Christian Brenner

Private, Co. C, 5th Iowa Cavalry

Stones River National Cemetery

Mufreesboro, Tennessee

William J. Mack

Sergeant, Co. I, 4th Michigan Cavalry

Stones River National Cemetery

Mufreesboro, Tennessee

George Silver

Private, Co. K, 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry

Stones River National Cemetery

Mufreesboro, Tennessee

Artillery Protects The Supply Line: Stones River National Battlefield

From this ideal position, Loomis’ Battery (1^st Michigan Light Artillery – six 2.9” Parrott rifles and Guenther’s Battery Co. H 5^th U. S. Artillery – six 12pdr. 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 3^rd 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.

SOURCE:  Interpretive marker to the right of the cannon.

43rd Wisconsin Infantry & 180th Ohio Infantry Monument: Stones River National Battlefield

Erected By The

43^rd Reg’t Wis.

Vol. Inf. in memory

of deceased soldiers

in that Reg’t and

of the 180^th Ohio.

Tennessee

Union Soldiers.

Railroad

Employees, &c.

1865

U.S. Regular Brigade Monument: Stones River National Cemetery

IN MEMORY
OF THE OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN OF THE
15TH, 16TH, 18TH & 19TH U. S. INFANTRY AND
BATTERY H, 5TH U. S. ARTILLERY, WHO
WERE KILLED OR DIED OF WOUNDS.
RECEIVED AT
THE BATTLE OF STONE RIVER,
TENNESSEE
DECEMBER 31ST, 1862 TO JANUARY 3, 1863


ERECTED
BY
THEIR COMRADS
OF THE
REGULAR BRIGADE,
ARMY OF
THE CUMBERLAND

Tornado Damage Closes Portions of Stones River Battlefield

The tornado that hit Murfreesboro Friday passed through the heart of the Nashville Pike unit of Stones River National Battlefield. It left a quarter-mile wide swath of fallen and damaged trees that stretches for approximately one mile across the battlefield, closing parts of the park to tourists.

Numerous fences were destroyed and debris covers nearly the entire section of the battlefield.

The visitor center and other park facilities were not damaged. A 60-foot section of the national cemetery wall was damaged by a fallen tree. The same tree also damaged a cannon display.

The visitor center opened at noon Easter Sunday, but all park areas from the CSX railroad tracks on the north to Wilkinson Pike on the south are closed to the public. The park requests everyone's cooperation in staying out of the closed areas. People who enter these areas are subject to law enforcement action.

The McFadden Farm unit, Redoubt Brannan, Fortress Rosecrans, and the generals' headquarters sites are open to the public.

Work has begun on clearing fallen trees and debris from the park. The park tour road, Stones River National Cemetery, and the Hazen Brigade Monument will open only when the park staff determines it is safe for visitors. The park's trail system may not be safe to enter for months and will be closed indefinitely. The public can check for updates on recovery efforts at the park's Web site, http://www.nps.gov/stri/parkmgmt/tornado.htm.

- Published HERE in The Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Bivouac Of The Dead

Stones River National Cemetery

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on Life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents to spread,
And glory guards, with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.

No rumor of the foe's advance
Now swells upon the wind;
Nor troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind;
No vision of the morrow's strife
The warrior's dreams alarms;
No braying horn or screaming fife
At dawn shall call to arms.

Their shriveled swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed,
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their martial shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow,
And the proud forms, by battle gashed
Are free from anguish now.

The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle's stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shout, are past;
Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal
Shall thrill with fierce delight
Those breasts that nevermore may feel
The rapture of the fight.

Like the fierce Northern hurricane
That sweeps the great plateau,
Flushed with triumph, yet to gain,
Come down the serried foe,
Who heard the thunder of the fray
Break o'er the field beneath,
Knew the watchword of the day
Was "Victory or death!"

Long had the doubtful conflict raged
O'er all that stricken plain,
For never fiercer fight had waged
The vengeful blood of Spain;
And still the storm of battle blew,
Still swelled the glory tide;
Not long, our stout old Chieftain knew,
Such odds his strength could bide.

Twas in that hour his stern command
Called to a martyr's grave
The flower of his beloved land,
The nation's flag to save.
By rivers of their father's gore
His first-born laurels grew,
And well he deemed the sons would pour
Their lives for glory too.

For many a mother's breath has swept
O'er Angostura's plain --
And long the pitying sky has wept
Above its moldered slain.
The raven's scream, or eagle's flight,
Or shepherd's pensive lay,
Alone awakes each sullen height
That frowned o'er that dread fray.

Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground
Ye must not slumber there,
Where stranger steps and tongues resound
Along the heedless air.
Your own proud land's heroic soil
Shall be your fitter grave;
She claims from war his richest spoil --
The ashes of her brave.

Thus 'neath their parent turf they rest,
Far from the gory field,
Borne to a Spartan mother's breast
On many a bloody shield;
The sunshine of their native sky
Smiles sadly on them here,
And kindred eyes and hearts watch by
The heroes sepulcher.

Rest on embalmed and sainted dead!
Dear as the blood ye gave;
No impious footstep here shall tread
The herbage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While Fame her record keeps,
For honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.

Yon marble minstrel's voiceless stone
In deathless song shall tell,
When many a vanquished ago has flown,
The story how ye fell;
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight,
Nor time's remorseless doom,
Can dim one ray of glory's light
That gilds your deathless tomb.

- By Theodore O'Hara

Henry E. Hartsock

Henry E. Hartsock
Private, Company B, 7th Pensylvania Cavalry

The son of Daniel & Mary Hartsock, he was born September 30, 1843 in Liberty Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. He enlisted as a private in Co. B, 7th Pensylvania Cavalry on February 29, 1864 and died June 15, 1864 (but recorded September 6, 1864) at Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee. He was buried in Section L Grave 381, Stones River National Cemetery, Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee.

Charles Castimore

Charles CastimoreCo. G. 19th Ohio Vols.
Killed At Stone River
Battle January 2nd 1863
Aged 44 Years

Rank: Private

Stones River National Cemetery
Murfreesboro, Tennessee