January 3, 1863---The Battle of Stones River: Day Four

JANUARY 3, 1863:              

The Battle of Stones River, Tennessee (The Battle of Murfreesboro; the Second Battle of Murfreesboro) (Day Four):           

No action took place on the field today. General Braxton Bragg C.S.A. orders the Army of The Tennessee to retreat from Murfreesboro, which is then taken by Union forces.

Total casualties in the battle were 24,645: 12,906 on the Union side and 11,739 for the Confederates. Considering that only about 76,400 men were engaged, this was the highest percentage of killed and wounded of any major battle in the Civil War: 30% for both sides, much higher in absolute numbers than the infamous bloodbaths at Shiloh and Antietam in 1862. Some of the wounded spent as much as seven agonizing days lying on the battlefield in winter conditions before help could reach them. Exactly how many died of exposure and neglect may never be known.

General Bragg, who had been pilloried for a premature retreat at Perryville, was likewise excoriated for retreating from Murfreesboro, though in terms of losses retreating from Stones River made the most tactical sense. The retreat was a strategic disaster for the Confederacy, however, which permanently lost complete control of Middle Tennessee.