Audio
Tour Stop 2 - Audio
Transcript
The rocks before you were the scene of fierce fighting on December 31, 1862. General James Negley’s Division of the Union army fell back into these rocks which provided a natural defensive position when General Rosecrans ordered them to hold on and delay the Confederate onslaught. With General Philip Sheridan’s division covering their rear, Negley’s men withstood several attacks between 10:00am and 11:30am. At noon, a massive Confederate attack, organized by General A.P. Stewart and four other Confederate commanders shattered Sheridan’s lines leaving Negley’s division surrounded on three sides. Negley’s men continued to fight but mounting casualties and the danger of being surrounded finally forced them to retreat. As they tried to run from the rocks, Confederate fire piled the dead and wounded in heaps. The rocks were covered in blood and gore. Red rivulets ran down through the cracks and pooled in low spots. Soldiers who survived this bloody fight aptly named this place, “The Slaughter Pen.”
Forty percent of Negley’s and Sheridan’s Divisions had become casualties. Their adversaries did not fare much better. The cost of this delaying action was high, but for the Union it was worth it. More than one third of the Confederate army had been halted for two hours buying General Rosecrans time to build a new defensive position along the Nashville Pike that would turn the tide of battle.
Description
Listen to a description of the deadly fighting that raged in the place later named the Slaughter Pen.
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