After the fortress was completed in June 1863, Rosecrans ventured to the south. The fort's interior was a huge logistical resource center, including sawmills, warehouses, quartermaster maintenance depots, ammunition magazines, and living quarters for the 2,000 men who handled the operations and defended the post. The fortress was built around the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad and the West Fork of the Stones River two roads provided additional access and transportation. Fortress Rosecrans consisted of eight lunettes, four redoubts, and connecting fortifications. The fortifications covered about 225 acres (0.91 km 2) and were the largest built during the war. Clair Morton, Chief Engineer of the Army of the Cumberland, was ordered to build Fortress Rosecrans, some 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of the town. Soon after the battle, Brigadier General James St. General Rosecrans' move to the south depended on a secure source of provisions, and Murfreesboro was chosen for his supply depot. The Stones River National Battlefield is now a national historical site. The Union eventually divided the territory into the Eastern and Western theaters, followed by Sherman's March to the Sea through the South. The battle was significant since the Union gained a base from which it could push its eventual drive further south, which enabled its later advances against Chattanooga and Atlanta. Even so, the Union army did not move against Bragg until six months later, in June 1863. It is usually considered a Union victory, since afterward General Bragg retreated 36 miles (58 km) south to Tullahoma. Despite the large number of casualties, the battle was inconclusive. However, they could not completely prevent supplies and reinforcements from reaching Rosecrans. General Braxton Bragg's veteran cavalry successfully harassed Union General William Rosecrans ' troop movements, capturing and destroying many of his supply trains. It was the bloodiest battle of the war by percentage of casualties.įollowing the Confederate retreat after the drawn Battle of Perryville in central Kentucky, the Confederate army moved through East Tennessee and turned northwest to defend Murfreesboro. This was a major engagement of the American Civil War, and between December 31 and January 2, 1863, the rival armies suffered a combined total of 23,515 casualties. On December 31, 1862, the Battle of Stones River, also called the Battle of Murfreesboro, was fought near the city between the Union Army of the Cumberland and the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Eight years later, however, it was superseded by Nashville. In 1818, Murfreesboro was designated as the capital of Tennessee and its population boomed. Author Mary Noailles Murfree was his great-granddaughter.Īs Tennessee settlement expanded to the west, the location of the state capital in Knoxville became inconvenient for much of the population. The name was shortened to Murfreesboro in January 1812 when the town was formally chartered. At the suggestion of William Lytle, it was renamed Murfreesborough on November 29, 1811, after Revolutionary War hero Colonel Hardy Murfree. On October 27, 1811, the Tennessee General Assembly designated the location for a new county seat for Rutherford County, giving it the name Cannonsburgh in honor of Newton Cannon, representative to the Assembly for the local area. History įor a chronological guide, see Timeline of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Murfreesboro is home to Middle Tennessee State University, the largest undergraduate university in the state of Tennessee, with 22,729 total students as of fall 2014. Since the 1990s, Murfreesboro has been Tennessee's fastest-growing major city and one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. ![]() The city is both the center of population and the geographic center of Tennessee. ![]() ![]() Today, it is the largest suburb of Nashville and the sixth-largest city in Tennessee. Serving as the state capital from 1818 to 1826, it was superseded by Nashville. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropolitan area of Middle Tennessee, 34 miles (55 km) southeast of downtown Nashville. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is a city in, and county seat of, Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States.
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