No Better Place to Die- The Battle of Stones River

by Peter Cozzens

Eighth Tennessee Infantry (AT), 154, 155, 156, 157

  Eighth Texas Cavalry (AT), 56, 106

  Eighth Wisconsin Artillery (AC), 111, 115

  Eighty-eighth Illinois Infantry (AC), 111, 116, 117, 118, 119, 122

  Eighty-first Indiana Infantry (AC), 111, 112, 113–14, 115

  Eighty-fourth Illinois Infantry (AC), 139, 141, 180, 189, 191

  Eighty-ninth Illinois Infantry (AC), 81–82, 87–88, 89

  Eighty-second Indiana Infantry (AC), 197

  Eighty-sixth Indiana Infantry (AC), 71, 148

  Eleventh Kentucky Infantry (AC), 148, 188, 189

  Eleventh Michigan Infantry (AC), 125, 142, 156

  Eleventh Tennessee Infantry (AT), 135, 136, 140

  Eleventh Texas Cavalry (AT), 146

  Elk River: Confederate retreat to, 202; strategic position of, 8, 30

  Estell Mill, 202

  Fifteenth Illinois Cavalry (AC): Company K, 49

  Fifteenth Indiana Infantry (AC), 164

  Fifteenth Kentucky Infantry (AC), 138

  Fifteenth Missouri Infantry (AC), 80, 111, 113, 117, 119, 122, 158, 162

  Fifteenth Ohio Infantry (AC), 15, 82, 87, 88–89, 168

  Fifteenth Pennsylvania Infantry (AC), 46

  Fifteenth Texas Cavalry (AT), 145, 146

  Fifteenth United States Infantry (AC), 170; First Battalion, 136

  Fifteenth Wisconsin Infantry (AC), 15, 44, 98, 99–100, 102

  Fifth Arkansas Infantry (AT), 97, 150

  Fifth Indiana Artillery (AC), 95, 96

  Fifth Kentucky Infantry (AC), 95, 97, 102

  Fifth Tennessee Infantry (AT), 98

  Fifth United States Artillery (AC): Battery H, 137

  Fifth Wisconsin Artillery (AC), 91, 92–94

  Fiftieth Indiana Infantry (AC), 165

  Fifty-eighth Indiana Infantry (AC), 159, 164

  Fifty-first Illinois Infantry (AC), 117, 118, 119, 134, 148

  Fifty-first Indiana Infantry (AC), 15, 66, 67, 164

  Fifty-first Ohio Infantry (AC), 148, 185

  Fifty-first Tennessee Infantry (AT), 154, 157, 158

  Fifty-ninth Illinois Infantry (AC), 62, 91, 92, 94

  Fifty-ninth Ohio Infantry (AC), 148

  First Arkansas Mounted Rifles (AT), 104

  First Arkansas Infantry (AT), 86, 100

  First Confederate Cavalry (AT), 104

  First Florida Infantry (AT), 187

  First Kentucky Infantry (AC), 51–52, 154, 155

  First Louisiana Infantry (AT), 43, 112

  First Michigan Artillery (AC): Battery A, 136

  First Middle (Fifth) Tennessee Infantry (AC), 46

  First Ohio Artillery (AC): Battery A, 82, 87, 88; Battery B, 57, 155, 192; Battery D, 51; Battery E, 82; Battery F, 152, 180, 191; Battery G, 143; Battery M, 143

  First Ohio Cavalry (AC), 68, 105–6

  First Ohio Infantry (AC), 95, 96, 97, 102

  First Tennessee Infantry (AT), 10, 117, 119, 120

  Fortieth Indiana Infantry (AC), 165

  Forty-fifth Alabama Infantry (AT), 124

  Forty-fifth Mississippi Infantry (AT), 57

  Forty-fifth Tennessee Infantry (AT), 194

  Forty-first Alabama Infantry (AT), 67

  Forty-first Ohio Infantry (AC), 129, 151, 152, 153, 154, 156

  Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry (AC), 80, 111, 113, 117, 119, 122

  Forty-fourth Indiana Infantry (AC), 148, 187

  Forty-fourth Mississippi Infantry (AT), 152, 153–54

  Forty-fourth Tennessee Infantry (AT), 92, 94

  Forty-ninth Ohio Infantry (AC), 81, 83, 87, 88, 89

  Forty-second Illinois Infantry (AC), 70, 117, 118, 119, 120, 124, 125, 133

  Fourteenth Army Corps: naming of, 14–15. See also Army of the Cumberland; Army of the Ohio

  Fourteenth Texas Cavalry (AT), 145, 146

  Fourth Arkansas Infantry (AT), 86, 96

  Fourth Confederate Infantry (AT), 119

  Fourth Florida Infantry (AT), 165

  Fourth Kentucky Infantry (AT), 72, 185, 188, 196; Company H, 178

  Fourth Michigan Cavalry (AC), 58

  Fourth Michigan Infantry (AC), 51

  Fourth Ohio Cavalry (AC), 68, 105

  Fourth Tennessee Infantry (AT), 120

  Fourth United States Artillery (AC): Batteries H and M, 139

  Fourth United States Cavalry (AC), 107

  France, intervention by, 27

  Frankfort, Kentucky: Union advance to, 6

  Franklin, Tennessee: Confederate troops in, 40, 213; Union advance against, 46, 52; Union foraging parties attacked at, 172

  Franklin Pike, 45, 50, 61, 63, 67, 69, 70, 72, 73, 79, 81, 82, 90, 91, 98

  Fredericksburg, Virginia: Union offensive against, 27–28, 45, 205

  Galveston, Texas: Confederate recapture of, 205

  General Smith's plantation, 101, 170

  Great Britain, intervention by, 27

  Gresham farm and house, 70, 79, 82, 102, 105, 122, 134; Union field hospital at, 103, 105

  Gresham Lane, 81, 90, 91, 92, 94, 98, 101, 102

  Hamilton's Church, Tennessee, 54

  Harding farm and house, 71, 79, 108, 116, 117, 119, 120, 121, 133

  Harrodsburg, Kentucky: Confederate defense of, 6; Confederate retreat from, 7

  Hartsville, Tennessee: Confederate victory at, 43

  Holly Springs, Mississippi, 205

  Hospitals, field: for Confederate forces, 169, 170, 204; for Union forces, 72, 79, 101–2, 103, 149, 150, 168, 170–71, 204

  Humphrey's Arkansas Battery (AT), 141

  Hurricane Creek, Tennessee, 51, 52

  Illness, among soldiers, 20, 29, 201. See also Injuries and casualties

  Indiana, volunteer soldiers from, 13

  Injuries and casualties: at Perryville, 34; in Stones River battle, 85, 86, 89, 94, 96, 97, 99, 100, 102, 103, 105, 106, 111, 112–13, 120, 125–26, 127, 133, 134, 140, 153, 156, 157, 158, 164, 165, 166, 167–71, 186, 193, 195, 197. See also Burials; Hospitals, field

  Jackson, Mississippi: Union offensive against, 27

  Jefferson Flying Artillery (AT), 57, 92, 141

  Jefferson Pike, 58, 59, 69, 172

  Kentucky campaign (1862): civilian reaction to, 12, 208; Confederate withdrawal from, 5–6, 7–8, 10, 12, 29, 35; failure of, 1, 7, 10, 11; opposition to Bragg following, 1–2, 10–11, 29, 31, 41–42, 211; positioning of armies in, 4–7, 8; skepticism about success of, 3, 6; support among Kentuckians for, 2–3, 6, 29, 32–33; Union morale following, 14, 18, 20

  Knob Gap, Tennessee: Confederate delay position at, 49–50

  Knoxville Register, 215

  Lavergne, Tennessee: Confederate cavalry in, 51, 172, 174; destruction of, 58; Union advance against, 51–52, 55, 58; Union occupation of, 46, 58, 63, 172

  Lebanon Pike, 61, 69, 160, 161, 172

  Louisville, Kentucky: Confederate defense of, 5; Union occupation of, 6

  Louisville and Nashville Railroad, 5, 19

  Louisville Journal, 206

  Lumsden's (Alabama) Battery (AT), 72

  McFadden's Ford, 130, 161, 174, 178, 179, 180, 183, 185, 188, 191

  McFadden's Lane, 65, 76, 124, 141, 152, 155

  Manchester, Tennessee, 40

  Manchester Pike, 60, 203

  Mascots, regimental, 188

  Memphis and Charleston Railroad, 2

  Mississippi: Beauregard's withdrawal from, 2; Confederate defense of, 36, 38; Grant's offensive in, 27, 35–36; Rosecrans in, 16

  Mississippi Battery (AT), 141

  Missouri Battery (AC), 141

  Mobile and Ohio Railroad, 36

  Morton's Pioneer Brigade. See Army of the Cumberland, Miscellaneous Brigades: Pioneer Brigade

  Moses's (Georgia) Battery (AT), 179

  Munfordville, Kentucky: Union surrender of fort at, 5

  Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Confederate field hospitals in, 204; Confederate troops in, 7–8, 19, 29–30, 31, 35, 38, 40, 47, 55, 56, 59, 69, 72–76; Union advance against, 4
5–47, 48–55, 56, 59, 63, 64–65, 66, 70–71, 76–80, 81–83; Union occupation of, 203; visit of President Davis to, 38. See also Stones River

  Murfreesboro Pike, 45, 46, 51, 55, 58. See also Nashville Pike

  Murfrees farm, 161

  Murphy house, 196, 199, 200

  Nashville, Tennessee: Southern threat to, 19; Union communications severed, 19; Union troops in, 5, 19, 26, 28, 30, 40, 44–47

  Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, 8, 30, 31, 45, 61, 65, 180

  Nashville and Decatur Railroad, 30

  Nashville Pike (or Turnpike): Confederate deployment along, 61, 70, 76, 91, 134, 144, 149, 159, 201; and Stewart's Creek, 45; strategic position of, 31, 42; Union deployment along, 64, 65, 69, 106, 107, 116, 130, 131, 134, 135, 137, 143, 180. See also Murfreesboro Pike

  Nell's Kentucky Artillery Battery (AC), 143

  Nelson's Creek, 57

  Newspapers: blame put on Buell by, 12; descriptions of Rosecrans in, 17, 18; exchanged by pickets, 63; and opposition to Bragg in South, 1, 208, 215; reaction to Kentucky campaign in, 12, 208; reaction to Stones River defeat in, 208

  New York Herald, 17

  Nineteenth Alabama Infantry (AT), 112

  Nineteenth Illinois Infantry (AC), 142, 143, 193, 194

  Nineteenth Ohio Infantry (AC), 44, 145–46, 154, 155, 169, 185, 188–89

  Nineteenth South Carolina Infantry (AT), 115

  Nineteenth Tennessee Infantry (AT), 156, 157

  Nineteenth United States Infantry (AC), 156

  Ninetieth Ohio Infantry (AC): field hospital of, 168, 170

  Ninety-fourth Ohio Infantry (AC), 141

  Ninety-ninth Ohio Infantry (AC), 186

  Ninety-seventh Ohio Infantry (AC), 159

  Ninety-third Ohio Infantry (AC), 95, 97, 102, 103

  Ninth Indiana Infantry (AC), 51–52, 152, 154, 158, 169

  Ninth Kentucky Infantry (AT), 43, 67, 145–46, 148, 162, 175

  Ninth Kentucky Infantry (AC), 188, 189, 195

  Ninth Michigan Infantry (AC), 131

  Ninth Mississippi Infantry (AT), 153

  Ninth Texas Infantry (AT), 113, 114

  Nolensville, Tennessee: Confederate troops in, 47, 49; Union advance against, 45–46, 49, 50, 52, 54, 55, 57–58; Union trains attacked at, 172

  Nolensville Pike, 45, 46, 50, 55, 57

  Ohio: arms procurements for militia, 16

  One Hundred First Ohio Infantry (AC), 71, 79, 98–99, 102

  One Hundred Tenth Illinois Infantry (AC), 152

  One Hundredth Illinois Infantry (AC), 159

  Orphan Brigade (AT): Breckinridge's command of, 32, 41–42, 161–62; deployment at Stones River, 61, 72, 178, 180, 181, 183, 185–86, 188, 196; morale among, 175

  Overall Creek, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70; Union field hospital near, 79, 101; Union retreat to, 88, 89, 90, 94, 95, 103, 131, 173

  Owen's Store, 50

  Pennsylvania Light Artillery (AC): Battery B, 144, 146

  Perryville, Kentucky: Confederate defense of, 6–7, 10; disappointment over outcome of, 208; Union attack at, 7, 13–14, 24. See also Kentucky campaign (1862)

  Pioneer Brigade. See Army of the Cumberland, Miscellaneous Brigades: Pioneer Brigade

  Prim's Blacksmith Shop, 49

  Prisoners: Confederate troops captured by Union, 54, 58, 103, 203; parole of, 172; Union troops captured by Confederates, 55, 86, 88, 103, 104–5, 106, 134, 143, 148, 166, 170

  Provisions, military: for Christmas, 43–44; Confederate need for, 8, 26, 29, 30, 35, 42, 43, 171, 172, 201; railroad as means of supply for, 2, 19; Union need for, 18, 44, 171–72, 175, 185, 197, 206

  Pup tents, use of, 52

  Quick time, rate of, 33

  Railroads: Confederate dependency on, 2; Confederate troop movement via, 30, 32, 38, 47; destruction of, 5; restoration of, 26; Union dependency on, 19, 26

  Readyville, Tennessee: Confederate troops in, 40, 55

  Religion: Bible carried into battle, 176; Confederate Christmas celebrations, 43–44; Rosecrans's views on, 18, 61; Union Christmas celebrations, 44

  Republican party, 205–6

  Richmond Register, 215

  Rich Mountain, Virginia: Union victory at, 16

  Robertson's Battery (AT), 71, 177, 178, 182–83, 195

  Rock Springs, 172

  Round Forest: Bragg's obsession with battle in, 150; Confederate advance against, 152–54, 155–56, 157–58, 159–60, 162–66, 177; Nashville Turnpike near, 70, 155, 157; strategic position of, 151; Union bivouack near, 130; Union deployment in, 65, 151–52, 154, 155–59, 162–64, 165

  Run, rate of, 33

  Salem Pike, 55, 56, 79

  Second Arkansas Infantry (AT), 97, 203

  Second Kentucky Infantry (AT), 185, 186, 189, 193, 196

  Second Kentucky Infantry (AC), 152, 153, 154, 155, 178, 185

  Second Minnesota Artillery (AC), 98

  Second Missouri Infantry (AC), 119, 122, 158, 165

  Second Ohio Infantry (AC), 137

  Second Tennessee Cavalry (AC), 105

  Second Tennessee Infantry (AC), 46

  Seventeenth Ohio Infantry (AC), 175

  Seventeenth Tennessee Infantry (AT), 92, 97

  Seventh Arkansas Infantry (AT), 96, 97

  Seventh Indiana Artillery (AC), 180, 191

  Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry (AC), 51, 204

  Seventy-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry (AC), 142, 143, 193

  Seventy-fifth Illinois Infantry (AC), 91, 92, 94, 102, 104

  Seventy-fourth Illinois Infantry (AC), 91, 92, 94, 102, 129

  Seventy-fourth Ohio Infantry (AC), 143, 170, 193

  Seventy-ninth Illinois Infantry (AC), 96

  Seventy-ninth Indiana Infantry (AC), 145, 180, 187

  Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania Infantry (AC), 82, 86–87, 91, 94

  Seventy-third Illinois Infantry (AC), 52, 119, 122, 158, 171

  Seventy-third Indiana Infantry (AC), 66, 67

  Shelbyville, Tennessee: Confederate deployment at, 40, 56, 62; Confederate retreat to, 60, 201, 202, 208

  Shelbyville Pike, 40

  Shiloh: Southern retreat from, 4

  Sixteenth Alabama Infantry (AT), 102

  Sixteenth Louisiana Infantry (AT), 162, 193

  Sixteenth Tennessee Infantry (AT), 41, 154, 157–58, 167

  Sixteenth United States Infantry: First Battalion, 136

  Sixth and Ninth Tennessee Consolidated (AT), 119, 120

  Sixth Arkansas Infantry (AT), 96, 97, 150

  Sixth Indiana Infantry (AC), 95, 96, 97

  Sixth Kentucky Infantry (AT), 41, 161, 183, 185, 188, 189, 193, 194, 201

  Sixth Kentucky Infantry (AC), 51–52, 152, 156, 162, 165

  Sixth Ohio Artillery (AC), 192

  Sixth Ohio Infantry (AC), 47, 58, 62, 65, 139–40, 159, 167, 180, 191

  Sixtieth North Carolina Infantry (AT), 165–66

  Sixty-ninth Ohio Infantry (AC), 142

  Slaves: fugitives returned to slave-catchers, 24. See also Abolitionists

  Smith, General. See General Smith's plantation

  Smith, Widow: house of. See Widow Smith house

  Smith farm, 88–89, 168

  Smith's (Mississippi) Battery (AT), 121, 170

  Smyrna, Tennessee: bridge east of, 58

  Soldiers, volunteer and Regular Army: arms procurements for, 16; camp life of, 20, 40–41, 43; conscription of, 41; and dismissal of officers, 19; equipment for, 48–49, 52; homesickness among, 44; illness among, 20, 29; salaries for, 18; treatment of, 12–13. See also Combat engineers, Desertion; Provisions, military

  Spring Hill, Tennessee, 213

  Stewartsboro, Tennessee: Union advance against, 52, 57

  Stewart's Creek: bridge at, 58–59; Confederate deployment along, 45, 46, 47, 52, 62–63; Union advance across, 64; Union field hospital near, 170–71; Union supply trains at, 107

  Stokes's Chicago Board of Trade Battery. See Chicago Board of Trade Battery

  Stones River: Confederate offensive at, 83–100 passim, 1
02–6, 109–12, 113–27 passim, 131–33, 134–43 passim, 144–45, 146–48, 174, 175, 177–96 passim, 197; Confederate retreat from, 125–27, 145–46, 149–50, 192–97, 199–202, 208, 209; defensive positions along, 30–31, 60–61; national cemetery at, 136, 181; opposition to Bragg following battle at, 109, 160, 179, 182, 208–17 passim; Union advance across, 66–67, 128, 174–176, 178–79, 180, 191–93, 195, 197–198, 202; Union retreat from, 86–100 passim, 101–2, 104, 116, 117, 121–22, 128–29, 131, 136–37, 138–39, 140, 142–43, 148, 156, 173–74, 186, 187, 188–91; Union victory at declared, 206–7. See also Murfreesboro, Tennessee

  Stones River National Battlefield, 139

  Tactics, military: hand-to-hand combat, 96, 106, 188; Hardee's manual on, 33; rate of advance changes, 33; use of wheeling movement, 76, 90, 91, 98, 109, 111, 119

  Tennessee: Confederate retreat to following Kentucky campaign, 7–8, 11; restored to Confederacy, 2–3, 7–8, 28, 37; Union occupation of, 216; Union relations in, 13

  Tenth Indiana Artillery (AC), 152

  Tenth Ohio Infantry (AC), 107

  Tenth South Carolina Infantry (AT), 115

  Tenth Texas Cavalry (AT), 85, 146

  Third Florida Infantry (AT), 187

  Third Indiana Cavalry (AC), 56

  Third Kentucky Cavalry (AC), 51, 58, 106

  Third Kentucky Infantry (AC), 156, 159

  Third Ohio Cavalry (AC), 68, 105, 106, 107

  Third Ohio Infantry (AC), 15

  Third Wisconsin Artillery (AC), 180

  Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry (AT), 86

  Thirteenth Louisiana Infantry (AT), 162, 164, 187

  Thirteenth Michigan Infantry (AC), 66, 67, 148

  Thirteenth Ohio Infantry (AC), 148, 187

  Thirtieth Alabama Infantry (AT), 152

  Thirtieth Indiana Infantry (AC), 82, 86, 95

  Thirtieth Mississippi Infantry (AT), 125–26, 127

  Thirty-eighth Illinois Infantry (AC), 98, 99, 114

  Thirty-eighth Indiana Infantry (AC), 170, 175

  Thirty-eighth Tennessee Infantry (AT), 154, 156

  Thirty-fifth Illinois Infantry (AC), 111, 114, 115

  Thirty-fifth Indiana Infantry (AC), 185

  Thirty-first Indiana Infantry (AC), 51–52, 153, 154

  Thirty-fourth Alabama Infantry (AT), 43–44, 170

  Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry (AC), 82, 85–86, 89, 167, 203; Company A, 85

  Thirty-ninth Indiana Infantry (AC), 80, 81, 83, 87, 95, 104

  Thirty-second Indiana Infantry (AC), 81, 83, 87, 89

  Thirty-seventh Indiana Infantry (AC), 142–43, 193

  Thirty-seventh Tennessee Infantry (AT), 92, 94, 123, 124

  Thirty-sixth Illinois Infantry (AC), 79, 111, 112, 113, 115, 116, 122, 158