SCV 117th National Reunion Murfreesboro TN - Riding with Forrest Pt 7

The Friday afternoon tour at the Murfreesboro SCV Reunion included the Rutherford County Courthouse, Confederate Circle at Evergreen Cemetery and the Oaklands Historic House and Museum. The Rutherford County Courthouse is one of only seven antebellum courthouses remaining in the country. A 1st National Flag hung from the courthouse balcony upon our arrival. A memorial service was held in the second floor courtroom, the Final Roll Call for those SCV members who passed away during the last year. The service concluded with a reading of scriptures of John and 1 Corinthians, "Death where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?"  Thanks be to God who gave us our victory! The victory is certain!

A memorial service was held at the Confederate Circle in Evergreen Cemetery in Murfreesboro.  The historical marker there tells the story of the 2000 unidentified soldiers buried there having been moved from the battlefield where they perished 150 years ago.  Bagpipes were played and reenactment soldiers fired their guns in salute.  The cemetery now encompasses 100 acres with over 20000 graves and was originally part of the Oaklands plantation.

Oaklands Plantation was the final stop of our tour. Oaklands was settled by Col. Hardy Murfree, A Revolutionary War veteran who owned 50000 acres in the area.  He died in 1809  and is oldest daughter Sally, after marrying Dr. Manny, inherited the portion near a spring and there they built a two room brick cabin.  There were a series of additions and renovations including a second story and the Federal and subsequent Italianate front of the home.  After her death in 1857, the home passed to her oldest son who married Rachel Adelaine, daughter of the governor of TN. The home was finished by 1860 with bricks made on the grounds and grew to 1500 acres.  The plantation had slave houses, an ice house and tobacco and cotton were the primary crops with cattle also raised. During the War, Murfreesboro was occupied by Union troops who used Oaklands as a HQ and the Rutherford County courthouse as a prisoner stockade.  General Nathan B. Forrest's daring raid on his very birthday, July 13th, 1862 captured the Union troops occupying the town and the surrender papers were actually signed at a desk in the Oaklands home by Col. Duffield who continued to recuperate there after his surrender, having been injured in the battle.  President Jefferson Davis later stayed at Oaklands but later that same year, the Union army moving from Nashville towards Chattanooga defeated the Confederate garrison in Murfreesboro, killing 1800 at the Battle of Stone's River.