This Precious Dust - Stones River National Cemetery - Murfreesboro TN - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

sign reads: "This Precious Dust"
"When the Battle of Stones River ended on January 2, 1863, over 3,000 Union and Confederate soldiers lay dead. Most were buried in hastily prepared graves on the battlefield. In October 1865 soldiers from the 111th United States Colored Infantry began the arduous and gruesome task of disinterring the bodies of the Union soldiers and reburying them here in the newly opened Stones River National Cemetery. By April 1866 what Chaplain William Earnshaw called "the precious dust" of over 6,000 Union soldiers had been brought here for reburial. Included were not only soldiers killed at Stones River but others who had died elsewhere in Middle Tennessee. Of these, 2,562 are unknown. The Confederate dead, not eligible for burial in national cemeteries, were take to their home towns or to public cemeteries in nearby Murfreesboro."

Group that erected the marker: National Park Service, US Department of the Interior URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Old Nashville Highway Murfreesboro, TN USA

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Date Logged Log   10/02/2016 haole122 visited it 09/04/2007 ggmorton visited it

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