Fortress Rosecrans (ca.1863-1866) - Fields of Fire

Though presently surrounded within and without by woods, the landscape surrounding Fortress Rosecrans during its operation would have been cleared for over 1,000 yards in every direction. Cannon's had been pre-sighted to targets nearly a mile away. No Confederate troops ever came within range of Rosecrans' guns...

Fortress Rosecrans (ca. 1863-1866) - Sortie Passage

"The sortie passages ... are designed to admit, or give exit to, large masses of our own troops, in the case of a general engagement taking place..." --General Morton, USA 'To find such a wide break in a fort's wall seems strange to a person today. Yet the gap you see here - then called a sortie passage - is a carefully calculated part of the defenses of Fortress Rosecrans. The area close to the walls was covered by cannon fire from many nearby angles. Enemy troops could not reach this point without suffering massive losses. With all the nearby trees and brush cleared away, Fortress Rosecrans had no blind spots. No enemy came close.' --text from NPS informational sign

Fortress Rosecrans (ca. 1863-1866) - Sortie Passage

"The sortie passages ... are designed to admit, or give exit to, large masses of our own troops, in the case of a general engagement taking place..." --General Morton, USA 'To find such a wide break in a fort's wall seems strange to a person today. Yet the gap you see here - then called a sortie passage - is a carefully calculated part of the defenses of Fortress Rosecrans. The area close to the walls was covered by cannon fire from many nearby angles. Enemy troops could not reach this point without suffering massive losses. With all the nearby trees and brush cleared away, Fortress Rosecrans had no blind spots. No enemy came close.' --text from NPS informational sign

Fortress Rosecrans - Curtain Wall #2

The so-called 'Curtain Walls' of the fortress which you pass are named as such because a curtain wall is defined as a wall that connects two bastions within a fort, or in Fortress Rosecrans case, two 'transverse walls'. In this shot the 'curtain wall' is the horizontal one running across the photo directly in front of me. The 'transverse walls', if you look close, extend perpendicular to the curtain wall on the right and left of the shot. The transverse walls extend into the interior of the fort and were designed to protect defenders from enfilading fire...

Fortress Rosecrans - Curtain Wall #2

The so-called 'Curtain Walls' of the fortress which you pass are named as such because a curtain wall is defined as a wall that connects two bastions within a fort, or in Fortress Rosecrans case, two 'transverse walls'. In this shot I'm looking end-on to one of the transverse walls. The 'transverse walls' extend perpendicular to the curtain wall in the distance. Looking close you can see two more transverse walls to the right and left of the shot. The transverse walls extend into the interior of the fort and were designed to protect defenders from enfilading fire...

Fortress Rosecrans (ca.1863-1866) - Earthwork Walls

A short boardwalk took me to the top of the earthwork wall near Lunette Thomas. From this spot, according to the accompanying sign, one can see some 1,400 feet of earthen walls...impressive but only a fraction of the 14,000 feet that once encompassed Fortress Rosecrans. The manpower needed to construct such a fortification was immense, as you'd imagine. Around 40,000 soldiers toiled for three months to complete it...

Fortress Rosecrans (ca.1863-1866) - Lunette Thomas

The citizens of nearby Murphreesboro were for all practical purposes under heavy occupation during the time Fortress Rosecrans was operational from January 1863 to April 1866. The 50,000 soldiers working here were camped all through and around town, army trains and supply wagons were always coming and going, and there was the ever present sight of cannon overlooking them. In fact one cannon, possibly one here at Lunette Thomas, was pre-sighted on the town courthouse. Needless to say it was a very tense time for the local population...

Fortress Rosecrans (ca.1863-1866) - Lunette Thomas

Situated at the extreme southern point of Fortress Rosecrans, the imposing Lunette Thomas and its guns most directly the town of Murphreesboro. Lunette Thomas, like the other lunette's of the fortress, is named for a prominent Union general of the time, Major General George H. Thomas who commanded the 14th Corps in Rosecrans army in 1863...

Fortress Rosecrans (ca.1863-1866) - Lunette Thomas

A panorama overlooking Lunette Thomas into what was Fortress Rosecrans. A good description of what exactly a 'lunette' is, its function, and construction was left to us by a Corporal Harvey Reed of the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry: "Our fortress consists of a line of works called 'lunettes' forming an irregular circle on both sides of the Stones River. The 'lunette' is a fortification having embankment, ditch, angles, and so forth in front, but open to the rear. Some of the smaller lunettes were defended at this opening by a stockade of hewn logs, but most of them are irregular half-circles having no protection immediately behind them...These works are named for prominent Generals in this army..."

Fortress Rosecrans (ca.1863-1866) - Lunette Thomas

I had to smile when I would read on various plaques the Park Service's very unique way of asking visitors to stay off the historic earthworks. They have used orders given the soldiers at Fortress Rosecrans, orders which they expect folks to follow to this day... "No one should be allowed to walk on the parapets, nor move or sit upon the gabions, barrels, or sandbags that may be placed upon them." by order of. Major General William S. Rosecrans, commanding Army of the Cumberland, United States Army

Fortress Rosecrans (ca. 1863-1866) - Dry Ditch

As I exited the old fortress I passed the still-visible 'dry ditch' of Lunette Thomas. Originally these ditches were much steeper and quite a bit deeper. Not only surrounding the lunette's, these ditches surrounded the entire 3-mile perimeter of Fortress Rosecrans...

Fortress Rosecrans (ca. 1863-1866) - Outer Walls

My return to the car followed the outer walls of Fortress Rosecrans. Though little remains of this once massive fortification, what does remain provides a fascinating look back to the period in time when this area was torn by war.