasbuilt in 1828 and then during the
War between the States, whichI always love to see on Southern
historic markers that theycategorize the Civil War as the War
between the States. It was theheadquarters for Major General William
Tecumseh Sherman. And then itwas also used as a hospital for the
north and the south during theCivil War. So I was like, I would
(02:39):
love to make a video fromthere. So I contact. I found the
website. I contacted theperson in charge. It has recently
been bought by somebody. Itwas a for sale for a while. It had
been bought by someone whorelocated to the area. And she has
really done her best to makeit into a Airbnb, a place where you
can get married, just like alocation place.
(03:01):
As I was making the video, itkind of reminded me a little bit
of like visiting Appomattox,right? Appomattox Courthouse, obviously,
that's kind of more of like. Idon't know if it's a national park
or whatever, but it had thatsame feel to it because there's a
lot of artifacts that arestill kind of from the Civil War
era that were kind of camewith the house. Obviously the house
(03:21):
has been modernized so thatyou can stay in it and looks like
she does events there andstuff like that, because there's
lots of just beautiful landaround the area. But it's a. It's
a gorgeous home.
It's gorgeous. And they, likeI said, you can rent it and it's
perfect for like a wedding oran event. She does family reunions
there. What's neat about it isif you are a history buff like we
(03:41):
are, they have gone throughlooking for artifacts. She owns all
the land there, so she canmetal detect there or allow people
to metal detect there. Theyfound bullets and things like that.
They have the bedroom whereSherman slept, and they have it marked
with a placard. She evenbelieves it's the original furniture
because she bought it from theoriginal person who said it was the
(04:02):
original furniture. And evenwhen I was in there, if you look
at the video, it would be verydifficult furniture to get out of
the room. So I do not thinkthey moved it ever.
I think once it was in built.
In, the room it stayed in. Andso it seemed like it was the original
furniture. It's just abeautiful house. And so when you
think of Sherman and Shiloh,this is about. What did you say,
(04:24):
like an hour from Shiloh?
And you think about an hourfrom Shiloh, about a hour and change
from Memphis.
Yeah. So Sherman is kind ofmaking his way east from Memphis.
Memphis falls early during theCivil War, makes his way east. And
so he's setting upheadquarters here. And what's interesting
about this is in LaGrange,Tennessee. And LaGrange, Tennessee,
is a town that wasincorporated in 1819 and named for
(04:50):
the home of the Marquis deLafayette. And so it's named for
him because of his importancein the American Revolution. But if
you know anything about CivilWar history, this is where the Grierson
Raiders are going to leavefrom. They leave from lagrange, Tennessee.
Now, the Raiders, officially,their job was to just create havoc
(05:14):
and raid, hit these townsquickly and get out to pull the Confederates
away from Vicksburg. And thiswas Grant's whole idea, so he could
take Vicksburg, is try to getpeople away from Vicksburg so he
can get in and get Vicksburg.
So is this what these Raiders.Is this what the John Wayne movie
is based off of, the Horse Soldiers?
(05:34):
Yes. And so we're going totalk with Joyce and Gettysburg about
this movie, and it is basedoff the Horse Soldiers is the Grierson
Raid. It's the sad story.
So if you're. If you're not aJohn Wayne fan and we. I'm sitting
right next to a hardcore JohnWayne fan. I had never. We had never
actually seen this movie, theHorse Soldiers, but we had been in
(05:55):
touch with fellow historycreators. So Addressing Gettysburg
is another very big. You'veprobably heard of the Addressing
Gettysburg podcast. And we hadchit chatted and he had watched one
of our John Wayne videos. Hesaid, hey, I would love to talk John
Wayne. I love John Waynemovies. And so we had kind of set
something up a while ago,never made it happen. But this fall,
I think we're going to talkwith him about one of his favorite
(06:15):
movies is the Horse Soldier.So it's John Wayne kind of leading
these Raiders, and basicallytheir sole job was to kind of go
through the south and disruptsupply lines that kind of create
havoc to make it harder forthe Confederate armies to resupply,
to travel, you know, etcetera. And so then obviously, then
(06:35):
it's John Wayne. So there'sall the Jan1 stuff that comes with
it, but it's a great exampleof the history that happened kind
of from this area of Tennesseeand kind of what they did during
the Civil War.
Yeah. So you have to imagineSherman's headquarters is in Woodlawn.
So in the house that I takeyou to, the house you can go to.
(06:57):
And they believe Grant visitedhim there. And Grant gave verbal
orders for the gear for theGrison raid. And he gave verbal orders
because he didn't want anyoneto catch any documentation alluding
to this race is like Civil.
War version of black ops.
Yes, exactly. And so he wantedverbal orders. And so they're going
(07:19):
to leave. Sherman is here,1862. They're talking about this
raid, and they actually put itinto motion in April of 1863. So
they leave from La Grange inApril of 1863, and they basically,
the Raiders, they cut off therailroad and they're pulling Pemberton.
So if you Remember, Pembertonis the Confederate leader of Vicksburg.
(07:41):
They're pulling Pembertonaway. They're destroying the railroad
along the way. And so it'sdisrupting everything he's doing
to reinforce Vicksburg. Andthen they're going to hit Baton Rouge
in May of 1863. So think Aprilto May. And what's interesting about
Grierson, we'll talk moreabout this when we do the horse soldiers.
He's not a calvary expert. Sohe does all of this based on. He
(08:03):
reads books and he's like, I'mgoing to just hit things. I'm not
looking to take any property,I'm not looking to take any casualties.
I'm just looking to hit thingsfast and get out. And because of
that, they suffer very minimalcasualties because they're not. They
don't stick around enough.
Yeah, they're just travelingfast and disrupting supply.
They don't stick around enoughfor the oppos, the opposition, to
(08:24):
gear up and fight them. Theyjust hit them and go. And so it's
very effective. It reallythrows Pemberton off his game. And
Grierson does a really greatjob. So that all leaves from Lagrange,
Tennessee, and that's whereWoodlawn is. And Woodlawn I was built
in 1828. So when we talk aboutLa Grange starting in 1819, this
is about 10 years later. Andit was built by a Major Charles Mickey.
(08:49):
So he's a veteran of the Warof 1812. So if you know anything
about people who dosuccessfully in wars, they're granted
land grants. So he was given aland grant there in Lagrange. And
that's when he buildsWoodlawn. And it's beautiful Greek
restyle. It's very plantationesque, and it is a plantation. And
so that's why Sherman sees it.And he's like, I'm gonna make my
(09:12):
headquarters there, just likeGrant does. They make their headquarters
in the grandest houses in thearea. And so what you get during
the Civil War is they have alot of land out there. And so all
the soldiers make their tentsout in the land around the house.
So there's a lot of depiction.I show some photographs, not photographs,
but I show some drawings, someetchings, and a model recreation
(09:36):
of what that looked like ofall the soldiers camped out around
Woodlawn. And it's veryinteresting because Woodlawn is also
then used as a hospital forthe north and the south once Sherman
leaves there. And people arecoming back from the Confederacy
because Most people inTennessee are fighting for the South.
(09:58):
It's used as a hospital forthe north and the South. So there's
some. There's front steps andthere's back steps. And the back
steps were very much, you cantell, worn down from women who are
nursing or nurses going up anddown those steps to the large rooms
where the. The men would be,the sick men would be.
And you have to remember, too,so they got here was 1862, and then
(10:22):
Vicksburg was in July of 1863.So this is basically, you know, the
north is on their way down toVicksburg. So think about the larger
picture of the war. Like, thisis a pivotal spot because Tennessee,
for the most part, is held bythe Union right at that time. And
so they're moving down intoMississippi, down to Vicksburg to
(10:43):
capture that key point on the.One of the key points there on the
Mississippi. Look at mesounding like a history expert.
I know.
So this was kind of a pivotalpoint because the reason it's a headquarters,
because it's not far fromMemphis. They had taken Memphis,
which was relatively short,short battle for them. Then they're
heading down to Vicksburg. Andthen if. If you're going to take
the wounded from a location,you're going to take it back up to
(11:04):
kind of where things are moresecure and more established, potentially
back up, you know, to. To thisspot in Tennessee. So that's why
this is like a good spot,because it's not a key spot that
the south is going tonecessarily come up and try and take,
because it's not a. It's not alogistics center right there, but
it's close enough that you canget soldiers out of the way, out
(11:26):
of the key spots where theremight be battles, because it's not
far from Shiloh. It's not farfrom. It's kind of in between all
of these spots. And that's whyit's a headquarters. It's an hour
from Shiloh, hour fromMemphis, few hours from Vicksburg.
So it's right in between allof these spots. So strategically,
for headquarters, great spotand pretty safe as a hospital, because
(11:47):
the South's probably not goingto come up there, because these other
key strategic locations arereally what's more important.
And what's so great about ittoday is you can go there, you can
rent it, you can stay there.So if you're somebody who really
wants to be immersed inAmerican history, Civil War history,
it's available to you to kindof go and visit and stand There and
(12:09):
sleep in the same room Shermanslept in. And so much so that the
owner has had some ghostly runins there, you know. And so if you're
interested in ghost huntingand having some of those experiences,
she says it's a very activehouse for that. So much so that she
tells me these ghost storiesand then leaves me alone in the house.
(12:30):
I was like, I didn't want tosay anything to her. I'm not a huge
fan of being left aloneanywhere. But then she's telling
me I was in this room and Ilook over and there's a man sitting
there. And downstairs wherethere's a. The jail, the, where they
would hold the. The badprisoners, there's always activity,
loud banging things goingaround down there. And I. And she
(12:51):
looked at me, you want to gofilm down there while I'm gone? And
I'm thinking, no. So that'swhy there's none of that on the video.
Well, and plus it's just awine cellar.
Yeah. And it's a perfect placefor a wine cellar. But I. If you're
interested in ghost hunting. Itold her this would be a great place
for ghost hunters to go andsee because she said there's so much
activity. Fortunately, in allof my times in haunted places had
(13:13):
no experiences. So that wasnumber one for me. And I made it
very clear as I was going intothe rooms, the room that uses the
hospital room, which is a. Ahuge room where they have a lot of
beds and when people Airbnb ordo family reunions there, it's a
room where like you would putall the kids or something. She said
there's a lot of activity withdolls in that room. A great way to
(13:34):
get me to just never want togo back in that room again. Right.
So I was like, okay, awesome.But they. She had a very cute Civil
war sol soldiers in theirwooden ones. So if you watch the
video, I take video of that.What's interesting about LaGrange,
Tennessee is it's also knownfor a very famous woman of the Civil
War, a Lucy Pedaway HolcombPickens. She is considered the. The
(13:58):
beauty, the queen of theantebellum South. She's the only
woman's whose likeness appearson a Confederate currency.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
They just picked her becauseshe was pretty.
She is considered theConfederate governess of the South.
Like she's just consideredthis the Confederate queen of the
South. And she married aFrancis Pickens and they became.
(14:20):
He became the U. S. Ministerto Russia under President James Buchanan
two Years later, he waselected Confederate governor of South
Carolina. And that during her30 years of widowhood, she served
as the Vice Regent of theMount Vernon Ladies Association.
Oh, no way.
Right.
We just work with them on someInstagram stuff.
So she is born in Lagrange,Tennessee, and there's two historic
(14:44):
markers to her in Lagrange,Tennessee. So really this famous
woman of the Confederacy isborn in this area as well.
So she was just kind of like awell known debutante for the most
part.
Yeah.
And how interesting.
Very interesting. So this townis very tied to Civil War history,
even a little AmericanRevolution history, since it's named
(15:04):
for the Marquis de Lafayette'shome. And he did visit it. When he
does his return trip to, toAmerica, he visits Lagrange, Tennessee,
named for his land. And hesaid it was very beautiful.
Oh, wow.
So it is a neat place ofAmerican history that's kind of a
quiet little Tennessee town.Woodlawn is there for you to go see
and kind of walk throughhistory. And then there's some other
(15:27):
cool parts of American historythat happened in that town with the,
the Gerson Raiders and withLucy Holcomb Pickens. But it was
a neat little place to go.I'm, I'm happy that we were able
to make a video there and toshowcase it because it is a place,
if you are a history loverlike us, a history buff like us,
it's a place that you couldactually stay in, walk through and
(15:49):
experience.
And I think it's one of thoseplaces that if you were kind of touring
the general West Memph, WestTennessee, you know, Mississippi,
kind of this area, Shiloh andMemphis and doing all of that, if
you're traveling around, ifyou wanted to kind of stop there
and stay overnight on your wayto or from Shiloh, it's a great,
great place to do it. Right?It's a great, great place to stop.
(16:12):
It's a great place to stop.And it's just, it's there for you
now. And I like that the ownerhas made it available to the public.
Like that's her whole missionnow is to make this home, this American
history home, available to thepublic. So it's there for you. I
just think more people need toknow about it because it was super
awesome to go visit.
(16:35):
That brings us to the end ofanother captivating journey through
history. We hope you'veenjoyed uncovering the rich and complex
story of Woodlawn Plantationin Lagrange, Tennessee, a place where
the past truly comes alive. Ifour episode has sparked your curiosity.
We highly encourage you toexperience Woodlawn for yourself.
Walk the grounds, explore thehistoric house and feel the echoes
(16:56):
of time firsthand. You canfind more information information
about visiting WoodlawnPlantation on their official website,
linked in our show notes orour video description. Join us next
time on Talk With History aswe delve into another fascinating
piece of our shared historyand until then, keep exploring. Talk
to you next time.
Thank you.
(17:24):
This has been a Walk WithHistory production. Talk With History
is created and hosted by me,Scott Benny. Episode researched by
Jennifer Benny. Check out theshow notes for links and references
mentioned in this episode.Talk With History is supported by
ourfans@thehistoryroadtrip.com our eternal
thanks go out to thoseproviding funding to help keep us
going. Thank you todougliberty, Clover Myers, Patrick
(17:48):
Benny, Gale Cooper, ChristyCoates and Calvin Gifford. Make sure
you hit that follow button inthe podcast player and we'll talk
to you next time.
Today, we journey to a small,picturesque town in Tennessee where
the whispers of the pastresonate through the grand halls
of Woodlawn Plantation in LaGrange. Once a symbol of Southern
prosperity, a silent witnessto a nation's divide, and now a testament
to enduring history, Woodlawnhas seen it all. Join us as we uncover
(00:22):
the captivating saga of thisiconic estate, from its antebellum
grandeur to its pivotal roleduring the Civil War and the lives
that unfolded within itshistoric wal settle in. Because the
story of Woodlawn Plantationbegins now. Welcome to Talk with
(00:44):
History. I'm your host, Scott,here with my wife and historian,
Jen.
Hello.
On this podcast, we give youinsights to our history Inspired
World Travels, YouTube channelJourney and examine history through
deeper conversations with thecurious, the explorers and the history
lovers out there. All right,Jen, so this is some backyard history
(01:09):
for us.
Yes.
Now, this is one I didn't havea chance to get out to. You were
able to go out to Woodlawn,which kind of the tagline, the kind
of eye catcher is that thiswas General Sherman's. William Tecumseh
Sherman. Like the march tothe. Through Atlanta and the burning
and all the stuff thatSherman. It was his headquarters
(01:30):
for a couple months for. For afew months during the Civil War.
1862.
Yeah.
Yes. So we were driving, Ithink we were going to do Buford
Pusser. I think we were doingWalking Tall. And we were driving
basically eastbound from wherewe live, Memphis, straight across
the bottom part of Tennessee.And we drove by this historic marker.
(01:52):
And that's when I have thatbumper sticker, and you can order
them if you want. I break forhistoric markers, which I honestly
do. And I told you, slow down.That said something about Sherman
and it says W on. And if youturned your head, it looked like
this huge Greek revival style.
Antebellum, big, big pillars,all the stuff.
Mansion, very Tara esque. AndI was like, oh, how cool is that?
(02:16):
And it says, this house wasbuilt in 1828 and then during the
War between the States, whichI always love to see on Southern
historic markers that theycategorize the Civil War as the War
between the States. It was theheadquarters for Major General William
Tecumseh Sherman. And then itwas also used as a hospital for the
north and the south during theCivil War. So I was like, I would
(02:39):
love to make a video fromthere. So I contact. I found the
website. I contacted theperson in charge. It has recently
been bought by somebody. Itwas a for sale for a while. It had
been bought by someone whorelocated to the area. And she has
really done her best to makeit into a Airbnb, a place where you
can get married, just like alocation place.
(03:01):
As I was making the video, itkind of reminded me a little bit
of like visiting Appomattox,right? Appomattox Courthouse, obviously,
that's kind of more of like. Idon't know if it's a national park
or whatever, but it had thatsame feel to it because there's a
lot of artifacts that arestill kind of from the Civil War
era that were kind of camewith the house. Obviously the house
(03:21):
has been modernized so thatyou can stay in it and looks like
she does events there andstuff like that, because there's
lots of just beautiful landaround the area. But it's a. It's
a gorgeous home.
It's gorgeous. And they, likeI said, you can rent it and it's
perfect for like a wedding oran event. She does family reunions
there. What's neat about it isif you are a history buff like we
(03:41):
are, they have gone throughlooking for artifacts. She owns all
the land there, so she canmetal detect there or allow people
to metal detect there. Theyfound bullets and things like that.
They have the bedroom whereSherman slept, and they have it marked
with a placard. She evenbelieves it's the original furniture
because she bought it from theoriginal person who said it was the
(04:02):
original furniture. And evenwhen I was in there, if you look
at the video, it would be verydifficult furniture to get out of
the room. So I do not thinkthey moved it ever.
I think once it was in built.
In, the room it stayed in. Andso it seemed like it was the original
furniture. It's just abeautiful house. And so when you
think of Sherman and Shiloh,this is about. What did you say,
(04:24):
like an hour from Shiloh?
And you think about an hourfrom Shiloh, about a hour and change
from Memphis.
Yeah. So Sherman is kind ofmaking his way east from Memphis.
Memphis falls early during theCivil War, makes his way east. And
so he's setting upheadquarters here. And what's interesting
about this is in LaGrange,Tennessee. And LaGrange, Tennessee,
is a town that wasincorporated in 1819 and named for
(04:50):
the home of the Marquis deLafayette. And so it's named for
him because of his importancein the American Revolution. But if
you know anything about CivilWar history, this is where the Grierson
Raiders are going to leavefrom. They leave from lagrange, Tennessee.
Now, the Raiders, officially,their job was to just create havoc
(05:14):
and raid, hit these townsquickly and get out to pull the Confederates
away from Vicksburg. And thiswas Grant's whole idea, so he could
take Vicksburg, is try to getpeople away from Vicksburg so he
can get in and get Vicksburg.
So is this what these Raiders.Is this what the John Wayne movie
is based off of, the Horse Soldiers?
(05:34):
Yes. And so we're going totalk with Joyce and Gettysburg about
this movie, and it is basedoff the Horse Soldiers is the Grierson
Raid. It's the sad story.
So if you're. If you're not aJohn Wayne fan and we. I'm sitting
right next to a hardcore JohnWayne fan. I had never. We had never
actually seen this movie, theHorse Soldiers, but we had been in
(05:55):
touch with fellow historycreators. So Addressing Gettysburg
is another very big. You'veprobably heard of the Addressing
Gettysburg podcast. And we hadchit chatted and he had watched one
of our John Wayne videos. Hesaid, hey, I would love to talk John
Wayne. I love John Waynemovies. And so we had kind of set
something up a while ago,never made it happen. But this fall,
I think we're going to talkwith him about one of his favorite
(06:15):
movies is the Horse Soldier.So it's John Wayne kind of leading
these Raiders, and basicallytheir sole job was to kind of go
through the south and disruptsupply lines that kind of create
havoc to make it harder forthe Confederate armies to resupply,
to travel, you know, etcetera. And so then obviously, then
(06:35):
it's John Wayne. So there'sall the Jan1 stuff that comes with
it, but it's a great exampleof the history that happened kind
of from this area of Tennesseeand kind of what they did during
the Civil War.
Yeah. So you have to imagineSherman's headquarters is in Woodlawn.
So in the house that I takeyou to, the house you can go to.
(06:57):
And they believe Grant visitedhim there. And Grant gave verbal
orders for the gear for theGrison raid. And he gave verbal orders
because he didn't want anyoneto catch any documentation alluding
to this race is like Civil.
War version of black ops.
Yes, exactly. And so he wantedverbal orders. And so they're going
(07:19):
to leave. Sherman is here,1862. They're talking about this
raid, and they actually put itinto motion in April of 1863. So
they leave from La Grange inApril of 1863, and they basically,
the Raiders, they cut off therailroad and they're pulling Pemberton.
So if you Remember, Pembertonis the Confederate leader of Vicksburg.
(07:41):
They're pulling Pembertonaway. They're destroying the railroad
along the way. And so it'sdisrupting everything he's doing
to reinforce Vicksburg. Andthen they're going to hit Baton Rouge
in May of 1863. So think Aprilto May. And what's interesting about
Grierson, we'll talk moreabout this when we do the horse soldiers.
He's not a calvary expert. Sohe does all of this based on. He
(08:03):
reads books and he's like, I'mgoing to just hit things. I'm not
looking to take any property,I'm not looking to take any casualties.
I'm just looking to hit thingsfast and get out. And because of
that, they suffer very minimalcasualties because they're not. They
don't stick around enough.
Yeah, they're just travelingfast and disrupting supply.
They don't stick around enoughfor the oppos, the opposition, to
(08:24):
gear up and fight them. Theyjust hit them and go. And so it's
very effective. It reallythrows Pemberton off his game. And
Grierson does a really greatjob. So that all leaves from Lagrange,
Tennessee, and that's whereWoodlawn is. And Woodlawn I was built
in 1828. So when we talk aboutLa Grange starting in 1819, this
is about 10 years later. Andit was built by a Major Charles Mickey.
(08:49):
So he's a veteran of the Warof 1812. So if you know anything
about people who dosuccessfully in wars, they're granted
land grants. So he was given aland grant there in Lagrange. And
that's when he buildsWoodlawn. And it's beautiful Greek
restyle. It's very plantationesque, and it is a plantation. And
so that's why Sherman sees it.And he's like, I'm gonna make my
(09:12):
headquarters there, just likeGrant does. They make their headquarters
in the grandest houses in thearea. And so what you get during
the Civil War is they have alot of land out there. And so all
the soldiers make their tentsout in the land around the house.
So there's a lot of depiction.I show some photographs, not photographs,
but I show some drawings, someetchings, and a model recreation
(09:36):
of what that looked like ofall the soldiers camped out around
Woodlawn. And it's veryinteresting because Woodlawn is also
then used as a hospital forthe north and the south once Sherman
leaves there. And people arecoming back from the Confederacy
because Most people inTennessee are fighting for the South.
(09:58):
It's used as a hospital forthe north and the South. So there's
some. There's front steps andthere's back steps. And the back
steps were very much, you cantell, worn down from women who are
nursing or nurses going up anddown those steps to the large rooms
where the. The men would be,the sick men would be.
And you have to remember, too,so they got here was 1862, and then
(10:22):
Vicksburg was in July of 1863.So this is basically, you know, the
north is on their way down toVicksburg. So think about the larger
picture of the war. Like, thisis a pivotal spot because Tennessee,
for the most part, is held bythe Union right at that time. And
so they're moving down intoMississippi, down to Vicksburg to
(10:43):
capture that key point on the.One of the key points there on the
Mississippi. Look at mesounding like a history expert.
I know.
So this was kind of a pivotalpoint because the reason it's a headquarters,
because it's not far fromMemphis. They had taken Memphis,
which was relatively short,short battle for them. Then they're
heading down to Vicksburg. Andthen if. If you're going to take
the wounded from a location,you're going to take it back up to
(11:04):
kind of where things are moresecure and more established, potentially
back up, you know, to. To thisspot in Tennessee. So that's why
this is like a good spot,because it's not a key spot that
the south is going tonecessarily come up and try and take,
because it's not a. It's not alogistics center right there, but
it's close enough that you canget soldiers out of the way, out
(11:26):
of the key spots where theremight be battles, because it's not
far from Shiloh. It's not farfrom. It's kind of in between all
of these spots. And that's whyit's a headquarters. It's an hour
from Shiloh, hour fromMemphis, few hours from Vicksburg.
So it's right in between allof these spots. So strategically,
for headquarters, great spotand pretty safe as a hospital, because
(11:47):
the South's probably not goingto come up there, because these other
key strategic locations arereally what's more important.
And what's so great about ittoday is you can go there, you can
rent it, you can stay there.So if you're somebody who really
wants to be immersed inAmerican history, Civil War history,
it's available to you to kindof go and visit and stand There and
(12:09):
sleep in the same room Shermanslept in. And so much so that the
owner has had some ghostly runins there, you know. And so if you're
interested in ghost huntingand having some of those experiences,
she says it's a very activehouse for that. So much so that she
tells me these ghost storiesand then leaves me alone in the house.
(12:30):
I was like, I didn't want tosay anything to her. I'm not a huge
fan of being left aloneanywhere. But then she's telling
me I was in this room and Ilook over and there's a man sitting
there. And downstairs wherethere's a. The jail, the, where they
would hold the. The badprisoners, there's always activity,
loud banging things goingaround down there. And I. And she
(12:51):
looked at me, you want to gofilm down there while I'm gone? And
I'm thinking, no. So that'swhy there's none of that on the video.
Well, and plus it's just awine cellar.
Yeah. And it's a perfect placefor a wine cellar. But I. If you're
interested in ghost hunting. Itold her this would be a great place
for ghost hunters to go andsee because she said there's so much
activity. Fortunately, in allof my times in haunted places had
(13:13):
no experiences. So that wasnumber one for me. And I made it
very clear as I was going intothe rooms, the room that uses the
hospital room, which is a. Ahuge room where they have a lot of
beds and when people Airbnb ordo family reunions there, it's a
room where like you would putall the kids or something. She said
there's a lot of activity withdolls in that room. A great way to
(13:34):
get me to just never want togo back in that room again. Right.
So I was like, okay, awesome.But they. She had a very cute Civil
war sol soldiers in theirwooden ones. So if you watch the
video, I take video of that.What's interesting about LaGrange,
Tennessee is it's also knownfor a very famous woman of the Civil
War, a Lucy Pedaway HolcombPickens. She is considered the. The
(13:58):
beauty, the queen of theantebellum South. She's the only
woman's whose likeness appearson a Confederate currency.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
They just picked her becauseshe was pretty.
She is considered theConfederate governess of the South.
Like she's just consideredthis the Confederate queen of the
South. And she married aFrancis Pickens and they became.
(14:20):
He became the U. S. Ministerto Russia under President James Buchanan
two Years later, he waselected Confederate governor of South
Carolina. And that during her30 years of widowhood, she served
as the Vice Regent of theMount Vernon Ladies Association.
Oh, no way.
Right.
We just work with them on someInstagram stuff.
So she is born in Lagrange,Tennessee, and there's two historic
(14:44):
markers to her in Lagrange,Tennessee. So really this famous
woman of the Confederacy isborn in this area as well.
So she was just kind of like awell known debutante for the most
part.
Yeah.
And how interesting.
Very interesting. So this townis very tied to Civil War history,
even a little AmericanRevolution history, since it's named
(15:04):
for the Marquis de Lafayette'shome. And he did visit it. When he
does his return trip to, toAmerica, he visits Lagrange, Tennessee,
named for his land. And hesaid it was very beautiful.
Oh, wow.
So it is a neat place ofAmerican history that's kind of a
quiet little Tennessee town.Woodlawn is there for you to go see
and kind of walk throughhistory. And then there's some other
(15:27):
cool parts of American historythat happened in that town with the,
the Gerson Raiders and withLucy Holcomb Pickens. But it was
a neat little place to go.I'm, I'm happy that we were able
to make a video there and toshowcase it because it is a place,
if you are a history loverlike us, a history buff like us,
it's a place that you couldactually stay in, walk through and
(15:49):
experience.
And I think it's one of thoseplaces that if you were kind of touring
the general West Memph, WestTennessee, you know, Mississippi,
kind of this area, Shiloh andMemphis and doing all of that, if
you're traveling around, ifyou wanted to kind of stop there
and stay overnight on your wayto or from Shiloh, it's a great,
great place to do it. Right?It's a great, great place to stop.
(16:12):
It's a great place to stop.And it's just, it's there for you
now. And I like that the ownerhas made it available to the public.
Like that's her whole missionnow is to make this home, this American
history home, available to thepublic. So it's there for you. I
just think more people need toknow about it because it was super
awesome to go visit.
(16:35):
That brings us to the end ofanother captivating journey through
history. We hope you'veenjoyed uncovering the rich and complex
story of Woodlawn Plantationin Lagrange, Tennessee, a place where
the past truly comes alive. Ifour episode has sparked your curiosity.
We highly encourage you toexperience Woodlawn for yourself.
Walk the grounds, explore thehistoric house and feel the echoes
(16:56):
of time firsthand. You canfind more information information
about visiting WoodlawnPlantation on their official website,
linked in our show notes orour video description. Join us next
time on Talk With History aswe delve into another fascinating
piece of our shared historyand until then, keep exploring. Talk
to you next time.
Thank you.
(17:24):
This has been a Walk WithHistory production. Talk With History
is created and hosted by me,Scott Benny. Episode researched by
Jennifer Benny. Check out theshow notes for links and references
mentioned in this episode.Talk With History is supported by
ourfans@thehistoryroadtrip.com our eternal
thanks go out to thoseproviding funding to help keep us
going. Thank you todougliberty, Clover Myers, Patrick
(17:48):
Benny, Gale Cooper, ChristyCoates and Calvin Gifford. Make sure
you hit that follow button inthe podcast player and we'll talk
to you next time.
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