Murfreesboro, TN to Horse Cave, KY
We picked back up on the Civil War theme this morning and visited Stones River National Battlefield -- a very sacred spot in the Civil War journeys of our 4th Great Grandfathers: Benjamin Harvey Capps and John Wesley Smith.
Here is an excerpt from the biographical sketches I compiled for our trip binder:
... The regiment suffered heavy casualties. On New Year's Eve, the regiment had to sleep on the battlefield where it had fought and in the early dawn on New Year's Day, they took a position on the bank of the Stone River. The Adjutant General's report stated, "Of the conduct of the Regiment in the battle of Stone River the Brigade Commander said: 'It displayed that fearless courage one admires in veterans.' Of this brigade he said: 'Such heroic service rendered their country this day, such heroic and daring valor justly entitles these men to the profound respect of the people and the country.'" ...Indeed, the men themselves were quite affected by this battle and, six months later, some of the survivors returned to the spot and erected a monument.
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| Descriptive Plaque at Hazen's Brigade Monument at Stones River National Battlefield |
The monument is currently being restored but we took a few photos anyway.
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| Hazen's Brigade Monument at Stones River National Battlefield |
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| "ERECTED 1863 UPON THE GROUND WHERE THEY FELL." Hazen's Brigade Monument at Stones River National Battlefield |
We then went to the Visitor's Center which had many remarkable artifacts on exhibit. The rangers on duty also gave our kids some workbooks and helped them find a few of the answers -- when they had completed six questions each they were "sworn in" as junior rangers and given a certificate and a pin. They seemed to get a kick out of that.
We drove on a bit before stopping for lunch. No interesting new restaurants today; just chains, same as we have at home.
Our next stop was Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky (state #11 of the trip).
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| Mammoth Cave National Park |
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| Mammoth Cave National Park |
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| Mammoth Cave National Park |
This stop was a huge variable in our itinerary. We had a only a short amount of time we could be here. We did not want to purchase any tour tickets ahead of time with our arrival time being dependent on several factors, but we knew that the tours often sell out well in advance. Luck was on our side and the stop couldn't have gone any better. We arrived, were able to get tickets for the self-guided tour, explored that one area of the cave to our hearts' content, had ice cream at the cafe, walked through the museum, let the kids spend a little more of their money at the gift shop, and were on our way to dinner in Cave City and our hotel in Horse Cave, with time to spare.