Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history), Dec. 31
ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 31.
1862: First Day Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (aka Stones River). Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee, with 35,000 effective troops, clashed with Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland, with 43,400 effective troops, along Stones River at Murfreesboro, Tenn. Rosecrans's army came from Nashville to attack Bragg's right flank. Bragg also planned to attack Rosecrans' right flank and attacked first, and overran Maj. Gen. Alexander McCook's Wing. However, Brig. Gen. Philip Sheridan's line stopped the collapse of the Federal army. Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge's assaults at the "Round Forest" were also repulsed. The battle continued.
Confederate POWs of the 20th Tenn. Inf.
Preston's Brigade, Breckinridge's Division
These POWs were taken at Missionary Ridge.
(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)
Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn.
(Stones River NMP)
Also, on this day in 1862, the Battle of Parker's Crossroads, Tenn., took place between 3,000 men under Federal Brig. Gen. Jeremiah C. Sullivan, who was blocking Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's 1,8000 cavalrymen from crossing the Tennessee River after their successful raid in West Tenn. Forrest then took the initiative with his artillery, driving the Federals back. Then his men struck in front and on both flanks and rear. Forrest demanded a surrender, which was refused. The Confederates were then attacked from the rear by the Federals, and Forrest famously gave the order, "Charge 'em both ways." The Confederates repelled the bluecoats, who then withdrew south to Lexington, Tenn., and Forrest's command crossed the river.
Capt. John W. Morton Jr.
Commanded Forrest's artillery.
This is the history of one of the hardest-fighting infantry regiments in the War for Southern Independence, the 23rd Tennessee Infantry. The regiment was raised predominantly from the Middle Tennessee counties, where there was considerable support for secession and Southern Independence. The men were overwhelmingly made up of yeoman farmers of predominantly Anglo-Celtic descent who were to face some of the largest, bloodiest, and most memorable battles of the war, both in the West and the East. They got their baptism of fire in the Battle of Shiloh, followed by the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, and Knoxville in the West with the famed Army of Tennessee. They were then transferred to the East, where they fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia, under the legendary General P.G.T. Beauregard, and then in the famed Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg Campaign, and ended the war with the great General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The book covers the history of the regiment from letters, diaries, memoirs, and official records to cover both officers and men in a personal way. It also has an annotated roster of some 1,164 men who served in the regiment, as well as maps, photos, illustrations, bibliography, footnotes, and index.
CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 31.
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