Destinations Magazine - November/December 2017 - 9

FAST LANE | PARK IT HERE | National parks under the microscope

Stones River National Battlefield
Site of a key battle of the Civil War is an easy day trip from Nashville
Groups can take
a self-guided
tour of Stones
River National
Battlefield.

STONES RIVER
NATIONAL
BATTLEFIELD
Established: According to
Wikipedia, the park was established
as Stones River National Military
Park as a result of efforts by private
individuals; the Stones River
Battlefield and Park Association;
the Nashville, Chattanooga, and
St. Louis Railway (now part of CSX
Transportation); and a 1927 Act of
Congress authorizing a national
military park under the jurisdiction
of the War Department. President
Franklin Roosevelt subsequently
transferred the administration of
military and battle-related park
units and monuments from the
War Department to the National
Park Service during a major
reorganization effort in 1933. The
site was redesignated as a national
battlefield in 1960.
Located: 1563 North Thompson
Ln. (mailing address is 3501 Old
Nashville Hwy.), roughly three
miles northwest of Murfreesboro.
Open: The park tour road is open
to vehicular traffic daily from 8
a.m. to 5 p.m., although the park
itself is open year-round from sunrise to sunset to visitors either on
foot or traveling by bicycle.

BOB HOELSCHER.

What makes touring Stones River an
exceptional historical experience?

Abraham Lincoln badly needed a Union
victory at the end of 1862 to restore confidence in the Union war effort, shaken
by blundering Generals McClelland,
Buell, and Burnside, plus provide military justification for the Emancipation
Proclamation, due to take effect on Jan.
1, 1863. Since Gen. Grant's Army of the
Tennessee was still attempting to crack
the defenses at Vicksburg, Miss., Lincoln's
only remaining hope was with the Army
of the Cumberland, commanded by Gen.
William Rosecrans.
On the day after Christmas 1862,
Rosecrans led his army from Nashville to
engage Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's

Army of the Tennessee near Murfreesboro.
The fierce Battle of Stones River, which
lasted from Dec. 31, 1862 to Jan. 2, 1863,
ultimately resulted in a strategic Union
victory, although each side lost almost onethird of its men-13,249 Union and 10,266
Confederate casualties.
In 1863, the Union Army and hundreds
of former slaves built the 200-acre
Fortress Rosecrans nearby to use as a
distribution center for weapons, food,
and supplies. The fortress had three
miles of earthworks plus three smaller
interior forts, and was the largest
enclosed earthen fortification built
during the war, big enough to shelter
15,000 troops and supply an army of
65,000 men for months.

Visitor Center: Open daily yearround from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except
for Thanksgiving and Christmas
Day.
Park Admission: No charge.
Reservations: Not necessary.
Park Telephone and Website:
(615) 893-9501, www.nps.gov/stri

How should we plan our visit? A day
trip from Nashville will likely work best
for most groups. After a stop at the visitor
center to view the museum exhibits, watch
a movie about the battle, and explore
the bookstore, proceed onto the tour
road and follow the signage to numbered
markers, and conclude with a visit to the
Fortress Rosecrans site from Old Fort
Park. Physically able groups may also
wish to walk the Cotton Field Trail and/
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2017

\ DESTINATIONS 9
http://www.nps.gov/stri
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Destinations Magazine - November/December 2017
