| Stones River Campaign | Morning December 31 | Afternoon December 31 | January 2 1863 |
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 Winter Lightning: A Guide to the Battle of Stones River Lincoln thanked Rosecrans saying that the nation could not have taken another defeat. Additionally, Lincoln said he would remember this victory as long as he lived  The Edge of Glory: A Biography of General William S. Rosecrans, U.S.A The best biography on William Rosecrans despite having been published over 40 years ago. William Lamers, who was a school official and not a historian, was looking at a limited portion of his subject's career |
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 Battle of Stones River - Civil War Panoramic Map 12 in. x 9 in. Buy at AllPosters.com Framed Mounted |
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 No Better Place to Die The Battle of Stones River The forces of Braxton Bragg came very close to victory. But the star-crossed Confederate general ended up withdrawing, leaving Rosecrans' Union forces to claim victory by holding the field of battle |
On December 26, 1862, the Union Army of the Cumberland left Nashville to engage Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. General William S. Rosecrans sent the three wings of his army on different routes in search of the Rebel army. Rain, sleet and fog combined with spirited resistance from Confederate cavalry slowed the Federal advance. By the evening of December 30, 1862 both armies faced each other in the fields and forests west and south of Murfreesboro. During the night, Bragg and Rosecrans planned their attacks. Both chose to attack the right flank of the enemy and cut off their supply line and escape route. Bragg extended his lines to the south using all but General John C. Breckinridge's Division of General William Hardee's Corps. This movement of troops left only Breckinridge's men to face Rosecrans's planned onslaught on the east bank of the Stones River with General Thomas J. Crittenden's Left Wing. While the generals planned, then men lay down in the mud and rocks trying to get some sleep. The bands of both armies played tunes to raise the men's spirits. It was during this "battle of the bands" that one of the most poignant moments of the war occurred. Sam Seay of the First Tennessee Infantry described what happened that evening. “Just before ‘tattoo' the military bands on each side began their evening music. The still winter night carried their strains to great distance. At every pause on our side, far away could be heard the military bands of the other. Finally one of them struck up ‘Home Sweet Home.' As if by common consent, all other airs ceased, and the bands of both armies as far as the ear could reach, joined in the refrain. Who knows how many hearts were bold next day by reason of that air?” Battle Positions December 29 |
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 The Confederacy's Last Hurrah: Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville John Bell Hood rallied his demoralized troops and marched them off the Tennessee, desperately hoping to draw Sherman after him and forestall the Confederacy's defeat |
 Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry-Fort Donelson Campaign The war probably could have been over in 1862 had Lieutenant Phelps destroyed the bridge at Florence. Not doing so provided a retreat for A. S. Johnston to move his men to Corinth and then to Shiloh |
 A Very Violent Rebel: The Civil War Diary of Ellen Renshaw House The Siege of Knoxville (November 1863) is covered and Sutherland's footnotes make for good history |
 The Shipwreck of Their Hopes: The Battles for Chattanooga All the information you need to understand the flow of the battle at Chattanooga as well as the political intriguing that helped to shape the results is here |
 Sanctified Trial: The Diary of Eliza Rhea Anderson Fain, a Confederate Woman in East Tennessee The Diary of Eliza Rhea Anderson Fain |
 Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence This is a wonderful memoir of the author's year and half of active service on the staff of the legendary Confederate cavalry General, J. E. B. Stuart. |
 The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era 1988 Pulitzer Prize for History and a New York Times Bestseller. Rare contemporary photographs, period cartoons, etchings, woodcuts, and paintings, carefully choosing those that best illuminate the narrative |
 The Civil War a Narrative Trilogy of books on the American Civil War is not only a piece of first-rate history, but also a marvelous work of literature. Foote brings a skilled novelist's narrative power to this great epic. Many know him for his role as a commentator on the PBS series about the Civil War |
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Sources:
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