Living History Event - The Slaughter Pen

The fighting that raged along the Wilkinson Pike on December 31, 1862, was desperate and decisive. The U.S. soldiers of Generals Philip Sheridan's and James Negley's division used the rock-strewn woods north of the road to make a stand that stalled nearly half the Confederate army for two hours buying the time the rest of the Army of the Cumberland to set up a new line of defense at the Nashville Pike. The ferocious fighting left thousands of soldiers dead and wounded and earned the place the nickname, the Slaughter Pen.