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Hazen Brigade Monument
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Why A Monument?
Hazen’s Brigade occupied some of the most contested ground on the battlefield at Stones River. The 9th Indiana, 41st Ohio, 6th Kentucky and 110th Illinois were posted at the edge of the Round Forest astride the tracks of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad.
Hazen’s men would be the only Union soldiers to hold their position throughout the fighting on December 31, 1863. They would repel four attacks across the fields of the Cowan Farm in fighting so bitter that the soldiers named the place “Hell's Half-Acre.”
On January 2, 1863, Hazen's Brigade would help push back the attack of Breckinridge's Confederates after Union artillery had broken their momentum.
By the end of the battle, Hazen's regiments had sustained 409 casualties. Forty-five of those men lost their lives and would be honored with a monument built by their comrades.
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Words to Honor the Fallen
The Hazen Brigade Monument was erected in 1863 by members of the brigade in memory of the unit's casualties in the Battle of Stones River. After the battle, Captain A. Johnson, 9th Indiana Infantry, and a detail of officers and men of Hazen's Brigade selected a low crest between the Nashville Pike and the railroad for their monument. This was part of the line they had defended so well during December 31, 1862.
Later in 1863, forty-five soldiers were buried next to the monument inside the stone wall. Early in 1864, two skilled stone cutters carved inscriptions on the monument.
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Inside the Monument: 1985 Discoveries
In 1985, while repairing the monument, workers discovered what is believed to be a Civil War “time capsule.” The objects we found are now on display in the visitor center. The monument is approximately 10-foot square and built of limestone blocks about 1.6 feet thick. The interior was filled with pieces of limestone left over from cutting and dressing the stone. Soil was added to level off each course. Two bullets, eight buck and ball shot, a lead disk, a freshwater mussel shell, two bone frag-ments, six horse teeth and two small wood fragments were found in the fill. Archeologists believe these small items, probably from the battle, were in the soil that was used for fill.
About five feet above the ground level, nine artifacts were found: two 12 pound and one 6 pound cannon balls, three rifle artillery shells, two rifle musket barrels and a cedar staff. Their placement, all on one level, does not appear to be accidental. There were three groups of three objects (3 cannon balls, 3 rifle artillery shells, 3 long objects). The artillery ammunition and musket barrels were most likely Confederate equipment. People still wonder about the meaning of this time capsule.
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