In honor of the re-release of A Log Cabin Christmas Collection this month from Barbour Publishing, I’m sharing some of my favorite pictures from Carnton Plantation, the real-life field hospital that is mentioned in my story A Star in the Night.

In August 2010, nearly a month after I originially submitted my proposal for this story, I made my mom join me for a tour of the old plantation and the grounds.

The tour of the house was incredible. Here are a few pictures of the house, Confederate cemetery, and grounds.

Confession. I went back to Carnton in November of that same year, and I got so lost up in imagining what it would be like to to have lived there, to have survived the war, that I nearly missed the last guided tour of the day. Oops! But wouldn’t you get lost in those enormous trees and open fields?

The real history of Carnton is amazing, and Carrie McGavock, the mistress of the plantation, who opened her home to injured soldiers from both the North and the South, was an incredible woman. You can read all about the history of Carnton and the McGavock family here.

If you’re ever in Middle Tennessee, I hope you’ll stop by and visit this old home filled with history. Until then, enjoy A Log Cabin Christmas Collection. And don’t forget to enter the big giveaway this week at Jane Kirkpatrick’s blog.