As a girl born and raised in the North, the Civil War (AKA the War Between the States, the War of Secession) is an event studied in history class, much like the French Revolution or the Magna Carta. I understood, intellectually, that it was important and had a huge impact on the course of history, yet it was so far removed from my life and experience that I never really digested it all.
For the South, it’s a completely different story. For many, the conflict is still part of them, and for all, there are reminders all around them.
Making history come alive and telling the stories of those who lived, and died, is one of the main reasons I love visiting historic sites. Even sites that harbor the devastation of human conflict, like battlefields, tell an important story. On my way south, I had the opportunity to visit two different battlefields: Stones River, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Chickamauga, near Chattanooga, Tennessee/Georgia. I had similar, yet subtly different experiences at both National Battlefields.
The northern of the two, Stones River, also occurred chronologically earlier: starting December 31st, 1862 and ending January 3rd, when the Confederate troops withdrew and the Union soldiers occupied Murfreesboro (saying anyone won, feels like a disservice to the feelings that permeated the site). As an interesting side note, this battle had extremely interesting timing, as it coincided with the Emancipation Proclamation taking effect. This document made the war about more than just the Confederate States wanting to secede, but about the freeing of those enslaved by the South.
The Battle at Stones River was the first embodiment of that shift.
Because it’s a park, Stones River is beautiful. There are towering trees, fields of grass, and paved paths. The Park Services have fully embraced technology and, of course, have an app, which allows a more interactive experience as I traveled through the park. The audio tour did an amazing job sharing both important facts as well as personal details from men who survived the battle.
The peaceful calm of the morning I spent at Stones River National Battlefield contrasted sharply with the words of the narrator. This was particularly stark at the place the soldiers dubbed “Slaughter Pen.” Forty percent of the men was had begun the initial clash between the two armies were killed, and bodies were “piled up on the rocks . . . blood soak[ing] the ground,” earning this small patch of land its harrowing name.
As I stood gazing over the rocks and through the trees, I felt a chill at the contrast between what had been in this place and the calm that pervaded now.
As I continued along the audio tour as it took me through the battle and it’s aftermath, I was struck with how much this place embodied the idea of how the victors get to tell the story. In this case, the Union told the story of who in the battle got to be honored as heroes.
The Battle of Stones River cost the lives of 13,249 Union and 10,266 Confederate soldiers (that’s 23,515 men in total!). The oldest Civil War memorial (the Hazen Brigade Monument, build in 1863), honors the 400 Union soldiers who fell in “Hell’s Half Acre,” and were part of the troops who didn’t retreat. There’s also a cemetery with headstones for over six thousand Union soldiers, over a third of whom are unnamed. All this for the Union soldiers.
And, you might ask, what happened to the bodies of the Confederate soldiers? They were moved, twice, before finally all ending up in a mass grave with a single memorial to indicate their final resting place. Stones River National Battlefield is here to honor the “winners.”
Nine months after the Battle of Stones River - in September 1863 - and just over one hundred miles south, a very different (but achingly similar) battle happened across the LaFayette Road and the Chickamauga Creek. This time, the Union didn’t win. The Battle of Chickamauga took the lives of 16,170 Union and 18,454 Confederate soldiers, totaling 34,624 casualties, the second greatest loss of life during the Civil War – only surpassed by Gettysburg.
President Lincoln’s own brother-in-law, Benjamin Hardin Helm, a colonel in the Confederate army, died in this battle and his very presence on the opposing side highlights how the Civil War was truly a war where brother fought brother.
I immediately noticed something different about this battlefield from that of Stones River: the memorials.
As I followed the audio tour, monuments and memorials to the fallen men, both Union and Confederate, dominated the landscape. You couldn’t drive more than a few yards without passing one. It was reverential and sobering.
What makes this place different?
It has been treated as a place for healing to begin. Veterans, from both sides, came together to petition for this land to be made a place of remembrance. Because of this, probably one of the first truly unified actions after the war, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park was dedicated in 1895. It was the first of its kind, and pre-dates the creation of National Parks by 21 years.
Stones River & Chickamauga National Battlefields each have their place in history, each contain land soaked with the blood of thousands. They both make the visitor stop and consider the horrors of war, but at Chickamauga there was a sense of memorial for all, that remembering loss of all lives is important, not just those who claimed themselves as victors. Through that shared grief, healing can begin.
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