Stones River: Bloody Winter in Tennessee.   By James Lee McDonough.  (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1980.  Pp. 269).

             Civil War historians have written volumes about the various battles and campaigns fought during the American Civil War.  Entire libraries could be filled with works penned about battles such as Gettysburg and Antietam.  Yet, there are other clashes between the blue and the gray that have not received the attention they deserve.  In Stones River, James Lee McDonough examined the Battle of Stones River fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863.  Few books have been published about the battle in recent times, but McDonough believed that the action deserves to be ranked among the crucial battles of the war.  Although the battle ended in a tactical draw, the Confederate forces withdrew from the field so the Union claimed a strategic victory that boosted Northern morale and helped deny the Confederate government diplomatic recognition abroad by Great Britain and France.  

            McDonough narrated both the background of the campaign and its actual progression concisely and clearly and placed it in context to the larger war effort.  Earlier in 1862, Confederate forces in both the eastern and western theaters had carried the war into Union states by launching offensives into Maryland and Kentucky.  General Robert E. Lee’s forces in Maryland had to retreat after the Battle of Antietam and General Braxton Bragg’s army in Kentucky withdrew after a clash at Perryville.  The Confederate cause, however, still remained alive and strong.  In December of that year, Northern forces suffered defeats at Fredericksburg in Virginia and at Chickasaw Bayou in Mississippi.  In the meantime, Bragg led his Army of Tennessee back into Middle Tennessee and established a position around Murfreesboro along the Stones River.  He faced a Union army under Major General William Rosecrans based out of Nashville.  The day after Christmas, Rosecrans advanced his forces out of Nashville heading for a collision with Bragg along Stones River.  McDonough argues that despite Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the Confederate government had a good chance of diplomatic recognition by the nations of Europe if they could have won one or two more major victories.  Such a feat in addition to the military victories would boost the South’s fortunes considerably.  The coming clash at Murfreesboro, therefore, would prove critical to the overall war effort.

Bragg attacked first on December 31 and his forces pushed the Union line back a considerable distance.  After a lot of chaos and mayhem, Rosecrans rebuilt his defenses along another line and managed to hold against further Confederate attacks.  Bragg was pleased with his results and expected Rosecrans to withdraw the next day but the Union army remained on the field.  After inconclusive skirmishing on the second day, Bragg prepared to launch another assault against the Northern lines on January 2.  The Confederates fought bravely but the Union had secured a key hill overlooking the path of the Southern attack and used artillery to smash the advancing lines of gray infantry.  Neither side had been decisively beaten, but Bragg chose to withdraw from the field the following day in order to establish a better defensive position further south.  Due to the fact that Southern forces had ceded the field, the North claimed a victory that boosted morale at home and esteem abroad.

             In addition to describing the progress of the battle itself, McDonough also analyzed the actions of the Confederate leaders.  Prior to the battle, President Jefferson Davis had detached a division of troops from Bragg’s army to reinforce Southern forces in Mississippi.  McDonough argued that these extra troops might have enabled the Confederates to defeat Rosecrans on the first day of the battle.  He admited, however, that Bragg might not have used the troops effectively.  During the course of the battle, Bragg failed to use his reserve troops to adequately reinforce the gains made on the initial attacks.  In addition, Bragg’s decision to attack on the third day committed his soldiers to an almost impossible suicidal attack against strong Union positions.  The failures of Confederate leadership handed the victory to Rosecrans and the Union army.

McDonough possesses an excellent writing style and he conducted very thorough research into the battle using official records, letters, diaries, and a variety of secondary sources.  His argument for the importance of the battle is convincing and thought provoking.  What would have happened had the Confederates won?  The book might have been improved had he provided just a little more detail on Union movements prior to the battle as well as the actions of the Confederate cavalry during the battle but these are minor critiques.  Overall, Stones River is an excellent resource on a key battle of the American Civil War. 

Johnny Spence                                                                                    Texas Christian University