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The Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro)
December 31 - January 2, 1863

        After Gen. Braxton Bragg's defeat at Perryville, Kentucky, October 8, 1862, he and his Confederate Army of the Mississippi retreated, reorganized, and were redesignated as the Army of Tennessee. They then advanced to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and prepared to go into winter quarters. Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Union Army of the Cumberland followed Bragg from Kentucky to Nashville. Rosecrans left Nashville on December 26, with about 45,000 men, to defeat Bragg's army. He found Bragg's army on December 29 and went into camp that night, within hearing distance of the Rebels. At dawn on the 31st, Bragg's men attacked the Union right flank. The Confederates had driven the Union line back to the Nashville Pike by 10:00 am but there it held. Union reinforcements arrived from Rosecrans's left in the late forenoon to bolster the stand and before fighting stopped that day, the Federals had established a new, strong line. On New Years Day, both armies marked time. Bragg surmised that Rosecrans would now withdraw, but the next morning he was still in position. In late afternoon, Bragg hurled a division at a Union division that, on January 1, had crossed Stones River and had taken up a strong position on the bluff east of the river. The Confederates drove most of the Federals back across McFadden's Ford, but with the assistance of artillery, the Federals repulsed the attack, compelling the Rebels to retire to their original position. Bragg left the field on the January 4-5, retreating to Shelbyville and Tullahoma, Tennessee. Rosecrans did not pursue, but as the Confederates retired, he claimed the victory. Stones River boosted Union morale. The Confederates had been thrown back in the east, west, and in the Trans-Mississippi.

Battle Description A more detailed description of the battle than provided above plus a map.
The Battle of Stone's River    Article by G. C. Kniffin, Lieut. Colonel, U. S. V., Of General Crittenden's Staff. It has a Union slant and was taken from Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.
The Battle of Stone's River (Union View) Another Union view by Henry M. Cist, Brevet Brigadier-General U. S. V, from his book, The Army of the Cumberland.
The Advance to Murfreesboro Still another chapter from Cist's "The Army of Cumberland."
The Battle of Murfreesboro (Confederate View) Now a little something from the Confederate view.  A chapter taken from the Tennessee volume of the Confederate Military History.

From the Official Records

Summary of Principal Events Taken from the Official Records, provides a summary of the events from Dec. 26, '62 - Jan. 5, '63.
Order of Battle (Union) Organization of the Fourteenth Army Corps or the Army of the Cumberland
Order of Battle (Confederate) Organization of the Army of Tennessee

Official Reports

Union Reports
Col. William P. Carlin
Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis
Col. Joseph B. Dodge
Maj. Gen. Alexander McD. McCook
Col. P. Sidney Post
Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans
Col. William E. Woodruff

Confederate Reports
Brig. Gen. J. Patton Anderson
Gen. Braxton Bragg
Brig. Gen. Daniel S. Donelson
Lieut. Gen. William J. Hardee
Col. Joseph H. Lewis
Lieut. Gen. Leonidas Polk
Brig. Gen. William Preston
Maj. Gen. Jones M. Withers

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