Stones River National Battlefield Tour Stop 1

Union General William Rosecrans had kept his men safe in Nashville since early November 1862, so long that President Lincoln himself was pushing for his removal if he did not go on an offensive soon. As a result, on December 26th he set off southeast towards Chattanooga where major rail lines linked middle Tennessee with Atlanta. Standing in his way was the Confederacy’s main army in the west, General Braxton Bragg’s Army of the Tennessee.

Murfreesboro was the largest town between Nashville and Chattanooga and was of strategic importance because through it ran the major transportation routes of the Nashville Pike and the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. It was also in Murfreesboro that Bragg had been headquartered since the beginning of fall. His troops stretched out for fifty miles, but when scouts reported Rosecrans was coming, he summoned all of them to Murfreesboro. Rosecrans had expected the Confederates to run, but when his advance troops meet stiff resistance during skirmishes on December 29th, he knew Bragg was going to defend the town.

Stop 1 on the tour of Stones River National Battlefield marks the location of the left flank of Rosecrans’ 43,000 man Army of the Cumberland (then called the Federal 14th Army Corps) on the eve of the battle, December 30, 1862. From here the Union line stretched southwest to what was then called Franklin Road (today’s Hwy 96). In the battle map below, drawn by a National Park Service historian in 1959, blue represents Union troops and red the Confederates. The park property—as it was at the time—is marked with green.

Battle lines as of 6 AM on December 31, 1862, the start of the battle (click to enlarge)

To get to Tour Stop 1 from the Stones River National Battlefield Visitor Center, head out of the parking lot towards Old Nashville Highway and take a right. A little over a half mile down the road on the right is another entrance to the park, McFadden’s Lane. Turn here and you will soon come to the sign marking the stop. However, if you park next to this sign, you won’t find anything other than an empty field and a wooden fence. All of the exhibits are a little farther down, so keep driving until you see a white Cell Phone Tour sign and information panels. This is the best place to park.

A paved path cuts through from McFadden’s Lane to Cotton Field Trail (the main park road). A short walk down this path brings you to a cannon exhibit (no need to walk farther). The cannon point in the direction of the Confederate attacks.