President’s message: Battle of Stones River

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Battle of Stones River

Thank you to everyone who attended the December meeting to hear Jim Ogden speak on “The Great Locomotive Chase”. There were 67 diners, seven who were non-members. Also attending were an additional 24 members and three non-members to hear the presentation. Total attendance for the lecture was 92. Thank you once again for your outstanding support and interest in the Round Table.

Remember to make your dinner reservation by 11 a.m. January 9th to hear Jim Lewis speak on “Hell’s Half Acre”. I’m looking forward to the first meeting of 2017.

The Battle of Stones River / Murfreesboro – January 2nd, 1863

At 4:00 p.m. on January 2nd Bragg made his last major offensive against Rosecrans. The Union position under the leadership of Generals Crittenden and Beatty will soon be attacked by Confederate General Breckinridge. General Hanson will give the order to advance to Colonel Joseph Lewis of the 6th Kentucky (C.S.). “Colonel,” Hanson yells to Lewis, “the order is to load, fix bayonets and march through the brushwood. Then charge at double quick to within a hundred yards of the enemy, deliver fire, and go at them with the bayonet.” Hanson had privately told Breckinridge that he believed he would not survive the assault. A single cannon shot from Carnes’s battery was the signal for the Confederate attack.

So what did the advance look like from the opposing side as Larry Daniels writes? An Ohio soldier in the distance reports that “they came not as a mob, but in good order. They advanced so coolly and gracefully as if on parade… Thorough discipline was indicated in every step.” A half mile away, one of Beatty’s soldiers could “plainly and distinctly hear them giving commands – Forward!, Guide Center!, March!”. A message delivered to Rosecrans and Beatty stating that Rebels are massing an attack. It was reported that they had counted sixteen enemy flags. A Union soldier yelled “boys, they are coming! The woods are full of them.”

What did the advancing Confederate soldiers face as they advanced toward enemy lines? They were under punishing artillery fire. Breckinridge stated “many officers and men fell before we closed with their infantry.” In the midst of the shelling, Hanson’s brigade came to a halt. Hanson was hit in the leg from a shell fragment which severed the femoral artery. He was transport to Murfreesboro where his wife and Mrs. Breckinridge attended him. He died two days later.

Breckinridge forces under the command of Preston were able to sweep Union General Beatty’s brigades from the field in full retreat. Crittenden had amassed a formidable array of artillery. He turns to Captain John Mendenhall, his artillery chief, with Beatty’s division collapsing he orders him to cover my men with your cannon. Mendenhall unleashed his artillery that sweeps the Confederates from the field. “As the mass of men swarmed down the slope they were mowed down by the score”, observed a Union officer. In the final analysis the North’s superior resources save the day in stopping a Confederate victory at Stones River. Breckinridge’s attack was over in one hour by 5:00 p.m. The two armies had fought to a draw by the end of the third day.

In February, Earl Hess, LMU Professor, Author, Historian, will do a presentation entitled
“Civil War Tactics” at the Round Table’s monthly meeting February 14, 2017. I’m looking forward to Professor Hess’s thoughts and insights on this topic.

John Stegner, President

Sources

The Battle of Stones River – Larry J. Daniel
Battle of Stones River Illustration – Kutz and Allison

Jim Lewis to speak on the Battle of Stones River

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Battle of Stones River, Jim Lewis

Jim Lewis has been a Park Ranger with the National Park Service since 1991. Since 1997, he has been fixture at Stones River National Battlefield, serving as a park ranger, curator and de-facto historian there. He became the Chief of Interpretation & Cultural Resource Management in 2016.

Jim has researched and presented dozens of interpretive programs at Stones River National Battlefield and across the country on a variety of Civil War topics. He has also produced numerous interpretive publications and exhibits for the National Park Service.

The September 2012 Blue and Gray Magazine featured “Lincoln’s Hard Earned Victory,” a full issue article written by Ranger Lewis that provides a concise analysis of the Stones River Campaign and its military, political, and social consequences.

Born in Burlington, Vermont and raised in New Jersey, Jim is a graduate of Cornell University (BA in History) and has been a student of Civil War history since his late teens. He lives in Murfreesboro with his wife Beth and son James. He serves on the advisory board of the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association. He is also a founding member of the Middle Tennessee Civil War Round Table and a reenactor in Company B of the Ninth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, U.S.

For your viewing pleasure: https://www.c-span.org/video/?309851-1/battle-stones-river

Battle of Stones River Panelists talked about the Battle of Stones River. Lincoln Memorial University history professor Earl Hess talked about Confederate commanding General Braxton Bragg’s role in the battle. Author and historian Richard McMurry discussed Jefferson Davis and the confederate strategy carried out in the Stones River campaign. Stones River National Battlefield Park ranger Jim Lewis and Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area historian Antoinette van Zelm talked about the civilian perspectives on the battle and its outcome.

Jim Lewis

The symposium, marking the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Stones River, which was fought from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863 near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was co-sponsored by the National Park Service and the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area.

Jim will speak at the Jan. 10 meeting of the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable. Details about how you can attend this presentation are at the left of this page.

Hell’s Half Acre: Stones River ranger to speak at next KCWRT meeting, Jan. 10

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Battle of Stones River, Hell's Half Acre, Jim Lewis, William Hazen

On the morning of December 31, 1862, the men in Col. William B. Hazen‘s brigade of the Army of the Cumberland prepared to defend a position at the edge of a grove of trees near the Nashville Pike outside Murfreesboro, Tennessee. That afternoon their position, known locally as the Round Forest, became the most hotly contested spot on a battlefield that would become synonymous with hard fighting.

Hazen’s men staved off four separate assaults made by six different Confederate brigades anchoring the Union center that day. The ferocity of the fighting in their sector left behind a gruesome scene of dead and mangled bodies giving immediate rise to a new name: Hell’s Half Acre.

Following the battle, the site became the focus of one of the earliest attempts at battlefield commemoration as Hazen’s men built a monument to mark the site of their triumphant stand. The Hazen Brigade Monument stood for decades as the anchor on the landscape that would later become a national park.

Park Ranger Jim Lewis will tell the tale of the pivotal fighting at Hell’s Half Acre using the words of those who fought there and examine how the fighting there helped reverse the tide of battle. He will also discuss the sense of pride that led Hazen’s men to construct a monument during the rigors of war time, a monument that stands today as one of the most unique features on the Stones River National Battlefield.

Lewis’ talk will be Tuesday, Jan. 10, at the monthly meeting for the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable. See details on the left side of this page.

Battle of Stones River

President’s message: Review of book of the Battle of Stones River

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Battle of Stones River, Braxton Bragg, Jim Lewis, Larry Daniel

Thank you to everyone who attended the November meeting to hear Ed Bearss speak on “Custer at the Little Big Horn.” There were 63 diners, ten who were non-members. Also attending were an additional 22 members and nine non-members to hear the presentation. Total attendance for the lecture was 94. Thank you once again for your outstanding support and interest in the Round Table.

Remember to make your dinner reservation by 11 a.m. December 12th to hear Jim Ogden speak on “The Great Locomotive Chase.” Don’t forget to bring a dessert to share for the “dessert social” after the speaker’s presentation.

The Battle of Stones River / Murfreesboro

I re-read Larry J. Daniel’s book entitled “Battle of Stones River: The Forgotten Conflict between the Confederate Army of Tennessee and the Union Army of the Cumberland”. The Confederacy referred to it as the Battle of Murfreesboro. This battle was of great importance to both sides and its Generals – Rosecrans for the Union and Bragg for the Confederacy. Rosecrans needed a victory to undermine the growing antiwar movement and regain the northern army’s morale after the loss at Fredericksburg. Bragg, who was defeated in Kentucky, needed to reclaim Middle Tennessee and his reputation. So at the end of December 1862 both armies are on the move in horrific conditions of severe rain and cold, lack of food and supplies, and mud ankle deep to secure Middle Tennessee. 100,000 men fought in deadly battle for three days starting December 31st, 1862 and resulted in 23,000 casualties by the two armies.

In reading Daniel’s book it is hard to understand why this battle is referred to the forgotten battle. Bragg withdrew his army from the field because he did not have the supplies or the reinforcements to continue the fight. I believe that Bragg and his army acquitted themselves well at Stones River but none the less it is considered a Union victory and another loss for Bragg.

The Battle of Stones River

The Union did hold Middle Tennessee and Rosecrans’s star was on the rise. Let us not forget that Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect January 1, 1863 with the support of a win at Stones River. Lincoln would write to Rosecrans: “I can never forget, whilst I remember anything, that about the end of last year and the beginning of this, you gave us a hard earned victory, which had there been a defeat instead, the nation could scarcely have lived over.” Lincoln certainly understood the importance of this battle to his cause to continue the war. This may be the best book on this battle and I would encourage you to read it. Maybe you will be able to answer the question of why this has become the forgotten battle.

In January Jim Lewis, Historian Stone’s River NMP, will do a presentation entitled

“Hell’s Half Acre” at the Round Table’s monthly meeting January 10, 2017. Lewis’ thoughts and insights on this battle.

John Stegner, President

Sources

The Battle of Stones River – Larry J. Daniel
Battle of Stones River Illustration – Kutz and Allison

Map – Hal Jespersen

Map of the Battle of Stones River