Sunday, 17 November 2019
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| today's route |
Because it's a weekend - even though it's November - the campground is nearly full. Once people wake up and start to walk their dogs, I have trouble dodging them when I walk mine. I've been driving down to the park's picnic area on my way out of the park, so I've been seeing more of local life.
Yesterday there were 2 weddings at the same time - one in what's called Cedar Lodge and the other at a gazebo not far away. Today there are preparations for 2 more weddings going on when we walked around there. Inside the Cedar Lodge I heard a group of men's voices singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" which I'd always assumed was a religious song, but I guess you can read lyrics to mean anything you want. I'm glad all these folks are having some decent weather for their shindigs, even though it's pretty chilly.
On the road
There's an equine veterinary place down the road from the park, and nearby I saw a field with four or five horses. It's incredible the number of horses I've been seeing in TN compared to the number I saw in KY (about 10). TN horses often have donkeys grazing with them.
I saw a highway sign that said this road is part of the original route of the Trail of Tears. I think many Native Americans were marched from Alabama and Georgia through TN to get to a crossing over the Mississippi River farther north.
Murfreesboro
I saw a Chuy's restaurant in Murfreesboro. Knowing that's an Austin-based chain of Tex-Mex places, I was a little surprised to see one in this town.
Murfreesboro is home to Middle Tennessee State University, a school of about 22,000 - a lot bigger than I'd have expected.
Murfreesboro itself claims to be one of the fastest growing cities in TN. There're about 140,000 there now. I drove through parts of it and it seems to be a pleasant town.
On the other hand, the reason the name Murfreesboro rang a bell in my head is that this is the place about 10 years ago or so where some Muslims were trying to build a mosque. They'd gone through all the legal process and were not far from finished when suddenly folks noticed and got upset and vandalized the building and filed court motions to stop it. But one legal venue after another said nope, we have religious freedom in this country and they've followed all the proper procedures so they get to build their mosque.
I'm glad to say it's now completed and the skies haven't fallen. I wanted to go by and take a look but it was farther out of my way than I wanted to go. It's enough for me to know it's built.
But because of this incident, I don't know if Murfreesboro is a pleasant town or not.
Stones River National Battlefield
This was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, which is saying something. A stunning one-third of the 81,000+ men who fought here were casualties of the 2 days of battle.
Militarily speaking, it was a draw. But the result was still a much-needed win for the Union.
The prelude
Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which would take effect on January 1, 1863. But Lincoln figured nobody would take it seriously if the North weren't winning the war. That December, the North lost badly at Fredericksburg, and despite concerted efforts by Gen. Grant, Vicksburg was still holding strong.
In Nashville, the North under the command of Gen. William Rosecrans (not Rosencrans, like in Shakespeare) had spent the summer months digging a cushy berth for themselves. While it's true Nashville was important as a supply hub, staying there wasn't going to break through Southern resistance.
Lincoln had been pushing Rosecrans for months to get moving while the weather was still favorable. He wanted him to move on Chattanooga and Atlanta to cut into the South and its rail lines. Finally Gen. Halleck told Rosecrans if he didn't get his 43,000 men moving within a week he'd be relieved of his command.
Meanwhile, Gen. Braxton Bragg had 38,000 Southern troops spread out along the southern TN border. He figured when the North moved, it'd be down the Nashville Pike toward Murfreesboro, where a railroad track ran right by the Pike. He was right.
First day of battle
On the morning of December 31, 1862, the Northern soldiers were eating breakfast here at Murfreesboro when the Southerners surprised them with a full-scale attack. They routed almost all the Union troops except 2 divisions that held their position. These 2 divisions ended up attacking the Confederates from just a few hundred yards away. The casualties on both sides were so high the area was called the Slaughter Pen. The defense by those divisions bought time for the Union troops to regroup.
They retreated about 3 miles from their original position, but only as far as the Pike. From there they massed along the Pike, and turned and trained their cannon on the Southerners. When the Confederates came in view they saw a mass of blue at what seemed like point blank range.
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| the silver line in the rear is the Nashville Pike |
This area of Round Forest came to be called Hell's Half Acre. The South kept trying to attack but the Hazen Brigade held the North position all day. In fact, it was the only position the North held that day.
Because he saw the wholesale Northern retreat, Bragg believed they were gone and any remaining would retreat during the night. He sent a report of the victory by telegraph.
But on January 1, there the Union army still was - he couldn't believe his eyes. But that day both sides were too tired to fight. They both spent the day tending to their casualties.
Second day of battle
On January 2, 1863, the South began by pushing the North back with a successful bayonet charge. But then the North fired with artillery, and they killed or wounded more than 1,800 Southerners within an hour. The casualties were so high, this effectively put an end to the battle.
The 2 days of fighting resulted in 13,249 Union dead or wounded and 10,266 Confederate dead or wounded.
Both sides claimed victory, but for some reason not explained at this museum, Gen. Bragg pulled his men out of Murfreesboro, leaving the area for the North.
Gen. Rosecrans built a highly fortified fort around the town and used it as a supply hub for a further push to the south and to prevent Confederates from retaking Tennessee.
A few months later, the North took Chattanooga which allowed Sherman to move on Atlanta and on to the sea.
Unusually, this monument was built here while the war was still going on by the comrades of those who died here. Because it's the only such memorial still in existence, it's now the oldest of the Civil War monuments.
The aftermath
And that reality was harsh in several ways. Even at the start of the war, citizens found their towns scavenged for supplies, making daily life difficult. This only grew worse as the war went on. Then with their captive labor force freed, they were suddenly not as rich as they'd believed themselves to be. There was no labor force to plant crops or harvest them.
On top of all that, they'd convinced themselves that black people weren't really human beings, so the idea of these sub-humans having rights equal to theirs was incomprehensible. Reality was tough.
A side note
I don't think of this war as a modern war, but this exhibit makes interesting points.
Before the expansion of the railroads, transport of goods was difficult at best through some of these rural areas. Imagine moving cannons and army supplies on carts over these mountains and through these forests; I guess that's what they did during the Revolutionary War, but I think it was on much smaller scale.
And then the rapid communication made possible by telegraphs must have been worlds apart from relying only on messengers and the mail service as I suppose they'd done before.
Not that I think mankind needs help in killing itself, but these inventions seem to have sped that process up.
I'd never heard of this battlefield before I saw it on the map (good old AAA map), but I'm glad I visited here. It was sunny and comfortable when we were here, and the land now seems peaceful. The dogs loved rolling in the tall grass and leaves. An interesting day.
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