Murfreesboro in Rutherford County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Artillery Protects the Supply Line

Photographed By Craig Swain, August 28, 2010

1. Artillery Protects the Supply Line Marker

Inscription. From this ideal position, Loomis' Battery (1st Michigan Light Artillery - six 2.9" Parrott rifles and Guenther's Battery Co. H, 5th U.S. Artillery - six 12 pdr. Napoleons) smashed Confederate attempts to capture the Nashville Pike, the only supply line open to the Union Army, on the afternoon of December 31, 1862. Repeated charges of case shot and canister from these guns saved the day for the Union Army. About 6 p.m. on the 3rd of January 1863, the supporting fire from these two batteries helped two infantry regiments from Beatty's Brigade and two infantry regiments from Spears' Brigade drive the Confederates from the field, thus securing the battlefield of Stones River for the Union Army.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. A significant historical date for this entry is December 31, 1862.

Location. 35° 52.874′ N, 86° 25.945′ W. Marker is in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in Rutherford County. Marker can be reached from Old Nashville Highway, on the right when traveling north. Located in the Stones River National Cemetery on the Stones River National Battlefield. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2552 Old Nashville Hwy, Murfreesboro TN 37129, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. U.S. Regulars Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); This "Precious Dust" (about 300 feet away,

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measured in a direct line); A Patriotic Pulpit (about 500 feet away); The Charge Kept Coming, Coming Like the Sea (about 700 feet away); Passing Through Murfreesboro (about 700 feet away); Their Longest, Coldest New Year’s Eve (about 700 feet away); Battle at Stones River (about 700 feet away); Why Fight Here? (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Murfreesboro.

Also see . . . Stones River National Battlefield. National Park Service website. (Submitted on November 5, 2010, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.)

Photographed By Shane Oliver, January 16, 2021

2. Artillery Protects the Supply Line Marker

Marker and Cannon image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Craig Swain, August 28, 2010

3. Marker and Cannon

The gun is a 12-pdr Napoleon, produced by Revere Copper, Co. in 1864. It is registry number 390, weighing 1240 pounds.

Scene of the Battlefield image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Craig Swain, August 28, 2010

4. Scene of the Battlefield

"Scene of the Battlefield, December 31, 1862, as viewed from this location and sketched by A.E. Mathews, 31st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry".

12-pdr Napoleon next to the marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Shane Oliver, January 16, 2021

5. 12-pdr Napoleon next to the marker

Photographed By M.Brian Stroud, January 10, 2013

6. Artillery Protects the Supply Line Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on March 16, 2021. It was originally submitted on November 5, 2010, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 843 times since then and 29 times this year. Last updated on March 16, 2021, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos: 1. submitted on November 5, 2010, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 2. submitted on March 13, 2021, by Shane Oliver of Richmond, Virginia. 3, 4. submitted on November 5, 2010, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. 5. submitted on March 13, 2021, by Shane Oliver of Richmond, Virginia. 6. submitted on January 10, 2013, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.