Murfreesboro in the Civil War (Paperback)

In February1861, political opinion was divided in middle Tennessee, especially Murfreesboro. Opinions varied upon whether or not the state should secede or remain part of the Union. By June 1861, however, the choice was clear. Secession, and all the consequences associated with this course of action, would be the path of Tennessee. Murfreesboro, like so many other communities in Tennessee, and the South, would have to live through the tumult of Civil War.

Units were raised in Murfreesboro and the town saw a great deal of action during the War. Authors Michael Bradley and Shirley Farris Jones look at Murfreesboro in the Civil War chronologically, beginning with Union occupation in the spring of 1862, Forrest's raid on the town in July 1862, Confederate re-occupation in the fall of that year, the visit of Jefferson Davis to the town, and the wedding of General John Hunt Morgan to Martha Ready. The battle of Stones River, life under the subsequent Union occupation, and the significant ways it affected Murfreesboro, are pulled into sharp focus. The return of the Confederate army during the Nashville Campaign led to more fighting around Murfreesboro, and more trouble for the local citizenry.

The final chapter examines life at the end of the war, showing the economic and social changes in the town. This chapter includes the establishment of the National Cemetery at Stones River and the Confederate burial site at Evergreen Cemetery where the Southern dead from Stones River are interred.