What is the setting of the novel, The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War?

The McGavock house is one of the main settings in the story. It is a two story brick house located in Franklin, Tennessee in a relatively rural area near a river. The McGavock family consists of John and Caroline McGavock and their children Caroline, Hattie and Winder. Also living in the house is Anna Margaret Hereford, who is a 24 year old unmarried woman. Anna had been sent to live with her cousins, the McGavocks, from her home in Lincoln County. Anna knew her father would not come as promised.

A scout approaches the McGavock house to ask John McGavock if the Confederate Army might use their house as a base while the Battle of Franklin wages on. McGavock knows this means that the house will be filled with dead, dying and injured soldiers - men that he and his family will take care of for as long as necessary. McGavock agrees.

The main caretakers of the soldiers at the McGavock house are Caroline, her daughter Caroline and her niece Anna. The children help when and where they can. There are also officers and others to help, including two surgeons.

Many soldiers die in the yard and are taken to the oak grove next to the river. This is where Jack Bishop and Bushrod Carter die and are buried. Years later, Anna returns every year on the anniversary of the Battle of Franklin and walks the grounds including the oak grove and the cemetery.