Chronological History of the American Civil War

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General Braxton Bragg, (CSA) 37,000 troops at Murfreesboro, Tennessee were in winter quarters. While, General William S. Rosecrans Union Army of the Cumberland with 44,000 men found them and attacked. South holds their position and push back the northern advance. This battle would be called the Second Battle of Murfreesboro or The Battle of Stones River. In Washington, D.C., President Lincoln signs the act approving admission to the United States for West Virginia. Bolivar, Tennessee’s settler, planter, and diarist, John Houston Bills writes for the last time that year in his diary, “But for the terrible war that bears so heavily upon us - all would be well, but it is now near seven months the town has been a garrison of Federal troops and everything appears desolation. Every day seems to give us new troubles. God only knows what is to happen during the next year. May Heaven deliver us from another such as the past. We want peace which would give us prosperity.” This year will end just as it started … with war. Neither North or South have been able to stop this terrible war.