At Nashville's renovated Sunnyside mansion, you can look through windows at Civil War battle damage, view artifacts found in rifle pit and click to cool 3D images

Augmented reality view of Sunnyside and reveal windows showing battle and bullet damage (MNHC)

Visitors to Nashville’s Sunnyside mansion, which was struck by bullets from a Federal assault during the Civil War, now have a variety of ways – including the use of augmented reality – to experience the site’s rich history.

Built in 1852 in what is now Sevier Park, Sunnyside and a connected log cabin have undergone an extensive rehabilitation since 2022. While visitors can see the outside of the home and peer through windows to see the cabin logs and bullet damage, offices of the Metro Nashville Historical Commission open to the public Aug. 19.

Sunnyside’s main room now has architectural and historical displays; interpretive markers outside cover its early history, enslaved people, the Battle of Nashville, later owners and the 20-acre Sevier Park, near the 12South neighborhood.

“It is truly exciting to see how much history we were able to recover and to provide to the public,” said Adam Fracchia, an archaeologist with the commission. “The aim is to tell a wider story.”

Bottom floor of extension (ell) has five small windows showing bullet damage (MNHS)

I first spoke with Fracchia last year about a project involving Nashville police and archaeologists. The team has been analyzing the trajectory and proximity of gunfire from a Union attack from the north and west during the Dec. 15-16, 1864, battle. They wanted to solve the mystery regarding embedded bullets and holes discovered last year in the cabin walls. 

It has long been known that dozens of bullets, including Minie balls, were left on the porch door and columns on the big house at Sunnyside, which was occupied by Confederates. They were eventually forced to retreat.

A rifle pit was found during the renovation, along with evidence of a trench. A new display case in the commission’s main room has artifacts from the battle, including percussion caps, melted lead and burned iron nails found in the rifle pit.

A ribbon cutting and open house was held in mid-July (MNHC photo)

The commission, working with partners, has created Nashville Sites, which provides overviews of city fixtures, with text, audio and virtual tour options. “We want them to get an understanding of what the building looked like,” Fracchia said of Sunnyside

The tour menu includes civil rights, a Civil War driving program, downtown Nashville and certain neighborhoods. The tour on Sunnyside covers its history since indigenous dwellers.

“Recovered artifacts from the pit, like burned nails and charcoal, suggest that soldiers made fires to stay warm using wooden planks from the side of the house or outbuildings After the battle, Sunnyside was used as a field hospital for wounded soldiers.”

I called Fracchia (left) this spring and we have since communicated via email about the renovation. His responses to my questions have been edited for brevity:

Q. What is your overall impression of the work and how it adds to the story of the site? You told me the new exhibits/upgrades will tell a wider story.

A. The renovations at Sunnyside attempt to preserve as much of the building as possible while making the mansion a usable office space for the Metro Historical Commission.  Along with the renovations, we have added several features to the site to allow interpretation of the long history of the property.

We have added six interpretative panels telling the history of the site from its Indigenous inhabitants to the Civil War to the modern urban park. One of the panels also discusses the details we know about the peoples enslaved at Sunnyside. With three of these panels we have added augmented reality views of the building to allow visitors to use their phones to see what the building may have looked like at different points at time. The tour is also available digitally as a Nashville Sites tour.

(Clockwise, top) Bullets, artillery fragment, wrought iron nails, melted led and percussion caps

We were able to add Plexiglass windows to the log cabin façade to show some of the damage to the cabin from the battle. One of the log outbuildings will receive additional interpretative panels and a glass window in the floor so that a pier and a log sill plate will be visible.

Additionally, in the office, we have added an exhibit case of the artifacts excavated in the last 1.5 years ahead of the renovation and a wall of historic architectural pieces from Nashville. We hope that another exhibit case could be used as a floating exhibit in other locations.

Q. How many static exhibits are in the renovated office? Can you tell me the range of topics they cover?

A. The display case has artifacts from 3,000 to 5,000 years ago to the mid-20th century and is meant to cover the history of the site. This includes artifacts from the Civil War. The architectural wall has several different architectural elements that were salvaged or donated from around Nashville.

Civil War Williams Cleaner bullets and iron nails found last year in rifle pit (MNHC)

Q. What specifically from the Civil War-era/the battle are now on display, and in what context?

A. On display, we have artifacts recovered from the battle such as bullets as well as melted lead, burnt nails and percussion caps from the rifle pit. We recently found more artifacts during the removal of the roadbed in front of the mansion. We recovered fragments of a cannonball, top of a tent stake, a gun tool and bullets.

Q. Are any of the interpretive displays outside, or they all inside, or a mix? You mentioned there might be five-six panels. Does one pertain to the Battle of Nashville?

A. All artifacts are inside the building but we have the five panels on the north face of the log cabin that show bullet damage and projectile damage. People can also see the construction of the log building including different chinking material and Roman numerals used to match the logs.

Q. You said three of the panels might have QR codes and viewers will be able to use their phones to move. Can you describe, please?

A. One of the AR (augmented reality) images shows the building in 1864 with lines representing the bullet trajectories. These AR images are now accessible and were built in collaboration with the MHC and the Vanderbilt Institute for Spatial Research.

Q. Do any of the new features tell the story of a specific person/people related to Sunnyside’s history before, during or shortly after the battle?

A. We tried to focus on the enslaved persons and later owners with the panels, specifically, Granville Sevier and Dr. L. G. Noel.  

Q. Can you tell me about the two cabins that were at Sunnyside during the Civil War?

A. The historic building had a historic ell (perpendicular building extension) that had fallen into disrepair. Inside the ell, there were two log cabins, one of which had to be partially deconstructed. The other log structure was incorporated into the new building that is connected via a glass connector and serves as a conference/meeting room.

One of six interpretive markers surrounding the mansion and buildings (MNHC)

Q. Anything recent on the police and forensic examination and analysis of the bullet trajectories?

A. We are trying to find more information on the battle at Sunnyside and determine the distance at which the Union firing lines were at. We hope we can find information from a metal detection survey in the fall.  We received a grant from the Tennessee Historical Commission to conduct a systematic and metal detector survey with the public.

Q. Anything new on the dendrochronology of the timbers used in the cabins? You told me at least one building had wood felled from the winter of 1823-1824.

A. We have not received any update on the dendrochronology yet. 

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Postscript: Work at Sunnyside will continue into the fall. One area is what was believed to be the original smokehouse but, instead, is a domestic structure from the 19^th century. “When we test below the floor we found evidence of earlier piers for another building,” said Fracchia, adding there were household artifacts and a trash pit. An investigation of that area will continue, as well as the reconstruction of a summer house near the well, the city says.

The commission also had this tidbit in its August "History Gram":

"The removal of the gravel roadbed around Sunnyside has exposed more history of the park. Artifacts from the Civil War were recovered just below the gravel, including cannon ball fragments, a bullet, tent hardware, and a gun tool (right). These artifacts were uncovered directly in front of the mansion along with charcoal stains in the soil which indicate the location of a Federal or Confederate encampment likely associated with the Battle of Nashville."

The items will be treated and eventually displayed.

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Guidelines for visiting Sunnyside mansion

“When you visit the park, start at the pedestrian entrance near 12th Ave. S/ Granny White Pike and read the historical marker, then follow the path around the house to see all six interpretive panels, as well as the viewing windows to the original cabins (now in the rear ell of the building) and the interpretation in the log outbuilding (formerly called the Smokehouse).

You can scan the QR codes on the panels to learn more about each era of Sunnyside’s history through the Nashville Sites walking tour; some of the panels also have 3-D augmented reality (AR) models so you can picture yourself in the past.

“Feel free to enter the office lobby Monday-Friday from 7:30 am-4 pm. Additional photos, artifact  and brochures are available there. The rest of the house is not open to the public or available for tours. Public restrooms are available behind the house in the white building between the log outbuilding and the Carriage House café."

Architectural features and cabin door at Sunnyside (Photos MNHC)