4,000 soldiers killed (in total for both sides) and another 16,000 maimed or wounded. Since it was freezing cold, many of the wounded out in the woods died of frostbite or hypothermia. It was a miserable experience for all involved, and Lincoln and Stanton owned all of it.
That's a load of garbage.
First, the point of the battle from the Union perspective was to capitalize on Bragg's failure to control Kentucky by pursuing his army into Tennessee.
The battle did have a point, and a very important point at that - to destroy Bragg and the Confederate Army of the Tennessee.
Second, Lincoln did not demand this battle in particular - the battle began when Bragg initiated fighting.
Lincoln's long-time stated goal - well before the Emancipation Proclamation - was the establishment of the Unionist stronghold of East Tennessee as a beachhead for striking at the center of the Confederacy.
This was a consistent policy he followed from the start of hostilities until Sherman's March to the Sea.
Ping
For those of you in Rio Linda...this is about the Civil War.
(Mick Jagger only LOOKS 150...)
We visited the Stones River site last winter (my daughter became a junior ranger of the Park, which she loved). I was just in awe as we walked Hell’s Half-Acre (a little scrap of ground just off the highway) and stood at the ridge looking down into the river where so many men died. I cannot imagine demanding a charge on a hill loaded with men and cannon...and I cannot imagine following the order to your death. It was chilling. The Slaughterpen was sobering as well (granite crags where Union soldiers were caught between 2 Confederate forces and slaughtered — the terrain is slippery and full of deep crevices and impossible to run on; my daughter and I did our best to walk it quickly, and even in calm conditions, concentrating, it was tricky).
I highly recommend a trip there, if you have the opportunity. Many well-preserved and documented Civil War sites in middle Tennessee — and with an interesting perspective that I was certainly never taught in school.
Saw the title and thought I was going to enjoy a history moment. Instead we’re treated to Lost Cause Loser revisionism.
The responsibility and the blame rest squarely upon the shoulders of the curs who instigated, initiated, and sought this war - the southron democrat slavers.
They wanted war, they maneuvered themselves into war, and war is what they got.
Lincoln demanded the CSA Army attack the USA Army on this date in order to give Lincoln political cover?
Why do you think the CSA went along with this demand?
My great X 4 uncle Milton Craig was in the 97th Illinois on the right Union flank in Kirk’s brigade commanded by Richard Johnson. They were still eating breakfast when Confederates under John McCown and Patrick Cleburne smashed into them. Johnson’s division suffered 50% casualties in the FIRST HALF HOUR of the battle. Milton was one of them, later dying of his wounds on January 1st.