Stones River National Cemetery

Adjacent to the Stones River battlefield is the Stones River National Cemetery, final resting place to 6,850 soldiers.

Click to enlarge if you'd like to read the marker explaining the history of the cemetery.

Position of Loomis' Battery, 1st Michigan Light Artillery, during the battle.  They were engaged on December 31st, 1862, and January 2nd 1863.

Pvt Henry B. King, Co. F, 3rd Kentucky Infantry (US)

Pvt William H. Simmons, Co. A, 4th Tennessee Cavalry (US)

Pvt William R. Breedlove, Co. H, 82nd Indiana Infantry

Pvt David Martin, Co. A, 10th Ohio Cavalry

Sgt John Martin, Co. D, 4th Ohio Cavalry

Pvt Clay C. Martin, Co. B, 21st Ohio Infantry

Unknown soldier marker.

Cpl Joseph Martin, Co. K, 6th Ohio Infantry

Grave marker for 7 unknown soldiers.

Grave marker for 3 unknown soldiers.

I'm thankful for a patient wife, who walks countless cemeteries with me, but far more thankful for the hero's buried there. 

Stones River Battlefield. Part 2: The Battlefield

After visiting the museum, we did the driving tour of the battlefield, and stopped and walked around at several locations.  The battlefield itself is huge and would take a couple of days to see on foot.  I took a lot of pictures and I'll just post a few here to give a sense of the battlefield.  Above is the Chicago Board of Trade Battery.

My favorite thing at the battlefield were the paintings on all of the battlefield markers.  If anyone has any more info on these I would be interested to know.  Please comment or send me an e-mail. 

View from the Union defenders position on the first day of the battle (December 31st, 1862) as they rally and stem the tide of advancing Confederates.

Closeup of the painting.

Position of Batteries H and M, 4th Regiment, United States Artillery (Regular Army) on December 31st, 1862.

Marker for "The Slaughter Pen".

It was a little intimidating to walk through the rocks of the slaughter pen, knowing that it was on this difficult ground that such a violent struggle took place.

Here Sheridan's Division stood when the rest of the army fled, and held it with heavy losses while Rosecrans could rally his disordered command.

As a bit of an Orphan Brigade connoisseur, I was extremely excited to see the site of their heroic charge from the 3rd day of the battle (January 2nd, 1863).

I would love to get a print of this painting!

Under horrific fire, the Confederate attackers had to cross the Stones River...

...and climb the rocky banks.

Once across the river, the orphans were faced by massed artillery just beyond those trees.

On this hill stood 57 Union guns.