Carnton Mansion in Franklin, Tennessee, was built in 1826 and became one of the largest field hospitals after the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864 — one of the bloodiest engagements of the Civil War. In five hours of fighting, nearly 10,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured, and the dead and dying were carried to Carnton in staggering numbers. The blood from wounded soldiers soaked into the wooden floors of the mansion, and the stains remain visible to this day despite over 160 years of wear.
The mansion sits adjacent to the McGavock Confederate Cemetery, the largest private military cemetery in the United States, where 1,481 Confederate soldiers are buried. Reports of paranormal activity at Carnton are extensive. Visitors describe seeing soldiers in Confederate uniforms standing on the porch and in the garden, hearing moaning and crying from within the house, and feeling sudden sensations of pain in parts of their bodies corresponding to common battle wounds. Staff have described the smell of blood in the main hall and the sound of footsteps — dozens of footsteps, as though many people are walking through the house at once.
The bloodstained floors seem to serve as a physical anchor for the traumatic events, and some investigators believe Carnton contains one of the most powerful residual hauntings in America.