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.