Stones River battlefield

[gentlemanrob]

what areas inside the battlefield are worth seeing? Is there any other civil war sites in Murfreesboro area?

 

[DixieRifles]

I was impressed by Stones River battlefield as it was the first one I had visited where they had made bronze casts of debris scattered in the battlefield. One was a cannon on a broken carriage. So I wouldn't want to miss any of the official Park.

 

[Pat Answer]

It's been almost twenty years since I went. The official park is basically the area of Hazen's stand; none of the Dec 31 early morning Confederate attack appears to have been preserved.
I remember a broken cannon carriage too but not where -Round Forest I think.

 

[Irishtom29]

The park is rather small as NPS battlefields go but preserves some of the key parts of the field. From the first day the area where Sheridan made a stand and the area of the Round Forest and Rosecrans' final line on the Murfreesboro Road. From the second days fighting the area on the riverbank where the Federals massed their artillery is in the park.

In 1968 some friends and I drove down to Chattanooga from Chicago and stopped at Stones River battlefild. The area was still pretty rural and we went swimming in the river where the second day's fighting happened. Today the park is in the midst of suburban sprawl.

Some of the fortifications Rosecrans built in Murfreesboro are preserved; one redoubt is preserved by the NPS and the city has preserved some works in a park near the city golf course.

 

[Rank and File]

The courthouse and square in Murfeesboro have some ACW sites. NB Forest was involved.

 

[bdtex]

what areas inside the battlefield are worth seeing? Is there any other civil war sites in Murfreesboro area?

Confederate Circle at Evergreen Cemetery and Oaklands Mansion in Murfreesboro.

 

[Rhea Cole]

I was impressed by Stones River battlefield as it was the first one I had visited where they had made bronze casts of debris scattered in the battlefield. One was a cannon on a broken carriage. So I wouldn't want to miss any of the official Park.

The Weird smoothbore & rifled cannon that were displayed with a broken cast iron monument carriage were, indeed, an extremely popular & memorable feature at Stones River NB. Unfortunately, they were not historically accurate. When the park was doubled in size years ago, the Weirds were removed. Weirds on proper carriages are on display where the batteries were deployed during the battle. Don't feel put out, hardly a week goes by when someone doesn't come into the visitor center to tell about seeing the broken down cannon or ask where they are. They made an enduring impression.

 

[19thOhio]

To me a graphic site is the area where Van Cleve's Third Division crossed the cold January Stones River five times during the battle.
Especially imagining how it was then as the Union men scrambled up the bank pursued by the Rebels, the roar of the 50-ish cannons and then the counter attack on Jan 2. Of the sites following the 19th Ohio, I think this is the most realistic, locatable one available. It is too bad that most of the battle on the the (east?) side of the river has been developed.

This is a January picture a few years ago.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Living history volunteers regularly perform artillery, infantry & signal corps demonstrations.​

The volunteers & rangers at the Stones River visitor center will acquaint you with the features of the battlefield & its environs. There is a museum in the visitor center. The driving tour includes a wireless feature that explains the happenings at the tour stops. A paved greenway connects the battlefield with the well preserved massive earthworks of Fortress Rosecrans which is part of Stones River NB.

There are six locally owned eateries around the Rutherford County Courthouse square three blocks up Main Street from the greenway. Oaklands Historic Mansion, where the participants of Forrest's raid July 13, 1862 sat down to blackeyed peas & cornbread around Mrs. Maney's table holds daily tours. The Heritage Center, just off the square, has a Civil War home walking tour brochure. Many houses still standing were headquarters during the 1863-65 period.

Plate XXX Official Military Atlas of the Civil War​

If you have ordered our good friend Eric Wittenberg's Tullahoma Campaign book, you are in for a treat. The salient positions of that remarkable campaign are in a remarkable state of preservation. A driving tour in what Arthur Freemantle said was the most beautiful landscapes he had seen in America is a unique pleasure. Saturday, I took my granddaughter to lunch at a tiny six table cafe that has recently opened at the crossroad community of Versailles, west of Murfreesboro. That evening, after a day with the grand-girls, I returned to David Powel & Wittenberg's book & read a reference to the very building where we ate lunch. After a day of touring Guy's Gap, Hoover's Gap & Liberty Gap, you can finish up sitting around the large bonfire sipping one of Arington Vineyard's award winning wines. It is a lovely place to watch the sunset. To the northeast, hidden under the trees are the pristine remains of the Works at Triune sprawl for a mile across the skyline. The 10,000 man Reserve Brigade under Gen Granger sallied from the works to open the Tullahoma Campaign.

The Carter Family home, smoke house & office were at the epicenter of the Battle of Franklin.
The gravel at the bottom of the image mark the position of the Union defensive trench.
The buildings that bear the marks of hundreds of Confederate bullets are open for daily tours.​

Forty miles west of Murfreesboro is Franklin Battlefield along with the historic homes & sites associated with that awful bloodletting. Touring the Battle of Stones River, Tullahoma Campaign & Battle of Franklin sites is potentially one of the pleasantest Civl War experiences you can have. You can drive the historic route of the strategically vital Nashville & Chattanooga RR on the historic roadway through some of the most beautiful landscapes you will ever see. At either end of the railroad skirting Christiana-Fosterville-Bell Buckle Road are the tiny communities of Christiana & Bell Buckle where there are excellent meat & three restaurants situated in historic buildings. If you have any questions, just ask the family at the table next to you, they will be glad to talk with you. This really is the ya'll come South. Come see us.