FIGHTING FOR HOME AND HEARTH:
CONFEDERATE INFANTRY PROGRAMS AT
STONES RIVER NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD

Superintendent Stuart Johnson announced that park rangers and volunteers portraying Confederate soldiers will present a series of programs and firing demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday September 2-3, 2006. As visitors watch the men drill and fire their weapons, they will also listen as one of the soldiers tells the story of one of the many units of men that hailed from Rutherford County and middle Tennessee.

Programs will be offered at 10 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM, 2 PM and 3 PM on Saturday and 10 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM and 2 PM on Sunday. Visitors are also encouraged to visit the soldiers’ camp throughout the day to learn about the daily lives of Confederate soldiers while they occupied Murfreesboro in late 1862.

For hundreds of men from Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, the Battle of Stones River meant more than strategic victory or defeat for their army. As they fought against their federal foes, these men knew that behind lay their homes, farms, places of business as well as their families and friends. These men were literally fighting for home and hearth.

These programs are free and part of a series of interpretive programs offered at the battlefield during the year. Stones River National Battlefield is located on the Old Nashville Highway northwest of Murfreesboro. Additional information is available at the visitor center, by calling (615) 893-9501 or at the park website (http://www.nps.gov/stri).