Stones River National Battlefield

The Civil War Battle of Stones River was part of a late 1862 Union effort to engage the Confederacy across a broad front that included attacks by General Grant in Mississippi, General Rosecrans in Tennessee and General Burnside in Virginia.  While Grant was stalled at Vicksburg and Burnside failed to take Fredericksburg, Rosecrans was ordered to move his army out of Nashville and engage the Army of Tennessee commanded by General Bragg.  The battle was fought over three days with the majority of the fighting on December 31, 1862 and January 2, 1863.  The battle was a tactical draw, but considered a strategic victory for the Union when Rosecrans conducted an unforced retreat on January 3.  This battle had the second highest casualty rate of the war after Gettysburg.  Of the 41,400 Union and 35,000 Confederate troops engaged, 24,645 were killed, wounded, captured or missing.  The Union suffered 31% casualties and the Confederate casualty rate was 33.5%.  

The Stones River National Military Park was established by Congress on March 3, 1927.  It was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933 and re-designated a National Battlefield on April 22, 1960.  The park includes 570 acres of the more than 3,000 acre extent of the battle.  Within the park is the 20 acre Stones River National Cemetery with 6,850 Union soldiers including those that died at Cowan, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Shelbybille, Stones River and Tullahoma.  Almost adjacent to the National Cemetery is the Hazen Brigade Memorial erected in the summer of 1863.  This memorial was built by veterans of the battle as a cemetery for their fallen comrades at the Round Forest between the Nashville Pike and the Stones River.

The visitor center houses a theater, a museum, a bookstore, an information desk and restrooms.  The video provides an overview of the battle in the usual excellent manner of the park service. A park map can be used to navigate to several locations along the cell phone tour where a series of audio recordings provide information about the battle.  During our mid-September 2013 visit, we chose to bike the route and feel it enabled us to experience the park in a more realistic atmosphere than sitting in an automobile.

Visitor Center

Split rail fence delimit the fields along McFadden's Lane

Further south, McFadden's Lane enters the forest 

Portions of the battle were fought in this dense forest southwest of  the Nashville Pike

Some of the fighting was in this cotton field

The Slaughter Pen was the sight of a deadly delaying action by Sheridan's troops

A portion of the Slaughter Pen loop trail 

A small part of the National Cemetery

A replica Rostrum for speakers and dignitaries at the cemetery

Hazen's Brigade Memorial on Hell''s Half Acre

The interior of the Hazen's Brigade Memorial

Fifty-eight artillery pieces were massed here to fortify positions at McFadden Farm

A 31 foot tall memorial obelisk was erected on McFadden Farm by the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad

There is no entrance fee for the Stones River National Battlefield.  The park is open from 8 AM to 5 PM daily for vehicle traffic and from sunrise to sunset for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/stri/index.htm.