Stones River National Cemetery

The national cemetery sits on historically important ground. This spot was a good artillery position just north of the Nashville Pike. It served as a rallying point for troops as they were pushed out of the cedar glades. They had to defend the Nashville Pike to keep their supply line open and infantry and artillery in this position did that job well.

During my Shiloh research I came across Alfred E. Mathews (who I've had in posts before). He essentially served as an army illustrator. He did his stuff freelance for his own profit, mainly in the lithograph business with some work appearing in newspapers. From what I call tell he also did some sketches and maps for Grant at Vicksburg. One of his Stones River prints was of the Union defense of this position and it is interesting to see that print produced on a park tablet near the area he sketched it.
In the national cemetery is one of the few monuments at Stones River, and one of the nicest monuments at any park. It is for the Regular units at Stones River. They were part of the force that fought in this area so this was a good place to put their monument, besides it being a nice location because of the cemetery.

And I thought I'd include some other views of the cemetery. I know I'm weird but I like walking around old cemeteries.