Rail fences like this one kept free ranging livestock out of farm fields. These fences were quickly consumed by both armies for firewood and breastworks. Courageous Confederate infantry made several charges across this field from noon on the 31st until dusk. Union cannon posted to your right, and on the rise across the Nashville Pike made this crossing almost suicidal.

From that afternoon, through the evening of January 3, 1863, this cotton field was a no man's land occupied by the dead and wounded of both sides. Sharpshooters and skirmishers exchanged shots during this period making it dangerous to expose oneself. Federal artillery frequently shelled the woods seeking to harass the Confederates who occupied the crude breastworks behind you. On January 5, 1868, the grim work of burying the dead began.

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Show me all markers in:  Murfreesboro, TN  |  Rutherford County  |  37129  |  Tennessee  |  United States of America

This Far, But No Farther
Parsons' Batteries Heavily Engaged
Parson's Battery
The Fight for the Cedars
The Federal Rally Turns the Tide
Hazen's Artillery
Anchoring the Union Line
Remembering Sacrifices - in Stone
Hazen Brigade Monument
In Battle, Good Men Die

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