Nashville Third Murfreesboro, research thread

[Luke Freet]

One of the more glossed over engagements of Hood's Tennessee Campaign. Sandwiched between the bloodbath at Franklin and the Union triumph at Nashville, the third fight near Murfreesboro goes understudied. It's name is even disputed, some sources call it Third Murfreesboro, others call it the Battle of Overall Creek, and others call it the Battle of the Cedars.

It's understandable why there's so few in depth studies on this engagement. Sources are rather scant. We have reports from the Union commanders (namely Robert Milroy), as well as reports from the two principle Confederate commanders (Forrest and Bate), but otherwise, very little else.

I want to collate all the books and sources I can gather on this engagement, hoping I could put together a solid enough article on this battle (as well as a nice addition to a Nashville book I'm working on with @SeanMichaelChick ).

So, just getting a list here:

O.R. Reports

• No. 206: Report of Col. Edward Anderson, 12th Indiana Cavalry, commanding 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, Twentieth Army Corps, of operations December 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 610-611)
• No. 208: Reports of Maj. Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau, U. S. Army, of operations December 4-12, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 612-615).
• No. 209: Reports of Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy, U. S. Army, of operations December 4 and 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 615-619).
• No. 210: Report of Col. Minor T. Thomas, 8th Minnesota Infantry, commanding Independent Brigade, of operations December 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 619-620).
• No. 212: Reports of Lieut. Col. Daniel Grass, 61st Illinois Infantry, of operations December 4 and 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 621 & 622).
• No. 213: Report of Col. Minor T. Thomas, 8th Minnesota Infantry, of operations December 4, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 622).
• No. 214: Report of Maj. George A. Camp, 8th Minnesota Infantry, of operations December 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 623).
• No. 215: Reports of Col. John S. Jones, 174th Ohio Infantry, of operations December 4 and 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 624-625 & 625-626).
• No. 216: Report of Lieut. Col. John O'Dowd, 181st Ohio Infantry, of operations December 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 627).
• No. 217: Report of Capt. Frank Johnson, 12th Battery Ohio Light Artillery, of operations December 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 627).
• No. 218: Report of Col. Arthur T. Wilcox, 177th Ohio Infantry, of operations December 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 628).
• No. 219: Report of Col. Joab A. Stafford, 178th Ohio Infantry, of operations December 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 628).
• No. 220: Report of Lieut. Col. Alfred Reed, 12th Indiana Cavalry, of operations December 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 629).
• No. 221: Report of Capt. Henry Bundy, 13th Battery New York Light Artillery, of operations December 7, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 629).
• No. 222: Report of Col. Gilbert M. L. Johnson, 13th Indiana Cavalry, of operations December 4-9, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 630-631)
• No. 223: Report of Col. Thomas C. Boone, 115th Ohio Infantry, of operations December 2-5, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 631-634).
• No. 224: Report of Col. Thomas Saylor, 29th Michigan Infantry, of operations December 13, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part, 634)
• No. 251: Report of Maj. Gen. William B. Bate, C. S. Army, commanding division, of operations November 21-December 25, 1864 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 741-751)
  • Section relevant to Third Murfreesboro: 744-747.
• No. 252: Report of Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, C.S. Army, commanding cavalry, of operations November 16, 1864-January 23, 1865 (O.R. Volume 45, Part 1, 751-760).
  • Section relevant to Third Murfreesboro: 754-756.

Books

• James Lee McDonough, Nashville: The Western Confederacy's Final Gamble (Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press, 2004), 143-148.
• Jonathan C. Sheppard, By the Noble Daring of Her Sons: The Florida Brigade of the Army of Tennessee (Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press, 2012), 210-214.
• Russell K. Brown, Our Connection with Savannah: A History of the 1st Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2004), 138-140.
• Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes Jr., The Pride of the Confederate Artillery: The Washington Artillery in the Army of Tennessee (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1997), 228-248.
• Ed Bearss, The History of Fortress Rosecrans,

Any additions would be helpful. I'm going to try and read through all these in the coming weeks.

 

[RedRover]

Leander Stillwell in "Story of a Common Soldier" gives an interesting account of the battle of December 7.

The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

The Story of a Comman Soldier is the description of Leander Stillwell's experiences as an average soldier in the Union Army.

www.google.com

Also Philip Dangerfield Stephenson of the Washington Artillery, in his book more recently edited and published.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Both of 'Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest' by John Wyeth (within chapter XX) and 'The Confederacy's Last Hurrah' by Wiley Sword (within chapters XV & XXVII) each contain a few pages devoted to this late-war engagement at Murfreesboro.

 

[gjpratt]

The Stephenson book is a very good first hand account of both Bate's December 4 engagement at Overall Creek before Forrest's arrival and the actual Cedars/Third Murfreesboro battle December 7. He was with the Washington Artillery. His account enabled me to calibrate and map Bate's deployment at Overall Creek. And his description of the loss of the guns at the Cedars is riveting. He is frequently cited as the source of the anecdote of Forrest shooting a fleeing Confederate soldier. But in his memoir which was written many years later he questions whether he actually witnessed this. Also some good insight on conditions during the Battle of Nashville and the Confederate route.

What aspect of Nashville are you and @SeanMichaelChick working on? There is a lot of fertile ground for further study and development and I have my eye on a couple of areas.

 

[gjpratt]

Deleted double post

 

[Luke Freet]

The Stephenson book is a very good first hand account of both Bate's December 4 engagement at Overall Creek before Forrest's arrival and the actual Cedars/Third Murfreesboro battle December 7. He was with the Washington Artillery. His account enabled me to calibrate and map Bate's deployment at Overall Creek. And his description of the loss of the guns at the Cedars is riveting. He is frequently cited as the source of the anecdote of Forrest shooting a fleeing Confederate soldier. But in his memoir which was written many years later he questions whether he actually witnessed this. Also some good insight on conditions during the Battle of Nashville and the Confederate route.

What aspect of Nashville are you and @SeanMichaelChick working on? There is a lot of fertile ground for further study and development and I have my eye on a couple of areas.

Thank you.
The plan is to cover the whole Tennessee campaign with a focus on events in December. Basically want to do an updated version of McDonough's book on the Battle of Nashville.

 

[gjpratt]

Thank you.
The plan is to cover the whole Tennessee campaign with a focus on events in December. Basically want to do an updated version of McDonough's book on the Battle of Nashville.

That is one area that could really use an expanded update. A lot happened the first 2 weeks in December other than the Murfreesboro engagements, that is not well known (to put it mildly). Looking forward to seeing it in print.

 

[maverickdd69]

I recall that Stephen Hood had some discussion in his John Bell Hood book on this battle, but as I'm away from home hiking the Appalachian Trail currently I can't confirm this.