Hazen Brigade Monument

Hazen Monument circa 1869

National Archives and Records Administration

Quick Facts

Location:

Murfreesboro, TN

Significance:

The Hazen Brigade Monument is the oldest Civil War monument still standing in its original location.

Designation:

National Park, National Register of Historic Places

Amenities

4 listed

Cellular Signal, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Trailhead

The Hazen Brigade Monument stands in the brigade's cemetery marking the position defended by that unit during the Battle of Stones River on December 31, 1862. It is the oldest American Civil War monument still standing in its original battlefield location.

Col. William B. Hazen's brigade played a central role in the fighting at the Round Forest on the first day of the Battle of Stones River. Hazen's men held their position between the Nashville Pike and the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad through four Confederate attacks. The brigade's determined resistance ended the advance of the Confederate Army of Tennessee and kept it from pushing the Union Army of the Cumberland back to Nashville.

After the battle, Hazen and Col. Isaac C. B. Suman, 9th Indiana Volunteers, felt there was a need for a monument to honor the soldiers who died at Stones River. Lt. Edward Crebbin, Company F, 9th Indiana, led a detail of soldiers who built the monument between June and October 1863.  They placed the monument in the midst of the 55 soldiers buried in the brigade cemetery. In 1864, two soldiers from the 115th Ohio Infantry carved the inscriptions on the monument.

Two other monuments appeared on battlefields prior to 1863. A monument commemorating the death of Col. Francis S. Bartow at the First Battle of Manssas was destroyed during the second battle on that site. The 32nd Indiana Monument originally marked the site of the Battle of Rowlett's Station (December 17, 1861). It was later moved to Cave Hill National Cemetery and is now located at the Frasier International History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

Duration:

4 minutes, 45 seconds

Community Volunteer Ambassador Alissa Kane shares the history of the oldest, intact battlefield monument of the Civil War era.