Battle of Murfreesboro

Wars and Battles, December 31, 1862-January 2, 1863

After more than a year of the Civil War, President Lincoln replaced D.C. Buell with William S. Rosecrans as head of the Army of the Cumberland.

Beginning in the final days of December 1862, Rosecrans engaged Confederate General Braxton Bragg on the banks of the west fork of the Stones River, near Murfreesboro in central Tennessee. No clear victor emerged from the battle. Both sides suffered heavy casualties estimated at 9,000 each.

The encounter was significant because the Confederates were forced out of central Tennessee. In addition, Philip Sheridan emerged as a promising Union military figure.

The battlefield is now the Stones River National Military Park. The town of Murfreesboro is the county seat of Rutherford County and lies 29 miles southeast of Nashville at an elevation of 575 feet.