Stones river battlefield - Murfreesboro

2,643 Views | 20 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by TheCougarHunter
oldarmy76
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Anyone ever been? Worth checking out? Doing a day trip from Nashville to jack Daniels distillery and trying to find another site to see. Open to other suggestions as well.
JABQ04
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AG
When are you going? Franklin is around there too, but I think urban sprawl has taken most of the battlefield. That was a bloodbath.
BQ78
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AG
Stone's River NP is worth the trip, much of the battlefield has been swallowed up by the city but the crucial parts of the BF is still intact.

Actually today Franklin may be less swallowed up by the city as they have been reclaiming much of the battlefield in recent years. It is worth a visit to the Carter House and McGavock.

Given the choice between the two I think I would go to Franklin due to the recent reclamations.
oldarmy76
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Going in a couple weeks.
Rabid Cougar
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AG
Been to both. Definitely both. Stones River is hard to fathom. 57 artillery pieces in line firing on infantry assaulting across open ground. "The very forest seemed to fall".

Same for Franklin.

If you read up on them before you go all you can do is stand and image....
Rabid Cougar
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AG
Live Firing - canister

I worked on NPS Gun Crew at Petersburg for two summers in the early '80. We fired a 12 Pounder Napoleon in our demonstration. If you ever want to see what a full 2 1/2 pound charge can make a 2,500 lb artillery piece do this is a very good example.
Chipotlemonger
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AG
I visited the Franklin battlefield a few years back and it was well worth the time. Never did the other one you mentioned though.
oldarmy76
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Ended up going to stones river. There is quite a large portion of the battlefield preserved and after looping through the battlefield twice and watching several videos, we were able to understand the troop movements and flow of battle.
Then in the following days, I re listened to the 5-6 episodes on stones river from the civil war podcast.
It is hard to fathom that level of human destruction.
JABQ04
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AG
Any pictures?
Sapper Redux
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I always found it depressing that more of Stone's River, and especially the Battle of Nashville weren't preserved.
Smeghead4761
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Of the Civil War battlefields I've visited, Gettysburg is by far the best preserved, followed by Antietam and then some of the sites from the Overland Campaign. Chickamauga is pretty good, too.

Fredricksburg and Manasass are pretty much completely gone. Too close to growing cities. I assume that's what happened to Nashville, as well.

I really want to get to Shiloh.
Sapper Redux
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My understanding (perhaps incorrect) was that locals didn't want to preserve much of the Nashville battlefield because of how disastrous it was for the Confederacy. Only Civil War battle that actually destroyed an army.
Smeghead4761
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There's probably a lot too that. Gettysburg and Antietam were both Union victories, on Union territory, along with not being near any later development. Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna, and Cold Harbor don't get the love from the Park Service that Gettysburg and Antietam have, but they're preserved by lack of proximity to development.
mullokmotx
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AG
The American Battlefield Trust has been active in the Cold Harbor area preserving land as it also has part of the Gaines Mill Battlefield and is not that far from Richmond.
Rabid Cougar
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Langenator said:

There's probably a lot too that. Gettysburg and Antietam were both Union victories, on Union territory, along with not being near any later development. Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna, and Cold Harbor don't get the love from the Park Service that Gettysburg and Antietam have, but they're preserved by lack of proximity to development.
None of the Peninsula Campaign battlefields get the same love no matter where they are at. Some were even as big or bigger battles than Gettysburg and Sharpsburg and even Union victories And yes, they are very much in danger of subdivisions now.

My list of "best preserved"

1. Saylor's Creek
2. Sharpsburg
3. Manassas (1 and 2).
4. Chickamauga
5. Shiloh
6. Gettysburg
7. Wilderness/Chancellorsville.
8. Spotsylvania
9. Vicksburg
10. Petersburg and several of its peripheral battles - LOTS of earthworks.

Antietam Campaign Battlefields.
Harpers Ferry
Fox's Gap
Turners' Gap
Crampton's Gap


Battlefields that took place before Gettysburg-
Brandy Station
Upperville
Aldie
Middleburg




90 bull
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AG
We lived in Franklin for about 6 years and I agree that the battlefield has been overtaken by sprawl. But it was neat to see that, during my daily run. I went past multiple markers showing the battle lines. So it was great to see that as part of the town fabric
Smeghead4761
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Honestly, I think the biggest intrusion on the battlefield at Gettysburg are all of the monuments that have been placed there by the various groups/regiments etc of the Army of the Potomac after the war.

Not a Civil War battlefield, but Yorktown is quite well preserved.(Yesterday being the 240th anniversary of Cornallis' surrender.)

In that same area, Newport News Park has some earthworks that were involved in some early skirmishes in the Peninsula campaign. The park doesn't really do anything to call attention to them - I just found them while I was out running on the trails.
Sapper Redux
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Battlefield preservation in the 19th and early 20th centuries meant something very different from today. Most of the Revolutionary War battlefields have massive marble monuments that date from the 19th century. The idea of preserving the field as it was when the battle occurred is a much more recent phenomenon.
Smeghead4761
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Sapper Redux said:

Battlefield preservation in the 19th and early 20th centuries meant something very different from today. Most of the Revolutionary War battlefields have massive marble monuments that date from the 19th century. The idea of preserving the field as it was when the battle occurred is a much more recent phenomenon.
It's interesting that Yorktown isn't covered with monuments. There is the Victory Monument, but it's a bit away from the site of the siege itself.

It was pretty cool, while I was stationed at Fort Eustis, the French Navy ship LaFayette came into Norfolk. Instead of going straight into Norfolk, they sailed up the York River, stood off the Victory Monument, manned the rails, and fired a salute.
tallgrant
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If you enjoy seeing what it looked like day of, Pea Ridge is in pretty fantastic shape.

That and Wilson's Creek are both solidly preserved and not unreasonably far from Texas.
trip
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AG
Go to both.

My dad grew up half way between the two (Franklin and Stones Creek). Found artifacts on his place a lot.
TheCougarHunter
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Sapper Redux said:

My understanding (perhaps incorrect) was that locals didn't want to preserve much of the Nashville battlefield because of how disastrous it was for the Confederacy. Only Civil War battle that actually destroyed an army.


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