Year: 1863

THE SITUATION. ;. e


A great deal of misapprehension pre-
walls with regard to the nature Of the
battlefield at Murfreesboro, especially of
that poriion which was the scene of the
bloody struggle of Wednesday,. Even
the maps furnished to officers by the in
defatigable corps Of TopogEaphieal En-:
| lures OF. the vicinity. The error seems
to be the confounding together of two
distinct and separate streams-Stone's =
River, which rises in the northern part
of Rutherford county, and flows past
Stewards Ferry, almost directly north,
into the Cumberland; and Stone River,
which takes its rise in the southern ex-
tremity of Rutherford and the eastern
part of Campbell, and after traversing
both of these and a portion of Davidson,
below the latter It is the western
branch of the latter which flows past MUIR
freesboro, and constitutes tie river of
which such frequent mention must be
made in all accounts of this battle No
map that have ever yet seen represents
correctly the position of this stream; and
of course had not myself time to trace
it out But when our line of battle was
formed in front of the town, on Wednes-
day morning, our left wing rested upon
the river, and the men of Van Cleves
division filed their canteens With water
from the same At this place the river
flows almost in northerly direction, its
course when passing the town being
nearly due west.


l noted accurately the position of the
various brigades on Wednesday morn
ing; but as there were so many compli-
Gated movements during the day, scarce
ly any brigade actually fighting in the
same order in which it was first posted,
| deem it unnecessary to mention the
place of each.


Gen McCook's command, which is the
right wing of the army, consists ofthree
divisions-Johnson's, Davis and Sheri-
dan's-posted from right to left in the
order in which l have named them,
Iohnson,s aud. DAVIS heipG.theew9. lfer.
line which made a considerable angle
with that of the remainder of the army.
Gen. Sheridan's division was withdrawn
somewhat on the left, and acted as a re-
serve for the right wing.


Of the center, commanded by General
Thomas, but two divisions were present,
Negley's and Rousseau S, stationed from
right to left in the order named, Rous-
seaus being somewhat withdrawn, and
constituting the reserve on the center.


The left wing of the army, under the
command of Gen Crittenden, was posted
in the following order: Palmer on the
right, Wood in the center, and Van Cleve
on the left, part of Palmers and also
of Van Cleve's being thrown slightly for
ward.


The enemy's line stretched transverse
ly across Stone river, from the Lebanon
pike, on the right, to the Franklin road
on the left. Their left, at the beginning
of the battle, was considerably overlap
ped by our own right when McCook had
finally got into position. Hardee COM
manded the rebel left, consisting of
Cheatham's, S, McCown's and Whittier d.
visions; McCown being on the extreme
left of the wing, and Cheatham in the
center. This wing was REINFORCED on
Thursday night by the addition of Clai
bornes formerly Buckner's) division.
Bishop Polk led the rebel right, consist
ing of Preston Smith and Breckenridge
divisions, and Lieutenant General Kirby
Smith led on three divisions in the rebel
center. The division of Breckenridge
was on the extreme rebel right. Besides
these, there were several Independent
detachments; but it is extremely proba-
BILE that with these and the reinforce
ments afterward received, the rebel army
did not outnumber, even ifit equalled our
ergp.rv IIoru yerv.tv, tHO vviru0r, was
mostly plain. Going toward Murfrees-
boro there was slight elevation of
cleared ground on both sides of the turn
pike, and some patches of woodland suf-
fcient to conceal the greater portion of
our troops, until they should be ready to
advance. Behind the woods concealing
our foremost lines, and to the left of
those which lie on the left of the turn
pike, is an open and slightly elevated
ground extending to the river. This
formed the key to our entire position,
and it was here that the greater portion
of the wagons were parked for safety.


On the left some corn6elds extended
to the river, and on the other side of the
stream arose a low, and wooded hill.


The ground upon the right was a sue
cession of dense cedar thickets, open
spaces where the rocks come to the sur
face and nothing could grow, belts of toll
erable timber, and small irregular shaped
fields


The pike and railroad run near each
other in the elevated open space which
formed the key to our position. From a
point where our line of battle crossed
both, distance post on the railroad in
dicates that it is just twenty-nine miles
to Nashville.


A number of houses were situated in


different parts of the field, but none O
them, except the brick building of which
the inside was burnt out the day before


played an important part


THE BATTLE BEGINS.


The sun had not yet risen ON Wednes