Their Longest, Coldest New Year’s Eve

On New Year's Eve 1862, nearly 30,000 Union soldiers were concentrated along the Nashville Pike as darkness, fear, and bitter cold settled over the field. At Rosecrans' headquarters, there was some talk of falling back, but Thomas Crittenden said his men would be greatly discouraged to abandon the field after their hard fighting, and Rosecrans, seeing torches moving and believing the enemy was forming in their rear, ordered his officers to return to their commands and prepare to fight or die. Soon after dark, as soldiers gathered around a small fire, Rosecrans warned that the enemy would target such a place, and almost as soon as he finished speaking, shots and a shell struck nearby. Across the field, the groans of the wounded were heart-rending, and John Magee recalled building fires for several, friend and foe alike, while many who chilled through the night might have been saved with attendance.

Murfreesboro, Tennessee · United States