Last updated: June 1, 2026
Person
Kennedy, Charles
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Significance:
PVT 12th USCI, Company D
Place of Birth:
Giles County, Tennessee
Date of Birth:
1852
Place of Death:
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Date of Death:
January 3, 1865
Place of Burial:
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Cemetery Name:
Stones River National Cemetery
| Born in Giles County, Tennessee, 22-year-old Charles Kennedy signed up to fight for his freedom in the U.S. Army at Stevenson, Alabama on September 15, 1863. His descriptive book entry lists him as 5 feet 6 inches tall with dark complexion, eyes and hair. He mustered into service for three years as a Private in Company D of the 12th United States Colored Infantry commanded by Col. Charles R. Thompson. Pvt. Kennedy and his fellow soldiers maintained and protected the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad that connected Nashville to the Tennessee River at Johnsonville. Charles was present with his unit during Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s attack on the supply depot at Johnsonville in early November 1864. He also saw action at Buford’s Station, Section 37, Nashville Camp on November 24th. Charles and his unit skirmished with enemy near Clarksville, Tennessee on December 2nd then joined the forces converging on Nashville to counter Gen. John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee that was marching north from Franklin. The 12th United States Colored Infantry was assigned to the 2nd Colored Brigade, commanded by Col. Thomspon. Pvt. Kennedy and his comrades drove the enemy from their works between the Nolensville and Murfreesboro Pikes on December 15, 1864, the first day of the Battle of Nashville. On December 16, they spearheaded an unsuccessful assault on Overton Hill that cost the regiment nearly a quarter of their men. Pvt. Charles Kennedy survived the Battle of Nashville only to find himself sick in the contraband hospital at Murfreesboro, Tennessee on December 22, 1864. He passed away from acute bronchitis on January 3, 1865. He rests in plot B-509 of Stones River National Cemetery. |