The Stones River National Battlefield is nicely presented and very informative.

Union forces in the Western theater, where Grant, Sherman, and others racked up victory after victory, faired much better than in the Eastern theater, where Bobby Lee made fools out of a series of Union Generals. There were precious few Confederate victories in Tennessee. The Battle of Stones River, fought from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863 was a bloody victory for the Union.

General Braxton Bragg, commander of the Army of Tennessee, is considered the worst of the Confederate Generals. It is said that he could “snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.” That’s what happened at Stones River. The battle opened as an overwhelming success for Bragg’s Confederates.

Union General Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland, was pushed back three miles during the first day in a rout. While nearly every element of the Union army fell back in disarray, Union General Hazen’s brigade held off the Confederate advance just long enough for Rosecrans to reassemble a defensive line. Hazen’s brigade paid a terrible price in casualties, and the spot they held was nicknamed Hell’s Half-Acre. The stand was so crucial that a monument was erected at the site even before the war ended. It is the oldest Union Civil War monument still standing.

Rosecrans’ new line held until nightfall. During the Civil War, battles paused for the night. Both armies were so battered that the next day was spent gathering the dead, caring for the wounded, and reorganizing and planning.

Bragg was rightfully pleased with the results of the battle and wanted a knockout punch. He figured that if he could take a strategic hill from the Union he could sweep the board. On January 2, he ordered an ill-fated charge squarely into a mass of Union cannons on the hill. His top subordinates begged him not to do so, calling it a suicide attack. He ordered the attack anyway. He lost 1800 men in minutes to the Union cannons.

Ultimately, Bragg retreated out of the area. Rosecrans built a giant supply depot in the nearby city of Murfreesboro. This proved to be an essential source of supplies for Union forces in the West for the remainder of the war.

Even though Union forces suffered more casualties than Confederate forces, and Bragg tried to spin the debacle as a win for him, it was Bragg’s army that retreated and Rosecrans’ army that stayed.

So, back to the present. The Stones River National Battlefield does a masterful job of presenting the battle. The visitors center houses a small. but nicely laid out museum to explain the flow of the battle and its ramifications. The park rangers were well versed in the battle’s details and were eager to go over the maps and explain all of the battle’s nuances. A car tour and miles of hiking trails hit all spots where major action occurred. Totally enthralled, we stayed much longer than we expected.

An artist’s depiction of the battle.

Union General Rosecrans.

Confederate General Bragg.

General Robert E. Lee stressed the importance of the military band when he said, ”I don’t think we can have an army without music.”

A few women disguised themselves as men in order to enlist.

This area of low-lying rocks became so bloody after a fierce encounter that it was nicknamed the Slaughter Pen.

The monument at Hell’s Half Acre.

The hill top where Bragg’s troops got torn to pieces by Union cannons.

The sad truth about war is that it isn’t glory, it’s gory.

Because of the time, we skipped Murfreesboro and drove 30 miles west to Franklin. Franklin was the site of another Union Victory. Not much of the Franklin Battlefield has been preserved, so we toured the delightful town instead. This community of 30,000 went the high-end tourist route, but in a strange way. Most quaint towns that cater to the upper-crust specialize in art galleries and fancy antique shops. Instead, Franklin had an abundance of expensive “senior-women” clothing stores. Well-off retired women spend money, so why not?

No Southern town would be complete without a zillion churches.

This “man-cave” barber featured giant TV screens showing nothing but sports.

Yes, we bought the pecan chocolate caramel flavor

(third shelf down). They cut it up into bite-sized cubes so we could split it.

Walking past an inviting looking restaurant, we noticed a sign-board that boasted having the greatest whiskey drink in all the South. How could we pass up such a claim? We couldn’t! It was potent, I’m a witness to that.

The Anthym Spirit - claiming to be the best whiskey drink in the South. It was tasty and it probably was the most potent whiskey drink in the South.

We are discovering that many towns in Tennessee love to honor their Confederate history with monuments in prominent places, often in the center of the downtown square. The Daughter’s of the Confederacy kept these towns well stocked in monuments.

Franklin was no exception, however, just this week, on October 28, the town broke character and placed a statue of a Black soldier across the street from the Daughter’s Confederate soldier statue, to honor the thousands of Tennessee Black men that fought in the war. Granted, the Confederate soldier is tall and prominent while the Black soldier is small and off to the side, but hey, it’s a gallant start.

The new statue on the town square in Franklin.

Lieper’s Fork, located 5 miles from Franklin, is a speck on the map. I had read that it was a QT worth checking out. We did, and it was. The first thing that hit us was a big meat smoker wafting thick plumes of meat-ladden aroma. Couldn’t say no to that kind of effective advertising. We split a delicious smoked pork sandwich oozing with a wonderful BBQ sauce.

Puckett Brothers Market was the source of smoked meat aroma drifting through town. It was mainly a bar and restaurant. We had to try smoked pork sandwich.

On our way back, we located the tiny Franklin Battle Memorial. It was basically a wayside with a bunch of plaques and monuments. Even though it was a resounding and decisive Union victory just before the war’s end, the monuments were all Confederate. The wayside was sponsered by the Sons of the Confederacy. That was a new organization to me.

Closer to camp, we found the real prize - a Mexican food truck. Actually, there were two Mexican food trucks kiddie-corner to each other, but we only had room for one burrito split between us. Using hand gestures to make our order, the Spanish speaking husband and wife served up a fat burrito filled with all things Mexican. It was terrific, but filling.

By the time we pulled into our campsite, our tummies were jammed full. There was no need to get out the “third-day” serving of chili. That can wait for tomorrow.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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