Battle of Stones River IV: National Cemetery

There is a large National Cemtery at Stones River. It is a moving and emotional place. Later, I stopped at Evergreen Cemtery in Mufreesboro where many of the Confederate soldiers were buried and, eerily, the Stars and Bars flies over their graves.

Battle of Stones River III:Target Practic

I enjoyed seeing a park ranger instructing these school kids in the proper procedure for firing a cannon. Doubly pleased that he had the cannon aimed at the woods out of which the Confederates attacked :)

Battle of Stones River II: Hell's Half Acre

The next morning an equally battered Confederate force attempted a general attack. At a central point of the Union line. Thousands of Mississipians attacked units from Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana in a place that would earn fame as Hell's Half Acre.

The Union soldiers, under Col. William B. Hazen, faced down four separate Confederate attacks with both heavy small arms fire and artillery.

After the war, members of Hazen's brigade established a memorial at Stones River battlefield to commemorate their stand.

Battle of Stones River I

In late December 1862, after victory at Fort Donelson, Union forces moved south and as Confederate forces retreated, Nashville fell without a fight. Later in 1864, two bloody battles would be fought here, most notably the Battle of Franklin. But for now, Union forces were moving inexorably southward.

Union forces under Gen. William S. Rosecrans, numbering about 41,000, had spent a long period in Nashville and President Lincoln was exerting great pressure on Rosecrans to carry the battle to the enemy. Finally on Dec. 26, the Union Army, known as the Army of the Cumberland, began to move from Nashville toward Mufreesboro.

Confederate forces under Gen. Braxton Bragg, numbering about 35,000, had sited his Army of Tennessee to block any Union advances toward Chattanooga, an important strategic location because of the intersections of railroads there.

On the evening of Dec. 30, 1862, both armies faced one another on a field just north of Murfreesboro. That night both commanders planned attacks on their enemiy's right flank, that is on opposite sides of their lines. It is said that that night bands of both armies struck up "Home Sweet Home" and played so that each side could here the other in this "battle of the bands."

The Confederates struck first in the morning, catching Union soldiers by surprise and driving the right flank of the Federal army back. As the right side of the Union line was rolled back, bitter fighting took place at the center of the lines. Confederates here were just trying to hold the Federal troops in place to prevent them from aiding the right flank. Union soldiers, for theri part, were trying to stop the entire Federal line from collapsing.

Soon the center became largely surrounded by the collapse of the right flank and bitter fighting ensured over a rocky region that became known as the "slaughter pen," a phrase that soldiers familiar with the Chicago stockyards hung on the struggle.

A new Union line, now beaten into a horseshoe shape, began to form with the strategic Nashville Pike at its rear. Rosecrans and Gen. George Thomas worked hard to rally badly battered Union forces into a new defensive line.

Heavy timber and rough ground helped slow the Confederate advance and as night fell Union forces were able to consolidate their position and continue to receive supplies from Nashville along the pike.

The Journey

From the time I first visited the Manassas battlefield outside of Washington, DC, in the early 1990s, I've always found visiting the Civil War battlefields a fascinating experience.

I had a field in military history with the late great historian, Russell Weigley, while I was in graduate school at Temple University in Philadelphia. I was fortunate to have been one of a group of students that Dr. Weigley led on visits to both Manassas and Gettysburg where we walked the battlefields. Weigley could talk about the battles as though those who were engaged were acquaintances of his. At Gettysburg, despite a blazing hot sun, we walked Pickett's charge from Seminary Ridge to Cemetery Ridge with Prof. Weigley leading the way.

Most of what I know about the Civil War comes from my experience with Dr. Weigley or from his books. The battle of Shiloh of April 1862, which had always interested me, both because of it being the bloodiest day in American history, but also because it showed Ulysses S. Grant's understanding of what it would take to win the war - mainly a mastery of logistics and a willingness to accept the casualties that it would take to preserve the union.

So, when spring break approached, I began to plan on a visit to Shiloh. While considering the route, my plans began to expand as I saw some other opportunities. I determined that if I based myself first at Mufreesboro, I could visit the National Military Park at the Stone Creek Battlefield, which is just on th edge of the town. From there, Chattanooga and Chickamagua were less that a two hour drive so I could stay at Murfreesboro and simply make an easy round trip. Then I could drive from Mufreesboro and stay in Savannah, Tennessee, the nearest town to the Shiloh battlefield.

Murfreesboro is just outside of Nashville and I'm determined to go back to spend some time in Music City. Also, President Andrew Jackson's home, the Hermitage, is near there, as are a couple of preserved old southern plantations. But this trip was to be devoted to the carnage of the Civil War.