Stones River National Battlefield — Attraction in Murfreesboro

Everyone has heard of Chickamauga, Gettysburg, Shiloh, et al but it was this National Monument that made me really understand how little I know of my own country's history. Let me start by saying the grounds are well kept and the audio tour is better than any other tour I've had the pleasure of hearing. I would suggest that you listen to the audio prompts after walking around each of the numbered audio tour stops. The reasoning will be evident especially at the #2 stop (Slaughter's Hog Pen). My wife and I noticed a large area in the woods that had a forest floor containing numerous boulders just large enough to provide cover for rifle soldiers protecting their camp. We remarked to each other how we would have selected this area to make a final stand. This is exactly what happened and thousands died in this relatively tiny area. The audio tour described the rocky area in which I had just been standing and told about soldiers having to finally retreat from this position over mounds of fellow soldiers with blood flowing in rivlets between the stones. The next stop on the tour displays the major battle area where Northern forces were able to slow a much larger Confederate force enabling Union Forces to arrive and eventually turn the tide of the war for the Union. The area was extremely important for both sides because of the proximity to both the Nashville docks and the railway at the battlefield. So important was this location that Lincoln himself ordered General Rosecrantz and his troops to the area while southern forces were firmly entrenched. Over 12,000 American men lost their lives in here in little more than a day and I felt incredible shame that I knew nothing about it until noticing the sign for it on the interstate. The park provides incredible displays, information, walking, biking and driving paths. There is an attached cemetery where many of the young soldiers are interred. A monument at the battlefield is the first any only monument built to the slain soldiers that was completed about a month after the battle as opposed to the standard 30 to 40 year period following the war. There is a gift shop on site with very reasonable prices. Crowds are extremely light with other sites such as the opposing general's headquarters within 5 minutes driving. It was a privilege to see this monument and I think any history buff will love spending a...

If you hope to see minimal expected components of battlefield parks [i.e., (1) battlefield maps showing opposing unit positions and movements during the battle and (2) helpful informational plaques at important locations around the battlefield depicting where you are, the view in front of you, where opposing forces were located, and their movements], do not waste your time visiting the Stones River National Battlefield.

While the visitor center has excellent human interest displays (battle relics, letters home, memorable quotes from battlefield participants, etc.), the missing basics will frustrate any amateur military historian looking for those vital components.

Additional shortcomings:

(1) the only map displayed in the visitors center is the same small scale map on the NPS website depicting general locations of forces and selected actions;

(2) the only movie at the visitors center is the same movie on the NPS website;

(3) the audio tour which you can download from the NPS website is less than helpful, being heavy on post-battle quotes from survivors (heard multiple times) and light on exact descriptions of what you are viewing;

(4) in the first paragraph of the one plaque (outside the back door of the visitors center) describing what you are looking at refers to the “trees you see in the distance,” but you cannot see them because of the newly planted trees in the immediate foreground (photo attached); and

(5) the closest depiction of “what you are looking at” is by Private Mathews, 31st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, sometime after the battle (photo attached).

If you still plan to visit the park, download the American Battlefield Trust Civil War Maps app. It has ABT maps for over 80 Civil War battles, including four for Stones River. Why the NPS doesn’t get ABT permission to use these maps at Stones River is a mystery, as they would correct the first serious deficiency.

Unfortunately, those helpful plaques explaining the terrain you are viewing will still be missing.

Hopefully, the NPS will correct the Stones River deficiencies and bring up its standards to the high expectations we all have of this great...

This review should not be construed as an indictment of this marvelous historical place but of one individual who works there. You'll know who you are if you read this.

My wife and I had parked at the visitor center inside a gate which we had been told by uniformed personnel was "never" locked. I freely admit that we pushed the envelope of the letter of the law which says the park closes at sundown. Having admitted the error of our ways I will say that I would have taken without complaint a warning, lecture, or even a citation. Here is what you chose to do, instead.

You sat in your car on the other side of the gate and watched as we loaded our bikes. You sat there for a good two minutes after we had pulled up to a gate that you knew we needed to pass through. You then slowly and deliberately turned around and DROVE OFF. Your action moved the situation from judicious and prudent law enforcement into the realm of first class a**holiness. You are one of the reasons the world in general has come to resent what Mark Twain called "insect authority." I've always wondered where he came up with that term. If I meet him in Heaven someday I intend to ask him. In case he didn't make it to Heaven, maybe you...