(Preface): Union Gen. William S. Rosecrans led the Army of the Cumberland from Nashville toward Murfreesboro in December 1862, while Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg and the Army of the Tennessee occupied the town to protect the approaches to . . . — — Map (db m82454) HM
1. Union soldiers were positioned on the east side of Stones River, threatening the Confederate right wing. 2. General John C. Breckinridge's powerful attack forced Colonel John Beatty's Union division back across the river at McFadden's Ford. . . . — — Map (db m168562) HM
1879 Murfreesboro holds a reception for Dr. J.S. Bass, an African-American doctor who was a hero in combating the Yellow Fever
epidemic in Chattanooga.
1884 Stones River Creamery is established at Murfree Spring. Bradley Academy is . . . — — Map (db m207995) HM
Those things [you see] inside the fort ... this shape + ... are bum [bomb] proof stockades. The outside line is heavy oak timber hewn on 3 sides ... about 10 feet high. The timber is .. set up end ways and firmly secured .... The top is first . . . — — Map (db m82455) HM
William Lytle was born in Hillsboro, Orange County N.C. He was the son of Robert Lytle (1729-1774) and Sarah Mebane Lytle. At the age 21, he entered the military as Lieutenant, 5th Regiment of North Carolina Continental Line on April 16, 1776. He . . . — — Map (db m146765) HM WM
General James R. Chalmers Mississippi Brigade (CSA) advanced across these fields at 10 a.m. on December 31, 1862, to attack the Union center at the Round Forest. Their advance was part of General Braxton Bragg’s plan to crush the Union right . . . — — Map (db m21167) HM
Panic-stricken Union troops bolted out of the woods, closely pressed by cheering Texans. Canister from the battery's six guns, placed on this rise, forced back the attackers. Reinforced by a second battery, the Union artillerymen repulsed a second . . . — — Map (db m168510) HM
[Top plaque]
This property has been
placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
[Bottom plaque]
Sarah Childress
Polk
wife of
President James K. Polk . . . — — Map (db m196432) HM
Country singer and songwriter Chris Young is a Grammy- and Academy of Country Music-nominated vocalist. His style is rooted in traditional country music, although he performs with a contemporary sensibility.
Christopher Alan Young, born in . . . — — Map (db m166467) HM
Rail fences like this one kept free ranging livestock out of farm fields. These fences were quickly consumed by both armies for firewood and breastworks. Courageous Confederate infantry made several charges across this field from noon on the 31st . . . — — Map (db m168541) HM
This store, originally located at Link (in Southwestern Rutherford County), was built in 1899 and is typical of the area general stores from the early 1800s through the 1940s. In addition to groceries, country stores carried a wide variety of items . . . — — Map (db m90678) HM
To find such a wide break in a fort's wall seems strange to a person today. Yet the gap you see here - then called a sortie passage - is a carefully calculated part of the defenses of Fortress Rosecrans. The area close to the walls was covered . . . — — Map (db m37896) HM
Despite stiffening Union resistance, the Confederate tide swept on. The Federals made stand after stand, only to give ground again. Take this short trail to a Union position among the woods and rock outcroppings. — — Map (db m168518) HM
Brigadier General J. St. Clair Morton, Chief Engineer of the Army of the Cumberland, designed an elaborate series of lunettes, redoubts, curtain walls, and blockhouses for the defense of Fortress Rosecrans. The fort contained depots stocked with . . . — — Map (db m168579) HM
The din of battle faded on December 31 with the setting sun, replaced with the clatter of axes, picks, and shovels. Both armies spent the next two days piling up dirt, rocks, and trees for protection. The Union army's Pioneer Brigade used their . . . — — Map (db m168513) HM
Every town of notable size had a country doctor. And although the doctor saw many of his patients by making house calls, he also maintained a small office near his residence where patients could come to him for treatment. This structure is furnished . . . — — Map (db m90677) HM
General Daniel P. Donelson’s Tennessee Brigade (CSA) advanced across these fields on December 31, 1862, around 11 a.m. in support of Chalmers’ Brigade. Donelson’s lines were broken by Chalmers’ retreat and by the Cowan ruins. The brigade split in . . . — — Map (db m21168) HM
Born in North Carolina, Dr. Patterson was a
World War I veteran who came to Murfreesboro
after graduating from Meharry Medical College's
School of Dentistry in 1924. Married to Buena V.
Eaton (1887-1972) Patterson, a Bradley School
teacher, Dr. . . . — — Map (db m226607) HM
The Confederate Circle at historic Evergreen Cemetery was established in 1890. The reburial of Confederate dead from across the county here took place the following year.
Among those buried here is Robert James Campbell Gailbreath . . . — — Map (db m69176) HM
After the Civil War, four million formerly enslaved people took charge of their own lives. They began to exercise their rights and start their own communities. They built homes, schools, churches, and businesses. For the first time, black men and . . . — — Map (db m168530) HM
This view of the square looks to the west and depicts several wood and canvas "shebangs” that sheltered the Federal troops guarding the Provost Marshal's Office downtown.
The soldiers constructed these makeshift shelters from all kinds of . . . — — Map (db m146741) HM
At the end of 1863, more than fifty cannon stood ready to defend Fortress Rosecrans. Five, including one 8-inch siege howitzer, were assigned to Lunette Palmer. The lunettes of Fortress Rosecrans were primarily artillery platforms. The ground in . . . — — Map (db m82456) HM
Surrender of the Union garrison took place about 4:00 P.M. Units surrendering were Gen. T. T. Crittenden and staff, detachment of the 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry, detachment of the 8th Kentucky Cavalry, “B” Battery, Kentucky Light . . . — — Map (db m19367) HM
Arriving here from Woodbury at daybreak, Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest found the Federal garrison in three separate locations. The 8th Texas Cavalry (Wharton) attacked the 9th Michigan Infantry (Duffield) encamped to the north of this road with two . . . — — Map (db m146752) HM
A task force of Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Brigade, consisting of the 1st Georgia Battalion (Morrison) and led by Forrest in person, charged rapidly to this area, at daybreak where they overcame one company of the 9th Michigan Infantry and two . . . — — Map (db m82457) HM
This monument is dedicated to the 26 Confederate soldiers commanded by Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest who died on July 13, 1862, and are buried in this cemetery.
1st Corporal Edward H. Ross Co A. 8th Texas Cavalry, Texas Rangers
4th Corporal . . . — — Map (db m146735) WM
After the Battle of Stones River, Union soldiers and newly freed slaves began building the earthen walls of Fortress Rosecrans in front of you. Named for Union Gen. William S. Rosecrans, it was the largest earthen fortress ever built in North . . . — — Map (db m152090) HM
The mounds in front of you are the remains of the largest earthen fortification built during the Civil War. Constructed in 1863 after the Battle of Stones River, Fortress Rosecrans protected the huge Union supply depot at Murfreesboro. It included . . . — — Map (db m168576) HM
Constructed in 1863 after the Battle of Stones River, Fortress Rosecrans protected the huge Union supply depot at Murfreesboro. The nearly three miles of earthworks enclosed about 200 acres of storehouses, blockhouses, and powder magazines. Union . . . — — Map (db m168577) HM
After the Battle of Stones River, Union General William S. Rosecrans ordered the construction of a supply depot adjacent to the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. The construction of Fortress Rosecrans began on January 23, 1863, and was completed in . . . — — Map (db m168578) HM
Erected to the memory
of
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest
by
the Daughters of the Confederacy
for heroic services
rendered the citizens
of Murfreesboro on July 13, 1862 — — Map (db m69146) HM WM
For whom this county was named in 1803.
In the early years of the Revolutionary War he commanded all Military Forces west of the Alleghenies
(Text on back)
1776: Appointed Brigadier General - led 2400 men into the Tennessee . . . — — Map (db m221035) HM WM
With aid of his vote and influence in N.C. Constitutional Convention this very soil became part of the United States of America.
Distinctions Captain, Major, and Colonel in American Revolution and later General in militia. As Major, one of . . . — — Map (db m146739) HM WM
The Tennessee Constitutional Convention in 1834 considered where the
permanent seat of state government should be located.
A delegate from Williamson County argued that for reasons of equity and convenience,
the state capital should be as . . . — — Map (db m208311) HM
In 1834, the State of Tennessee hired Professor James Hamilton to find its geographic center in order to locate the state capital as near as possible to the center of the state. However, certain circumstances and politics left the capital in . . . — — Map (db m82459) HM
Near here, June 19, 1941, then commanding the 2nd Armored Division, he issued oral orders to his unit commanders, whose successful execution established armor as a decisive element in the American Army, soon to vanquish German Forces in World War . . . — — Map (db m146815) HM
God has granted us a Happy New Year! Braxton Bragg, general commanding the Army of the Tennessee, in a telegram to Confederate President Jefferson Davis
On New Year's Eve the fighting had raged from dawn to . . . — — Map (db m37421) HM
John P. Buchanan, the 28th governor of Tennessee, was born in Williamson County on October 27, 1847. After serving in the Confederate Army, he moved to Rutherford County. In 1887, he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives. Three years . . . — — Map (db m82460) HM
A distinguished sports writer and
poet, Rice was born November 1, 1880
in a house which stood here. A
graduate of Vanderbilt University,
1901, he later was called the Dean
of American Sports Writers, and
became internationally famous . . . — — Map (db m146637) HM
Lieutenant Colonel Hardy Murfree, for whom Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is named, served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He fought in many engagements, including Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. At Stony Point he played a . . . — — Map (db m151206) HM
This is the oldest structure to the grounds. It was built circa 1870s as a cotton warehouse. Covering a variety of themes, the exhibits trace life in this Southern community from 1776-1876. — — Map (db m90668) HM
The Union army occupied the town, January 5, 1863, three days after the battle here. They spent the winter and spring in and around Murfreesboro. Some of Hazen's men under Lieutenant E. K. Crebbin, 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment, built it of . . . — — Map (db m168548) HM
This section of guns represents Battery F, 1st Ohio Volunteer Artillery commanded by Lt. Norrel Osburn (four James Rifles & two 12 pdr. howitzers). Along with Capt. Jerome B. Cox's 10th Indiana Battery (four 10 pdr. Parrotts and two 12 pdr. . . . — — Map (db m168545) HM
(Front):Hazen's Brigade to the memory of its soldiers who fell at Stone River December 31, 1862 "Their faces toward heaven, Their feet to the foe." Inscribed at the close of the war Chickamauga Chattanooga (Right Side):The blood of one . . . — — Map (db m37403) HM
In 1929 Holloway High School was erected on this site for African American students in Rutherford County. It was named in honor of local attorney, Mr. E. C. Holloway, who advocated for improving African American schools in the county. The last . . . — — Map (db m146032) HM
Looking over this parapet, you can still see some 1,400 feet of earthwork walls stretching out before you. In 1863 Fortress Rosecrans had more than 14,000 feet of walls surrounding a compound that covered 200 acres. Lunette Thomas This earthwork . . . — — Map (db m37864) HM
In Battle, Good Men Die
—William S. Rosecrans, major general commanding the Army of the Cumberland, speaking about his friend Colonel Garesché.
As fierce fighting raged nearby along the Nashville Pike, General Rosecrans and his . . . — — Map (db m103213) HM
An outstanding citizen of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County whose vision and love for our county heritage and its music led him to conceive and organize the first
Uncle Dave Macon Days
festival in July of 1977.
It was a tremendous . . . — — Map (db m159139) HM
1930s City water and sewer system and electrical system improved by New Deal agencies.
1940 Veterans Administration Hospital opens.
1946 Pumping station on Stones River with 16 inch line to Broad Street plant installed. . . . — — Map (db m207998) HM
(side 1)
From 1868 to 1914, the residence of James Daniel Richardson stood on this corner. He served as an officer in the 45th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, CSA, and was wounded at Resaca, Georgia. At age 22 he returned to Murfreesboro, . . . — — Map (db m76074) HM
James M. Buchanan, economist and author, received the 1986 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Grandson of a former governor, he attended Middle Tennessee State Teachers College, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Chicago. . . . — — Map (db m40549) HM
A brigadier general in the Confederate Army, he was born in this county in 1825, a state legislator at age 23, and mayor of Murfreesboro, 1855-59. Wounded six times during the Civil War, he led the Tennessee Brigade home from Greensboro, N.C., at . . . — — Map (db m146627) HM
Following the Civil War, local African American Methodists sought to establish their own church. In 1866, the Rev. Braxton James, formerly of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, led efforts to establish a new church – named James Chapel . . . — — Map (db m208596) HM
(Marker 1)
Allen, J. W. •
Anderson, Ed •
Andruman, R. E. •
Ardis, Calvin •
Arnold, F. W. •
Arnold, William •
Ballard, W. F. •
Barton, J. M. •
Batchelor, J. W. •
Beard, J. •
Beasley, J. B. •
Bellah, James •
Bennett, O. L. . . . — — Map (db m209502) WM
Donated to Cannonsburgh in 1988 by CSX Transportation Inc., this caboose recalls the days of the Iron Horse and the expansion of commerce and lifestyle that came about when the railroads were dominant form of overland transportation — — Map (db m90666) HM
The Leeman House is a two-story log structure from Eastern Rutherford County. The circa 1820s front section was made with cedar tree trunks fitted together by skillful notching. The second story rear was a circa 1870s addition.
The house layout is . . . — — Map (db m90669) HM
The citizens of occupied Murfreesboro had constant reminders of the powerful federal army entrenched here on their doorsteps. From January 1863 to April 1866, "the streets were crowded at all times with wagons and soldiers....Soldiers camping thick . . . — — Map (db m37889) HM
Originally built in the early 1800s in Rutherford County, this is a typical example of that era. Transported here to Cannonsburgh in 1975, it is authentic in every detail and now houses an early 1800s hand loom which can be seen in operation on . . . — — Map (db m90675) HM
Civil War fortifications were precisely designed. Every angle, every mound of earth, and every slope you see here in Lunette Palmer had a specific purpose. Lunette Palmer is a multi-sided, angled earthwork that projects outward from the basic . . . — — Map (db m37804) HM
[Our fortress] consists of a line of works called "lunettes" forming an irregular circle on both sides of Stones River. The "lunette" is a fortification having embankment, ditch, angles, and so forth in front, but open to the rear. Some of [the] . . . — — Map (db m37895) HM
Born in Alabama, in 1893 Mary Ellen Vaughn, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), Chicago Business College, and Tennessee A & I College (now Tennessee State University), lived in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the last thirty years . . . — — Map (db m160569) HM
Union artillerymen on the ridge ahead of you repulsed Confederate troops, leaving 1800 dead and wounded here on January 2, 1863. — — Map (db m168565) HM
As Union soldiers crouched here behind the breastworks of stone and rail, a battered advance division retreated back across the river, pursued by General John C. Breckinridge's hard-driving Confederate brigades. Union artillery batteries firing from . . . — — Map (db m37706) HM
The State of Michigan has erected this marker to her brave and courageous sons who fought at Stones River to preserve the union
This marker is dedicated to all the Michigan soldiers engaged in this great battle, to the 71 men who lost their . . . — — Map (db m37458) WM
The teacher-training school of Middle Tennessee State Normal School, now MTSU, was established in 1911. This model school still provides practice teaching experience, laboratory methods classes, and observation facilities. Cooperation . . . — — Map (db m151196) HM
In a home which stood here, Brig. Gen. John H. Morgan, CSA, was married to Miss Martha Ready December 14, 1862, by Bishop (also Lt. Gen. CSA) Leonidas Polk. Col. Basil Duke was best man. Among the groomsmen were Gen. Braxton Bragg, Lt. Gen. W.J. . . . — — Map (db m55484) HM
Holes in Geology
Beneath your feet is a vast system of caves and aquifers, formed in layers of limestone. From the surface, we see evidence of this karst landscape in sinkholes and springs.
The limestone, which varies in thickness . . . — — Map (db m207999) HM
Murfreesboro was occupied by both Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War. Union troops took control of the city on March 7, 1862, and camped at Oaklands. On July 13, 1862 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest made his celebrated raid . . . — — Map (db m90680) HM
[Southwest side]
Murfreesboro
Capital of
Tennessee
June 1, 1818
to
April 30, 1826
Murfreesboro
[Southeast side]
Resolution making Murfreesboro state capital
“Resolved by the General Assembly . . . — — Map (db m151204) HM
Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, located in the center of Tennessee, became a major Civil War battleground from the summer of 1862 to late 1864. Union troops occupied the historic Rutherford County Courthouse on the Murfreesboro Square in the . . . — — Map (db m152089) HM
First settlers came in 1799; the settlement was first named Cannonsburg. It was actually founded in 1811 on land donated by Capt. William Lytle, who stipulated that the town should be named for Hardee Murfree, a Revolutionary veteran of Williamson . . . — — Map (db m26062) HM
Murfreesboro
First settlers came in 1799; the settlement was first named Cannonsburg. It was actually founded in 1811, on land donated by Capt. William Lytle, who stipulated that the town should be named for Hardy Murfree, a Revolutionary . . . — — Map (db m149642) HM
(east face)
In commemoration of the valor of
Confederate Soldiers,
who fell in the great Battle of Murfreesboro,
Dec. 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863,
and in minor engagements in this vicinity,
this monument is erected. . . . — — Map (db m69134) WM
Luminaries such as James K. Polk,
David Crockett and Andrew
Jackson walked the streets while
the Legislature was in session.
Public demand for a more centrally located seat of government in Rutherford
County had increased considerably . . . — — Map (db m208313) HM
(front):
Murfreesboro>
First settlers came in 1799; the settlement was first named Cannonsburg. It was actually founded in 1811 on land donated by Capt. William Lytle, who stipulated that the town should be named for Hardee Murfree, a . . . — — Map (db m168572) HM
In 1811 the Tennessee state legislature appointed town commissioners to select the site for a new Rutherford County seat to replace Jefferson, the county's first county seat. The site was selected in 1812 by the commissioners. The proposed new town . . . — — Map (db m146780) HM
“For historic drama, few events in the American Civil War can equal Nathan Bedford Forrest’s raid of July 13, 1862, on Murfreesboro, Tennessee.” –Kenneth Halfendorfer, Historian
A Critical Location
Throughout the Civil . . . — — Map (db m82516) HM
In the months after this fort was built, thousands of men from Middle Tennessee joined eight new federal infantry regiments. Black men in blue coats guarded the railroad that fed Fortress Rosecrans, and helped garrison Nashville and Chattanooga. By . . . — — Map (db m37867) HM
This antebellum mansion, begun about 1824 by Dr. James Maney, is located 1 1/4 miles N. on land acquired by Col. Hardy Murfree in 1789. Subsequently enlarged, it is an excellent example of architectural transition from frontier dwelling to . . . — — Map (db m26135) HM
(preface)
For two weeks in July 1862, Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest led 1,400 cavalrymen through Middle Tennessee to raid, scout, and disrupt the Union Army of The Cumberland’s operation there. Leaving McMinnville on July 13, Forrest fought . . . — — Map (db m82517) HM
The mansion before you, Oaklands, was the home of the Maney family from approximately 1815 to 1884. It began as a two-room brick house on property Dr. James Maney and his wife, Sally Hardy Murfree Maney, inherited from Sally’s father Lieutenant . . . — — Map (db m90995) HM
Bradley Academy was founded in the early nineteeth century as a school for white males. Among the earliest students was James Knox Polk. From 1884 until the 1960s, it was an elementary and secondary school for African-Americans in Rutherford County. . . . — — Map (db m76073) HM
The one-room schoolhouse shows the determination of
19th century settlers to provide their children with a basic
education. After a community had a building for classes,
its citizens would hire a teacher with money raised by
public . . . — — Map (db m90672) HM
The 200 Regular Army gunners of Batteries H and M set up their eight cannon from here all the way to the Nashville Pike. For four solid hours, at brutal short range they fired many hundreds of rounds of munitions into the rebel ranks. Their steady, . . . — — Map (db m168528) HM
The most powerful federal battery on this field armed with four 3" Ordnance rifles and four 12 pdr. howitzers. This battery of battle hardened regulars poured charge after charge of canister at less than 600 yards into the oncoming grey ranks - . . . — — Map (db m168527) HM
In fall 1818, over 11,000 Cherokee in nine organized groups passed by here as they continued on their Trail of Tears toward Indian Territory in the West. The Cherokee had been traveling for a few weeks but had already crossed the Tennessee River and . . . — — Map (db m90694) HM
The trenches before you were built by the Pioneer Brigade of the Union Army of the Cumberland. After the fighting on the first day of the Battle of Stones River, December 31, 1862, both armies piled dirt, logs, and stone to protect themselves from . . . — — Map (db m168512) HM
The first steam traction engine for farm use was made in 1869 by J.I. Case Company. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s tractors gradually replaced the mules and horses in Middle Tennessee as the primary
instruments for everyday farm work. Early . . . — — Map (db m90664) HM
... scattered about on the most commanding positions inside the [fortress] are four or five "redoubts" or small square forts, mounting heavy siege guns, which completely command the lunettes and also the surrounding country. These works are all . . . — — Map (db m37668) HM
The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway played a major role in memorializing Civil War battlefields. The company bought land and installed signs along the tracks to identify battle locations. They erected monuments like the Artillery Monument . . . — — Map (db m168561) HM
"...around the spot where the monument was erected...to the best recollection 113 of our regiment were killed and wounded...it is hoped that the monument will remain standing as a memorial to the gallant and patriotic men of General Hazen's . . . — — Map (db m168549) HM
