Chris Kolakowski will be the guest speaker at the Cumberland Mountain Civil War Roundtable meeting on Wednesday, May 15, at Christ Lutheran Church, 481 Snead Dr. at 6 p.m. in Fairfield Glade. Kolakowski’s presentation will center on the Battle of Stones River. The battle was fought from Dec. 31, 1862, to Jan. 2, 1863, at Murfreesboro, south of Nashville.
Stones River was a culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the Civil War. Maj. General William S. Rosecrans was the commander of the Union Forces (Army of the Cumberland) and General Braxton Bragg was the Commander of the Confederate forces (Army of Tennessee). The Army of the Cumberland numbered 43,400 and the Confederate (Army of Tennessee) numbered 35,000.
The battle ended in a Union victory after the Confederate army’s withdrawal on Jan. 3, largely due to a series of tactical miscalculation by Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg. Tactically the battle was a draw since neither side had swept the other from the field. But Bragg realized that he could not win another fight against Rosecrans’ strengthened army and elected to retreat to Tullahoma, TN. The Union victory was costly with the casualties. Nevertheless, it was an important victory for the Union because it provided a much-needed boost in morale after the Union’s defeat at Fredericksburg and reinforced President Abraham Lincoln’s foundation for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which ultimately discouraged European powers from intervening on the Confederacy’s behalf.
The casualty percentage at the Battle of Stones River was second only to the Battle of Gettysburg in all the major engagements of the Civil War. Throughout five days of battle, the most intense fighting being Dec. 31 and Jan. 2, nearly 24,000 men on both sides became casualties out of the total of over 80,000 engaged — a 29% casualty rate. The staggering losses at Stones River compelled both armies to spend months trying to regain their strength and come to terms with the causes of the winter bloodshed.
Kolakowski’s presentation will highlight and explain the strategies of both armies and the moves which resulted in one of the bloodiest battles in the war. Stones Rivers National Military Park is located at 3501 Old Nashville Highway in Murfreesboro, just two hours from Crossville.
Chris L. Kolakowski was born and raised in Fredericksburg, VA. He received his BA in History and Mass Communications from Emory & Henry College in southwest Virginia, and his MA in Public History from the State University of New York at Albany. Chris has spent his career interpreting and preserving American military history with the National Park Service, New York State government, the Rensselaer County (NY) Historical Society, the Civil War Preservation Trust, Kentucky State Parks, and the U.S. Army.
The CMCWRT invites all to an evening of American Civil War history with a wonderful historical presentation by Christopher Kolakowski. The meeting will be held on the evening of Wednesday May 15, at 6 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church, 481 Snead Dr., in Fairfield Glade. First time visitors are admitted free, but a $5 donation is requested of repeat nonmembers. Memberships to the CMCWRT can be obtained for the yearly subscription of $25 per person or $35 for couples.
Civil War books will be on display for purchase. Tickets for the July 10 concert, “Songs and Stories from the Civil War” by Alabama’s own Bobby Horton, will be on sale. The concert will be presented at the historical Palace Theatre in downtown Crossville. Tickets are $15 each. Tickets may also be purchased at the Palace ticket office or through their online site — crossvilleTn.com/palacetheater, and at the Village Green Mall in Fairfield Glade beginning on Mondays and Wednesdays beginning on Monday, May 6, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The Cumberland Mountain Civil War Round Table is an organization of American Civil War enthusiasts. The group is in Fairfield Glade and is open to all citizens of Cumberland County. Presentations from authors, college professors, historians are presented on the second Wednesday of the month at Christ Lutheran Church in Fairfield Glade. The purpose of the roundtable is to educate, discuss and bring to focus the events and historical facts concerning the American Civil War. You can find them on Face Book at Cumberland Mt. Civil War Round Table. For additional information, call Ken Patton at 901-292-9312 or Dennis Flynn at 913-948-3499.