STONES RIVER: CREATING A BATTLEFIELD PARK, 1863-1932 by John Riley George A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Graduate Studies at Middle Tennessee State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public History Committee: Dr. C. Brenden Martin, Chair Dr. Derek W. Frisby Dr. Mary S. Hoffschwelle Dr. Carroll Van West Murfreesboro, Tennessee May 2013 Copyright John Riley George, 2013 All Rights Reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks to the many people who have helped me along the way: My major professor, Dr. Bren Martin, for standing with me throughout this process. I will always be grateful for his advice, support, and friendship. The members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Derek Frisby, Dr. Mary Hoffschwelle, and Dr. Carroll Van West, for their encouragement and patience. Kathy Slager of the Department of History for putting out unexpected fires, and my friends and classmates, Dr. Angela Smith and Dr. Brian Hackett, who never failed to offer their insight and expertise. Dean Michael D. Allen and the MTSU Office of Research, and Dr. Rebecca Conard and the Public History Program, for funding my research trip to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. While there, the assistance of Joe Schwarz and Tim Mulligan guaranteed success. Rodney Ross at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and Christine Windheuser of the Archives Center at the Smithsonian‘s National Museum of American History for going above and beyond in locating important documents. Mary Oliver at Dayton History for help in acquiring Albert Kern‘s photographs, and John Lodl of the Rutherford County Archives for sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm for local history. The staff of Stones River National Battlefield, especially Gib Backlund and Jim Lewis, for the opportunity to work with the museum and archival collections. My iii employment with the National Park Service has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life, in no small part because of an outstanding group of co-workers. Finally, none of this would have been possible without the love and support of family. I cannot thank my mother, Edith George, enough for all that she has done to keep me going. It hasn‘t been an easy road, but it would have been impassable without my wife, Valerie. I dedicate this dissertation to her and our son, Clay. iv ABSTRACT Congress did not designate Stones River National Military Park until 1927, although soldiers erected the first commemorative monument on the battlefield in 1863. This dissertation addresses those years between the end of the battle and the dedication of the park in 1932, documenting the individuals and groups involved in the long process of preserving the site. One of the largest battles of the American Civil War, Stones River took place December 31, 1862 through January 2, 1863 near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The battlefield became an early site of commemoration. Union soldiers erected the Hazen Brigade Monument soon after the battle. The U.S. Army created Stones River National Cemetery at the close of the war, one of the first cemeteries of its kind. These sites were the focal points of commemoration and battlefield tourism in the late nineteenth century. The first unsuccessful attempts to create a military park at Stones River coincided with the ―golden age‖ of battlefield preservation in the 1890s, when Congress reserved the battlefields of Chickamauga-Chattanooga, Shiloh, Gettysburg, Antietam, and Vicksburg. Individual commissions were responsible for preservation activities at those parks, influenced heavily by national veterans‘ groups. Though there was some national support for a park at Stones River, local Confederate and Union veterans were the primary sponsors of that effort in this period. Battlefield preservation lagged in the early twentieth century due to congressional concerns over cost and the necessity of more military parks. Commemorating the Stones v River battlefield in this era was the work of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway. Other attempts by local leaders, individuals, and interested organizations were not successful. Stones River was part of the ―second wave‖ of battlefield preservation in the 1920s. By that time, the number of veterans had dwindled to a few very old men. The federal government, via the War Department, exerted more control over preservation decisions, following a limited site model instead of encompassing thousands of acres and extensive monumentation. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures . x Prelude: The Battle of Stones River . 1 The Approaching Battle . 1 The Confederate Assault on the Union Right . 3 The Slaughter Pen and the Cedars . 5 The Nashville Pike and the Cottonfield . 7 The Round Forest . 8 McFadden‘s Ford . 11 Chapter I: The Field Made Historical, 1863-1895 . 14 The Significance of Stones River . 14 Stones River and Early Civil War Commemoration . 15 The Hazen Brigade Monument . 22 Stones River National Cemetery . 28 The Cemetery Community . 37 The Hazen Controversy . 40 The U.S. Regulars Monument . 44 Battlefield Tourism . 50 Chapter II: Stones River in the Golden Age, 1895-1899 . 56 The Golden Age of Battlefield Preservation . 56 The Chickamauga Dedication . 58 The First Park Bill . 63 Politics and Pushback on New Parks . 66 Stones River Battlefield and National Park Association . 72 vii Gathering National Support . 79 Options on Battlefield Land . 86 Battlefield Markers . 88 The Second Park Bill . 91 Tennessee Centennial Exposition . 94 Kern Photographs . 98 The Oscar Jones Map . 102 Value of Battlefield Land . 106 Chapter III: Stones River in the Early Twentieth Century, 1900-1925 . 110 The Third Park Bill . 110 The Battlefield Association after 1900 . 115 The Murfreesboro Confederate Monument . 117 The Missing Monument . 124 The Railroad and Battlefield Commemoration . 128 Redoubt Brannan . 132 The Artillery Monument . 134 Military Park Legislation . 137 The Association of the Survivors of the Battle of Stones River . 143 The Joint Resolution of the Indiana Legislature . 145 Effort to Mark the Battlefield . 147 Effort to Acquire Donated Land for Parks . 152 The Dixie Highway . 154 Changing Times . 158 viii Chapter IV: Creating Stones River National Military Park, 1926-1932 . 161 The Second Wave of Battlefield Preservation . 161 Classification of Battlefields . 164 The Stones River Park Bill . 167 The Battlefield Commission . 175 The Commission‘s Report . 181 The Commission‘s Role . 189 Land Acquisition . 195 Building the Park . 205 Conclusion: Dedicating the Park . 217 Afterword: Stones River Since 1932 . 223 Appendices . 227 A. Stones River National Cemetery Superintendents, 1865-1929 . 228 B. Officers and Directors, Stones River Battlefield and National Park Association . 229 C. Land Owners, 1899 . 230 D. Park Committee, Association of the Survivors of the Battle of Stones River . 232 E. Enabling Legislation, Stones River National Military Park . 233 F. Stones River Battlefield Commission and War Department Staff . 236 G. Land Acquisitions, 1930-1931 . 237 Bibliography . 241 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure: 1. Union Defense Along the Nashville Pike by A.E. Mathews . 6 2. Map of the Significant Points of the Battle of Stones River . 10 3. The Proposed Monument to the Army of the Cumberland . 22 4. The Hazen Brigade Monument . 27 5. Stones River National Cemetery, c.1866 . 33 6. Residents of the Cemetery Community . 39 7. U.S. Regulars Monument . 48 8. Veterans of the U.S. Regulars Brigade . 60 9. Marker Erected by the Battlefield Association . 90 10. The Nashville Pike at Van Cleve Lane . 100 11. McFadden‘s Ford . 101 12. Battlefield Map by Oscar Jones, 1899 . 107 13. The Murfreesboro Confederate Monument . 121 14. The Sixteenth Tennessee Monument . 127 15. Battlefield Marker Erected by the Railroad . 132 16. Redoubt Brannan . 134 17. The Artillery Monument . 135 18. John F. Conklin and Richard Randolph . 184 19. Cemetery Community, 1928 . 188 20. Park Road Construction . 208 21. Stone Columns at the North Entrance . 209 22. Raising the Flag . 211 23. War Department Marker . 214 24. Early Park Map . 216 x 1 PRELUDE: THE BATTLE OF STONES RIVER THE APPROACHING BATTLE As 1862 came to a close, the outcome of the Civil War was very much in doubt. The Union Army of the Potomac withstood a September invasion of Maryland by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, but with a horrific cost at the Battle of Antietam. In the aftermath of that battle, President Abraham Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, a war measure that freed slaves in the states that remained in rebellion that would go into effect on January 1, 1863. His proclamation, though controversial at home, would make it more difficult for foreign powers to recognize the legitimacy of the Confederacy, while also diminishing the labor force the Confederates relied upon to sustain the war effort. In that troubled autumn, Lincoln hoped for a decisive battlefield victory to shore up the tenuous support for his war policies, both at home and abroad. In the western theater, Union forces occupied Nashville and threatened to advance further into the southern interior. The Confederates launched an invasion of Kentucky, hoping to turn that divided state for their cause and draw the Federal army out of Tennessee. The Kentucky Campaign did not go well for the Confederates; after the Battle of Perryville in October, they withdrew from the state and the two opposing armies found 2 themselves in Middle Tennessee—the Union firmly in control at Nashville and the Confederates in winter camp thirty-five miles away in and around Murfreesboro.1 In mid-December the two eastern armies clashed again at Fredericksburg, Virginia, resulting in a resounding defeat for the Union. With waning opportunities for a significant victory, Lincoln and his General-in-Chief, Henry Halleck, ordered General William S. Rosecrans, the newly-appointed commander of the Fourteenth Army Corps in Nashville, to move against the Confederates.