BGuthrie Photos: TN -- Murfreesboro -- Stones River Natl Battlefield

TN -- Murfreesboro -- Stones River Natl Battlefield:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. STONES_170606_001.JPG: "God has granted us a Happy New Year!" -- Braxton Bragg, general commanding the Army of the Tennessee, in a telegram to Confederate President Jefferson Davis On New Year's Eve the fighting had raged from dawn to dusk. Here on the edges of this broad, open field the two exhausted armies stopped shooting. The Confederates formed a line in the trees you see in the distance. The Union army stretched for two miles along the Nashville Pike. On New Year's Day 1863, 21,000 men did not answer their unit roll calls. The numbers of dead and wounded stunned battle-hardened veterans in both armies. Friend and foe spent that day mingled in the torn fields and shattered cedar woods, helping the wounded, looking for comrades lost in the swirl of battle, and burying the dead. Both sides dug hasty defenses for whenever the truce ended. The Confederates had pushed the Federals back over three miles, taking 3,000 prisoners. General Bragg started his new year sure that he had won a great -- if costly - victory.
2. STONES_170606_009.JPG: The Charge Kept Coming, Coming Like the Sea The fields you see here witnessed a full afternoon of ferocious fighting on the first day of battle at Stones River. Federal cannon raked the Confederates charging across the open cotton fields toward the Nashville Pike. Here Union regiments that had been pushed back since sunrise stopped their retreat and held ground. There was no time for fear. Every eye strained forward on tat line of dingy grey...wavering, reeling, checked completely as the full weight of our fire poured into their ranks. Enenezer Hannaford, private, 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry,/p> "The [Federal] artillery opened up on us and cut the timber off over our heads, and it seemed the heavens and earth were coing together. Our men sheltered themselves as best they could behind trees and ledges of rock...a retreat...was our only salvation from death or capture." -- John T. Tunnel, private, 14th Texas Infantry "We were not able to rout the enemy from his strong position. At the time we charged, one battery...was pounding shot and shell upon us, and two others, one on each side, turned loose a perfect hail of balls on us." -- James A. Williamson, lieutenant colonel, 2nd Arkansas Mounted Infantry Private Alfred E. Matthews of the 31st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, an eyewitness to the fighting here published this scene. "I never saw guns served so fast...Before the recoil was expended the gunners...threw the pieces[back] into [firing] position...the swab was run in, the handle turned, withdrawn, the charge sent home, and the gun fired...The [Confederate] charge kept coming, coming like the sea, ever nearer at each succeeding wave. But men were not born who could...face the storm of canister...they broke, they fled...and took refuge in the clump of trees and weeds." -- Alfred Pirtle, lieutenant, 10th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Rosecrans Division
3. STONES_170606_025.JPG: Passing Through Murfreesboro In fall 1818, over 11,000 Cherokee in nine organized groups passed by here as they continued on their Trail of Tears toward Indian Territory in the West. The Cherokee had been traveling for a few weeks but had already crossed the Tennessee River and the perilous Cumberland Plateau. Ahead lay greater dangers. They would have to cross the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and the winter of 1838-1839 would be one of the harshest in memory. The majority of Cherokee were literate in the Cherokee language and many spoke and wrote in English, but few chose to leave a record of their experiences of the Trail of Tears. Most of the records that survived were left by American missionaries or soldiers who sometimes accompanied the Cherokee. Captain B.B. Cannon of the Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, who traveled with a group of Cherokee a year before the forced removal, described passing through the Murfreesboro area. Oct. 24, 1837, Marched at 1/2 after 7 co. A.M. arrived at Mr. Yearwood's at 4 oc. P.M. rained last night and to day made 15 miles. Issued corn & fodder, cornmeal and bacon. Oct. 25, 1837, Marched at 800 buried Andrews child at 9 1/2 oc. A.M. Passed through Murfreesboro and arrived at overalls Creek 4 oc. P.M. 14 miles today. Issued corn and fodder. Trail of Tears by Brummett Echohawk
4. STONES_170606_035.JPG: Their Longest, Coldest New Year's Eve "There was some talk [at Rosecrans' headquarters] of falling back, I do not remember who started the subject, but... I said …my men would be very much discouraged to have to abandon the field after their good fight of the day... Rosecrans, receiving men moving up and down with torches said…'They have got entirely in our rear and are forming a line of battle by torchlight!'…[he] told us to go to our commands and prepare to fight or die." -- Thomas Crittenden, major general, coming the Left Wing "Soon after dark a small fire was built, and several of [our] men…had gathered to it… General Rosecrans came up and said ‘You are my men and I don't like to have any of you hurt. Where the enemy see a fire like this, they know 25-30 men are gathered… and are sure to shoot at it. I advise you to put it out.' Scarcely was he done speaking, when… shot came just high enough to miss the heads of the party, and a shell exploded just beyond." -- Silas Canfield, captain, 21st Ohio Infantry Regiment "The groans of the poor wounded was heart-rending. I could not repress a few falling tears. I got off my horse and built fires for several-foe and friend. Many, many... that chilled to death... that night might have been saved could they but have had attendance." -- John Magee, corporal, Stanford's Mississippi Light Artillery Nearly 30,000 Union soldiers spent New Year's Eve 1862 concentrated along Nashville Pike, the same highway you see just ahead.
5. STONES_170606_048.JPG: Waiting Anxiously for Tomorrow's Fate The two armies, over 80,00 men, were now within killing distance of each other. As night settled in, a chilling wind rose. Through the cedar thickets and across muddy fields, the unsettling sounds of moving infantry and artillery could be heard. Some men tried to sleep; others reflected on tomorrow's battle and thought of home. Through the darkness, the bands of both armies began to play. One band started playing, "Home Sweet Home," and other bands joined in. When the song finished, and uneasy silence lay thick on the night. For many in blue and gray, it would be the last song they would ever hear.
6. STONES_170606_058.JPG: Exploring the Promise of Freedom After the Civil War, four million formerly enslaved people took charge of their own lives. They began to exercise their rights and start their own communities. They built homes, schools, churches. and businesses. For the first time, black men and women could own property. Here, the community of Cemetery took shape. Soldiers from the 111th US Colored Infantry who had built Stones River National Cemetery bought land. They started their new lives near the place where they worked. By 1880, most of Cemetery's residents were African Americans. Half of its farmers were black males. Despite the hostility of withe neighbors and the creation of the national battlefield, Cemetery, endured for over 60 years.
7. STONES_170606_062.JPG: Parsons' Batteries Heavily Engaged 1862 - December 31 - noon The 200 Regular Army gunners of Batteries H and M set up their eight cannon from here all the way to the Nashville Pike. For four solid hours, at brutal short range they fired many hundreds of rounds of munitions into the rebel ranks. Their steady, punishing barrages helped dishearten their foes and encourage their comrades. "... my instructions from General Palmer were to remain where I was, in order to check the advance of the enemy, should he turn our right (flank). At about 8 a.m. our infantry came falling back from the pine woods... our batteries were swung around and brought at once into action. The approach of the enemy was parallel... to our front, and when he arrived within about 300 yards we opened upon his first line...(with) canister... the enemy fell back beyond our view. He reappeared shortly afterward to our left, but again, receiving our fire, fell back beyond our view...At about 12 (noon) just as I had nearly given out of ammunition, I received orders to...retire." - -- Charles Parsons, 1st lieutenant, commanding battalion, 4th Regiment United States Artillery
8. STONES_170606_078.JPG: This Far, But No Farther 1862 December 31 – early afternoon For six hours, the Confederates had been on the attack. Their relentless onslaught had pushed half the Union army back three miles. Tangled cedar woods and rock-filled terrain took their toll. A 1,800-man brigade of tired Tennesseans finally emerged from this tree line at midday. Momentum was slowing. Confidence still ran high. Facing them across the wide cotton field you see here were dense formations of fresh Federal troops. On the knoll where the trees of the National Cemetery now stand, 38 enemy cannon blasted forth a steady firestorm of death and destruction. General George Maney sized up the situation. He gave orders to his six regiments to "stack arms" so that they could catch their breath. They rested here under cover.
9. STONES_170606_097.JPG: The Federals' Final Rally Turns the Tide December 31, 1862 - Afternoon "Many of my Regiment got within 60 yards of the enemy guns, but were compelled to give back for want of support. It seemed the Commanders expected our Brigade and the Texas Brigade that fought beside us to rout the entire Federal army... at the odds of 10 to 1! ... the enemy batteries... seemed to have no end either way... My Regiment lost 119 killed, wounded, or missing." -- James Williamson, lieutenant colonel, 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles Imagine the narrow belt of land between the Nashville Pike you see ahead and the railroad tracks just behind it jammed with 30,000 soldiers, dozens of cannon, and endless wagons. The Confederates who charged out of the center into this field would have seen what seemed to them an endless wall of blue coats, rallied and reinforced along the road ahead. For the Federals, the long hours of chaos and retreat at last came to an end here at the edge of this cotton field. This western army of the United States ended the year 1862 badly battered, but still full of fight.
10. STONES_170606_109.JPG: Stand Fast! The Pioneer Brigade 1862 December 31 late-afternoon Stones River National Battleﬁeld "On came the sounds of battle...struggling blue-coats...falling back came into view through the trees. They were loading and firing as the retired...they passed over our...line and laid down behind it. The order 'Battalion, rise up!' came like an electric shock. The brigade was by some mischance short of ammunition; some companies had not more than 20 rounds...The Confederates were near at hand. Suddenly their line seemed to burst through the thicket just in front. 'Commence firing!' and our volleys were fired into them. Men were dropping here and there, and others filled the vacant places." -- Henry Freeman, orderly sergeant, 3rd Battalion, Pioneer Brigade In the Army of the Cumberland, a brigade of pioneers handled all the army's pick, shovel and ax work for building roads and bridges. Officers picked two men from every company of every regiment in the army for this duty. Many of the men who lined up to fight here on this knoll had been carpenters or miners in civilian life. What they had never done before was train to fight as unit. Their leaders did not know if they would stand and fight -- or break and run. This battle line of untried road builders held fast and stopped the massive Confederate assault.
11. STONES_170606_117.JPG: Why Fight Here? Here in the quiet fields and forests along Stones River outside Murfreesboro, two great armies fought - and spilled the blood of tens of thousands of Americans in one of the most costly battles of the Civil War. Why here? The answer is found in two places you cannot see from this location: the Cumberland River wharfs of Nashville, 28 miles to the northwest, and the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad tracks hidden behind the national cemetery. For any army - Union or Confederate - to move and fight successfully here in the states west of the Appalachians, railroads and riverboats were the keys to ultimate victory. Pressure from the Top: ...President [Lincoln] is very impatient at your long stay in Nashville. The favorable season for your campaign will soon be over. Twice have I been asked to designate someone else to command your army. If you remain one week more at Nashville, I cannot prevent your removal. As I wrote you when you took command, the Government demands action, and if you cannot respond to that demand then someone else will be tried. General Halleck writing to General Rosecrans. Major General William S. Rosecrans: For the Union Army of the Cumberland, Nashville was a secure base where steamboats and trains could haul in the thousands of tons of supplies and food that it takes to keep an army fed and ready to fight. But sitting safe near the riverboats and warehouses of Nashville would not break the back of the rebellion, nor restore the Union. To win, Rosecrans's 43,000-man army had to march southeast toward the rail yards of Chattanooga and Atlanta piercing the heart of the Confederacy. General Braxton Bragg: By Christmas 1862, the Confederate Army of the Tennessee was at rest. Their winter quarters spread out more than 65 miles over the rich farmlands of central Tennessee. Then, unexpectedly, scouts announced that their enemy was on the move. The best place for Bragg to pull together his 38,000 men was Murfreesboro, the hub of a spider web of country roads. Two traffic arteries - the Nashville Pike and the railroad - ran side-by-side here. The Federals would have to come this way.
12. STONES_170606_123.JPG: Pressure from the Top: ...President [Lincoln] is very impatient at your long stay in Nashville. The favorable season for your campaign will soon be over. Twice have I been asked to designate someone else to command your army. If you remain one week more at Nashville, I cannot prevent your removal. As I wrote you when you took command, the Government demands action, and if you cannot respond to that demand then someone else will be tried. General Halleck writing to General Rosecrans.
13. STONES_170606_125.JPG: Major General William S. Rosecrans: For the Union Army of the Cumberland, Nashville was a secure base where steamboats and trains could haul in the thousands of tons of supplies and food that it takes to keep an army fed and ready to fight. But sitting safe near the riverboats and warehouses of Nashville would not break the back of the rebellion, nor restore the Union. To win, Rosecrans's 43,000-man army had to march southeast toward the rail yards of Chattanooga and Atlanta piercing the heart of the Confederacy.
14. STONES_170606_127.JPG: General Braxton Bragg: By Christmas 1862, the Confederate Army of the Tennessee was at rest. Their winter quarters spread out more than 65 miles over the rich farmlands of central Tennessee. Then, unexpectedly, scouts announced that their enemy was on the move. The best place for Bragg to pull together his 38,000 men was Murfreesboro, the hub of a spider web of country roads. Two traffic arteries - the Nashville Pike and the railroad - ran side-by-side here. The Federals would have to come this way.
15. STONES_170606_129.JPG: Battle at Stones River December 31, 1862 - January 2, 1863 Stones River National Battlefield preserves some key portions of the ground where two great armies of Americans - some 81,000 men - clashed with each other. Their bitter, three-day struggle erupted on New Year's Eve 1862. You are here at the Stones River Battlefield Visitor Center: Museum exhibits and a short video can help you explore the stories of the people whose lives were changed by this battle. Short trails start here and lead to places on the battlefield where the fighting was intense. You can obtain maps here to find your way along the battle tour road and to more distant points of historic interest. Park rangers and volunteers are on duty in the visitor center to answer your questions.
16. STONES_170606_134.JPG: You are here at the Stones River Battlefield Visitor Center: Museum exhibits and a short video can help you explore the stories of the people whose lives were changed by this battle. Short trails start here and lead to places on the battlefield where the fighting was intense. You can obtain maps here to find your way along the battle tour road and to more distant points of historic interest. Park rangers and volunteers are on duty in the visitor center to answer your questions.
17. STONES_170606_136.JPG: Battle at Stones River December 31, 1862 - January 2, 1863 Stones River National Battlefield preserves some key portions of the ground where two great armies of Americans - some 81,000 men - clashed with each other. Their bitter, three-day struggle erupted on New Year's Eve 1862.
18. STONES_170606_149.JPG: Anchoring the Union Line Hazen's Brigade December 31, 1862 - Mid-afternoon "...thousands of small arms kept up the roar equal to Niagara. Men were swept away by hundreds - trees shrubs and everything was torn up, cut off, or shivered ..." -- John Magee, corporal, Stanford's Mississippi Light Artillery Veterans called this blood-soaked open ground ahead of you "Hell's Half-Acre." Here a brigade of 1,600 bluecoat infantry faced wave after wave of attackers attempting to overrun them. Four times Confederate brigades charged. Four times the defenders here gave no ground. At dawn, 43,000 Union soldiers had stretched from McFadden's Ford, one mile to the north, to the Smith farm three miles to the south. By noon, half of that huge army had folded back on itself, like a pocketknife closing, with 13,000 men dead, wounded, or captured. Four regiments that fought so fiercely here under Colonel William Hazen were the hinge of that folding knife. From 9 a.m. to dusk, Hazen's men were the only Federals to hold their ground on the first day of battle at Stones River.
19. STONES_170606_159.JPG: Remembering Sacriﬁces - in Stone "...around the spot where the monument was erected...to the best recollection 113 of our regiment were killed and wounded...it is hoped that the monument will remain standing as a memorial to the gallant and patriotic men of General Hazen's brigade who fell...in defense of Union and Liberty." -- Edward Crebbin, 1st Lieutenant, 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in charge of building the Hazen Monument in 1863 It may surprise you to learn that the monument you see on most Civil War battlefields were built 30 or more years after Appomattox. As battlefield veterans entered the final chapter of their lives, they wanted to honor and preserve the memory of the sacrifices they had seen. The Hazen Brigade Monument you see ahead is unlike any other. Union soldiers built it in 1863, just six months after the battle. At that time, the outcome of the war was still impossible to predict. Comrades of the men buried here - not civilian contractors - laid up these stones. Before the famous marble monuments at Shiloh, Chickamauga, or Gettysburg existed, travelers riding the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad would see this somber stonework - a constant reminder of what it cost Hazen's Brigade to stand fast all day long at Stones River. It is the oldest intact Civil War monument in the nation. Soldiers Buried Here 6th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry United States Army September 1861 - January 1865 Franz Bassel - John Lenhart William Buck - Albert McFarland James Davis - Thomas Nicolas Calvin Hart - Joseph Parish Harrison Hughes - James Porter Lovy Kidwell 41st Ohio Volunteer Infantry United States Army October 1861 - November 1865 Henry Cardwell - John Martly George Cotton - Joshua McKee Charles Hitner - James Mulberry Joseph Kram - Bernard Schneller Joseph Maas - Charles Todd Adam Mans 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry United States Army September 1861 - September 1865 Jesse Quick - John Wagoner - Isaac Sinks Emmer Rossiter - Landon Forquar - George Weathers Henry Simmons - Daniel Hall - Daniel Willis Jeremiah Snyder - Jonathan Herald - Charles Zollers Ebaneze Troutman - George Huyler Sylvester Winchester - Henry Kesler Joel Strong - Orton Shore 110th Illinois Volunteer Infantry United States Army September 1862 - June 1865 Jesse Payne James Rice Willis Strickling Unknown soldier from Illinois Unknown soldier from Illinois Colonel William B. Hazen: This 31-year old, no-nonsense West Pointer commanded a brigade of four volunteer infantry regiments: the 6th Kentucky, the 41st Ohio, the 9th Indiana, and the 110th Illinois. Over 400 of Hazen's troops fell in battle here at Stones River.
20. STONES_170606_166.JPG: HAZENS BRIGADE TO THE MEMORY OF ITS SOLDIERS WHO FELL AT STONE RIVER DEC. 31 1862 "THEIR FACES TOWARD HEAVEN, THEIR FEET TO THE FOE." INSCRIBED AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR CHICAMAUGA [sic] CHATANOOGA
21. STONES_170606_179.JPG: THE BLOOD OF ONE THIRD ITS SOLDIERS TWICE SPILLED IN TENNESSEE CRIMSONS THE BATTLE FLAG OF THE BRIGADE AND INSPIRES TO GREATER DEEDS.
22. STONES_170606_186.JPG: ERECTED 1863 UPON THE GROUND WHERE THEY FELL BY THEIR COMRADES
23. STONES_170606_192.JPG: THE VETERANS OF SHILOH HAVE LEFT A DEATHLESS HERITAGE OF FAME UPON THE FIELD OF STONE RIVER.
24. STONES_170606_203.JPG: Slave, Soldier, Citizen A tombstone can only tell so much about the life of a man. From the shape and standard design of the markers you see ahead, you can tell that two veterans of the United States military lie here in graves just outside of the wall of the Hazen Brigade Monument. But other details and documentation about the lives of William Holland and his grandson William Harlan are missing. William Holland spent most of his first 30 years in Maury County, Tennessee. He was born in Kentucky. The only records we have about him just document his Civil War military service. No one knows exactly when Holland bought the piece of farmland that includes the grave sites you see. William Holland started his life in a country where the law said he was only a piece of farm property. When he died some 70 years later, he was - by law - an American citizen and a property owner. When the war ended, Sergeant Holland returned to farming - for the next 43 years of his life. Like many other U.S.C.T. veterans, he settled here in a new African American community called Cemetery. Union veteran Albert Kern photographed the Rutherford County farm you see in this exhibit about 30 years after the Civil War. William Holland's life: - Born on a Todd County, Kentucky farm, exact year unknown - A slave working on a farm in Maury County, Tennessee until about age 30 - These War Department documents show that William Holland entered the United States Army in 1864. - Captured during fighting at Athens, Alabama in September 1864, Holland was a prisoner of war for four months. - Records show Sergeant Holland was honorably discharged in 1866. - Holland worked here in the National Cemetery - Applied for and received a veteran's pension in 1897 - Landowner here in Rutherford County, Tennessee until his death in his mid-70s. Holland served his country in the 111th Regiment of the United States Colored Troops. All U.S.C.T. soldiers wore the standard Union blue uniforms. No photograph of Sergeant Holland is known to exist.
25. STONES_170606_230.JPG: Donelson's Brigade at Murfreesboro General Daniel P. Donelson's Tennessee Brigade (CSA) advanced across these fields on December 31, 1862, around 11 a.m. in support of Chalmers' Brigade. Donelson's lines were broken by Chalmers' retreat and by the Cowan ruins. The brigade split in two, with part advancing west into the cedar woods where Colonel William Moore of the 8th Tennessee was killed. They pushed back General Charles Cruft's Brigade (USA) and captured over 1000 prisoners and seven cannons.
26. STONES_170606_233.JPG: Chalmers' Brigade at Murfreesboro General James R. Chalmers Mississippi Brigade (CSA) advanced across these fields at 10 a.m. on December 31, 1862, to attack the Union center at the Round Forest. Their advance was part of General Braxton Bragg's plan to crush the Union right flank early in the morning and then turn on the center. After holding for 48 hours, Chalmers' men left muddy rifle pits on a hill 200 yards southeast and advanced past the Cowan House ruins 100 yards to the southeast.
27. STONES_170606_236.JPG: They Passed This Way Trail of Tears National Historic Trail-National Trails System Stones River National Battleﬁeld "The poor sick Cherokees cannot stop, when sick & be refreshed by kind friends... but must be exposed and die." -- Rev. Daniel S. Butrick in Murfreesboro (1838) After the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States government forced tens of thousands of American Indians to leave their ancestral lands in the southeast for new homes in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). They traveled over established land and water routes, many of which led through Tennessee. Rather than risk disease and other hazards of summer travel, many groups left in the fall and faced, instead, treacherous winter weather. Thousands died during the ordeal---remembered today as the Trail of Tears. Despite the hardships of the journey, the people of the five tribes of the Southeast established new lives in the West. They stand now as successful sovereign nations, proudly preserving cultural traditions while adapting to the challenges of the 21st century. In the 1830s, the federal government forcibly removed approximately 16,000 Cherokee, 21,000 Muscogee (Creek), 9,000 Choctaw, 6,000 Chickasaw, and 4,000 Seminole from the southeastern United States. Federal Indian removal policy aroused fierce and bitter debate. Supporters of the policy claimed it was a benevolent action to save the tribes east of the Mississippi River from being overwhelmed and lost in the onslaught of an expanding American population. Opponents decried its inhumanity and the tragic consequences it would have for the Indian peoples. One thing was certain; removal freed millions of acres of Indian lands for use by American settlers. In 1987, to commemorate this tragic chapter in American history, the United States Congress designated the primary land and water routes of the Cherokee removal as the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Today, the National Park Service partners with the southeastern tribes; the Trail of Tears Association and other non-government organizations; federal, state, and local agencies; and private landowners to foster the appreciation and preservation of historic sites and segments and to tell the story of forced removal of the Cherokee people and other American Indian tribes. You can visit certified sites, segments, and interpretive facilities along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail by following the Auto Tour Route. Look for the official trail logo along the way. For further information, see: www.nps.gov/trte.
Wikipedia Description: Battle of Stones River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of Stones River or Second Battle of Murfreesboro (in the South, simply the Battle of Murfreesboro), was fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. Of the major battles of the Civil War, Stones River had the highest percentage of casualties on both sides. Although the battle itself was tactically indecisive, the Union Army's repulse of two Confederate attacks was a much-needed boost to U.S. morale after the defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg, and it dashed Confederate aspirations for control of Middle Tennessee.
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