Stones River National Battlefield Landscape: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Stones River National Battlefield, National Park Service

National Park Service

Located three miles from Murfreesboro, Tennessee along the Nashville Pike, the Stones River National Battlefield is composed of six discontiguous parcels that together tell the story of one of the pivotal battles of the Civil War. The Battle of Stones River unfolded across this landscape between December 31, 1862 and January 2, 1863; approximately one-tenth of the land over which the battle occurred is included within the national park boundaries. The landscape preserves some of the important events and locations of the battle, which resulted in the Union’s occupation of Murfreesbro, control of the supply network through Tennessee, and the initiation of the Union army’s campaign that resulted in the “March to the Sea.” Soon after the end of the war, groups organized around the country to preserve and commemorate battle sites. This interest resulted in the development of the Stones River National Battlefield Park by the U.S. War Department in 1927-1933, and the landscape is also significant for its associations with the activities and design of this period. The entire period of significance for the Stones River National Battlefield spans 1862 to 1933, including the Civil War era events and subsequent commemorative landscape development efforts. The 480-acre Nashville Pike Unit serves as the focal point of the park's interpretation of the battle and offers a setting similar to that seen during the battle. This unit represents a portion of the battlefield where General Rosecrans's Union Army of the Cumberland and General Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee clashed. Located across the street is the 20-acre Stones River National Cemetery, created in the late 1800s as part of a national cemetery movement. The .85-acre Hazen Brigade Monument is also in this vicinity, dedicated to Colonel William Hazen’s union brigade. To the north and south of the Nashville Pike Unit are General Bragg’s Headquarters Site and General Rosecrans's Headquarters Site, both established to honor the respective locations of the opposing generals during the battle. The McFadden Farm Unit is due north along the Stones River, and it contains the Artillery Monument which marks a culminating moment during the final day of fighting. Finally, Curtain Wall No. 2 and Lunettes, and Redoubt Brannan, nearest to Murfreesboro, are the only remaining features of Fortress Rosecrans, the largest earthwork fortress built during the Civil War. The battlefield is defined by Karst topography, characterized by shallow soils, limestone outcroppings, and sinkholes. A distinctive feature of the 1862-1863 battlefield that influenced the course of the battle was the cedar glades and thickets endemic to the region. These are openings in thick stands of red cedar where the shallow soils prohibit permanent invasion by trees. However, this environment does support a diverse, endemic plant community dominated by herbaceous annuals and mosses. Today, cedar thickets and glades survive in the main battlefield, serving as tangible links to the setting's influence over events of the battle. The natural resource value of the existing cedar glades is heightened by the presence of a reintroduced colony of endangered species (Tennessee Coneflower). The park contains several landscape features that are extant from the Civil War period and the commemorative period. These features include: the Nashville Pike, Van Cleve Lane, Manson Pike, vegetation massings, monuments, the National Cemetery and associated walls, and earthworks. In many instances, the relationship between natural features (such as McFadden’s Ford) and cultural or built features (such as the railroad) helps convey an understanding of battle strategy and outcome. The spatial organization of the sites, particularly from the commemorative era, continues to be evident.

Stones River National Battlefield Landscape: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Stones River National Battlefield, National Park Service

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