US Researchโ€บConflictsโ€บCivil Warโ€บTennesseeโ€บMurfreesboro
Civil War

Murfreesboro

1862
Tennessee
Era
Civil War
Year
1862
Location
Tennessee
Status
Historical record
Part ofConfederate Heartland Offensive โ€บWestern Theater โ€บThe Civil War โ€บ
The Battle

History & Significance

Murfreesboro was a Civil War engagement fought in Tennessee, 1862. It was a Confederate victory.

On June 10, 1862, Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell commanding the Army of the Ohio, started a leisurely advance toward Chattanooga, which Union Brig. Gen. James Negley and his force threatened on June 7-8. In response to the threat, the Confederate government sent Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest to Chattanooga to organize a cavalry brigade. By July, Confederate cavalry under the command of Forrest and Col. John Hunt Morgan were raiding into Middle Tennessee and Kentucky. Perhap, the most dramatic of these cavalry raids was Forrest's capture of the Union Murfreesboro garrison on July 13, 1862. Forrest left Chattanooga on July 9 with two cavalry regiments and joined other units on the way, bringing the total force to about 1,400 men. The major objective was to strike Murfreesboro, an important Union supply center on the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad, at dawn on July 13. The Murfreesboro garrison was camped in three locations around town and included detachments from four units comprising infantry, cavalry, and artillery, under the command of Brig. Gen. Thomas T. Crittenden who had just arrived on July 12. Between 4:15 and 4:30 am on the morning of July 13, Forrest's cavalry surprised the Union pickets on the Woodbury Pike, east of Murfreesboro, and quickly overran a Federal hospital and the camp of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment detachment. Additional Rebel troops attacked the camps of the other Union commands and the jail and courthouse. By late afternoon all of the Union units had surrendered to Forrest's force. The Confederates destroyed much of the Union supplies and tore up railroad track in the area, but the main result of the raid was the diversion of Union forces from a drive on Chattanooga. This raid, along with Morgan's raid into Kentucky, made possible Bragg's concentration of forces at Chattanooga and his early September invasion of Kentucky.

Result
Confederate victory
Forces engaged
Detachments from four Union units (approx. 900) [US]; equivalent of a brigade (about five cavalry units; approx. 1,400) [CS]
Casualties
1,040 total (US 890; CS 150)
Around this battlefield

Nearby Civil War engagements

Skirmish, Lytle's Creek
1863 ยท 2 mi away
Skirmish, Stockade, near Murfreesborough Bridge, Stone's River
1863 ยท 3 mi away
Affair, Stewart's Ferry, Stone's River
1862 ยท 3 mi away
Battle of Stone's River, Murfreesborough
1862 ยท 3 mi away
Skirmish, Stone's River
1863 ยท 3 mi away
Reconnaissance from Stewart's Ferry, Stone's River to Baird's Mills
1862 ยท 3 mi away
Stones River
1862 ยท 3 mi away
Skirmish, Stone's River Ford
1863 ยท 3 mi away
Murfreesboro
1864 ยท 4 mi away
Skirmishes, Murfreesboro
1864 ยท 4 mi away
Skirmish near Murfreesboro
1864 ยท 4 mi away
Skirmish near Murfreesboro
1864 ยท 4 mi away
Action, Wilkinson's Pike, near Murfreesboro
1864 ยท 4 mi away
Skirmish, Murfreesboro
1864 ยท 4 mi away
Skirmish, Bradysville Pike, near Murfreesboro
1863 ยท 4 mi away
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Murfreesboro take place?
Murfreesboro took place in 1862.
Where was Murfreesboro fought?
Murfreesboro was fought in Tennessee, United States.
What was the significance of Murfreesboro?
On June 10, 1862, Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell commanding the Army of the Ohio, started a leisurely advance toward Chattanooga, which Union Brig. Gen. James Negley and his force threatened on June 7-8. In response to the threat, the Confederate government sent Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest to Chat
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The Land
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Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
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Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
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Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
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Historical Maps
Historic maps of the location layered over how it looks today.
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Protected heritage nearby

Historic Sites near Murfreesboro

Spence, John C., House
Industrial ยท 0.1 mi
Collier-Lane-Crichlow House
Early Republic ยท 0.1 mi
Landsberger-Gerhardt House
Early Republic ยท 0.1 mi
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Source

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