Our first stop was at the Cedar Grove Cemetery at 406 S Maple Street in Lebanon.
The cemetery had over 8,000 graves, including several important people.
Robert Allen, Congressman,n 1778-1844
Wm Bowen Campbell CW Union Brigadier General 1807-1867
Robert Looney Caruthers, U.S. Congressman,n 1800-1882
Edward Isaac Gollad, a US Congressman, 1830-1897
Robert Hopkins Hatton CSA Confederate Brigadier General 1826-1862
Haywood Yancey Riddle, U.S. Congressman, 1834-1879
We found Confederate General Robert Hatton and his wife Sophie's tombstone standing tall in the front of the cemetery.
Inscribed on the front of the tombstone was Confederate General Robert Hatton, born on November 2, 1826, and died on May 31, 1862. While leading his Tennessee Brigade in the Battle of Seven Pines, Richmond, Va.
Inscribed on the side of the same tombstone was Sophie Reilly Hatton, wife of General Robert Hatton, who served as State Librarian of Tennessee for eight years and founder of Associated Charities, Nashville Missionary in Japan for fifteen years.
Relentless in her devotion to Christ and to the neehumanitynities.
She was as accurate as noble and as great as was her gallant husband.
Organized as 7th TN INF. Hatton was appointed Colonel in command and was assigned to fight in the Army of Northern Virginia with General Robert E. Lee. He was promoted Brigadier General on May 23, 1863, and eight days later died at the Battle of Seven Pines, Richmond, VA.
His men went on to fight in every major battle in the war, and when General E. Lee surrounded Appomattox Court House, only 47 men from the 7th Infantry were left. In 1912, a statue of General Hatton was erected in Lebanon, TN, in his honor.
| Cedar Grove Cemetery: A Final Resting Place |
Near the Confederate Statue and Confederate graves, we saw:
Cedar Grove Cemetery: A Final Resting Place
The city of Lebanon purchased the land for this beautiful cemetery in 1846. Beneath its trees lie more than 150 soldiers who served in the Confederate army during the Civil War, including many Wilson County men who enlisted in the 7th Tennessee Infantry. The focal point of Cedar Grove Cemetery is the Confederate Monument, which was erected on July 27, 1899. The eighteen-foot-tall memorial features a statue of an infantryman standing with his rifle at parade rest. A large crowd gathered to hear Tennessee Governor Benton Macmillan and several other speakers pay tribute to the qualities, struggles, and triumphs of Col. John K. Howard, Col. Sam G. Shepard, and Cape. A.K. Miller, all of the 7th Tennessee Infantry, all are interred here. James L. Barry of (Smith's) 4th Tennessee Cavalry, Tennessee's last surviving Confederate veteran, is buried here, as is Robert L. Caruthers, Confederate governor of Tennessee and a founder of Cumberland University. Martha "Mattie" Ready, the widow of Gen. John Hunt Morgan, and their daughter, Johnnie, are buried in the cemetery. Nine men of
Morgan's 2nd Kentucky Cavalry, who was killed on May 5, 1863, during the Battle of Lebanon, is also buried here. The names of the Confederate soldiers buried in the Cedar Grove Cemetery are etched on the sides of this memorial; others will be added as they are discovered.
" A whole community will assemble around the stricken widow of our general [Hatton], and the mothers of the noble boys who fell by his side will mingle their tears with hers." Lt. Colonel John K. Howard, 7th Tennessee Infantry (CSA)
| Lebanon Station |
| Lebanon Station Lebanon Station is the origination point for the Music City Star's East Corridor Regional Rail line. It is located at 334 W. Baddour Parkway. Early morning train service begins here and stops at the other stations along the route before arriving at Riverfront Station in downtown Nashville. Lebanon Station is located on an old factory site bordered by Baddour Parkway, Greenwood Street, and Hill Street. Approximately 140 parking spaces are provided with direct access off Baddour Parkway. |
| Neddy Jacobs Cabin Before 1870, the land that is now the Historic Lebanon Town Square was claimed by William Rodney. It was part of 640 acres surrounding the gushing spring, and he built a cabin here. After his death, his heirs sold the land in 1793 to James Menees. In 1801, the Tennessee State Legislature appointed five commissioners to determine the site for Wilson County's county seat. They chose this site around the spring and cabin. When Lebanon was founded, lots were sold on August 16, 1802, and one family lived in a cabin near the spring around which the town was laid out. Edward Neddy Jacobs and his Lumbee Indian wife had moved into the cabin in 1800. Needy, an Irishman who had shipwrecked off the coast of North Carolina, was taken in by the Lumbee Indians. He met his wife, Lyula, there before moving westward to Tennessee. Neddy later built a new cabin for his family, but after his death, Lyula left and moved west with a band of Cherokees who passed through Lebanon on the Trail of Tears. |
| Wilson County Courthouse The first courthouse stood on the west side of the public square, and the second was located in the center of the square. In 1848, the third, designed by William Strickland, was erected on this site, which was Lot No. 2 (SW) of the Lebanon town lot plan of 1802. This building was replaced by a fourth when a new courthouse was built elsewhere. |
| Historic Lebanon |
| Historic Lebanon |
| Historic Lebanon |
| Historic Lebanon |
| Confederate General Robert Hatton of the 7th TN Infantry, standing in the middle of the town square |
| Lebanon Morgan's Defeat In April 1862, after the Battle of Shiloh, Confederate Col. John Hunt Morgan planned a raid through Tennessee and Kentucky to sever Union supply lines. Morgan let the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry from Corinth, Mississippi, into Tennessee and engaged with several Federal detachments, attracting the attention of Union Gen. Ebenezer Dumont, who quickly assembled a mounted force to intercept them. After missing their quarry near Shelbyville, Dumont's advance under Col. Frank L. Wolford finally caught up with Morgan's rearguard on May 4 but broke off the action after inconclusive skirmishing. Satisfied that the Federals had retreated, Morgan continued to Lebanon, where his men bivouacked around the town square and in the buildings of Cumberland University. Heavy rain fell all night, so the Confederate pickets went inside to dry off near the fire. The Federals were only four miles away, however, and at dawn, the hard-charging troopers of the 1st Kentucky US) and 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry burst into town and surprised Morgan's command. Alon, a Confederate sentry, Pvt. Pleasant Whitlow rode just ahead of the attackers and gave only a brief warning before he was shot down. Unable to reach the livery stables and mount, many defenders took cover, and fierce house-to-house fighting began. The Federals finally drove the overwhelmed Confederates out of town. In the running fight, Morgan and a handful of his men escaped to Carthage on the Rome Turnpike. Amid the confusion, Morgan lost his favorite horse, Black Bess. While Federal casualties were low, about 50 of Morgan's men were killed, 150 were captured, and the remainder scattered throughout the countryside. |
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| Lebanon Post Office In July 1908, Lebanon's growth and prominence qualified the town for free citywide mail delivery. Congressman Cordell Hull secured $50,000 in funding for this federal post office building. The cornerstone was laid on October 30, 1913. Chief Supervising Architect Oscar Wenderoth designed the Beaux-Arts style building, and contractor James Corse completed construction in 1915. Pink and gray East Tennessee Marble adorn the interior walls and floors. In 1999, the National Park Service placed the Lebanon Post Office in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing structure to the Lebanon Commercial Historic District. |
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| Capitol Theater |
| Restoration of Pickett Chapel a project of the Wilson County Black History Committee Funding Sources: This work is partly funded by the National Park Service, the USS Department of the Interior, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Wilson County Government, the City of Lebanon, and numerous other friends and supporters. Architect Melvin Gill & Associates, Nashville, TN, in association with Preservation Architect: Michael Emrick, RA, Nashville, TN, Structural Engineer: Stanley D. Lindsey & Assoc., LTD, Brentwood, TN |
| Pickett Chapel |
| Castle Heights Military Academy |

