Friends of Park Purchase Historic Newspapers

The park has acquired nine editions of the New York Times that contain articles describing the significant military actions in and around Murfreesboro, Tennessee, during the Civil War. These items were purchased using funds donated by the Friends of Stones River National Battlefield.

In April 2006, author Jeff Shaara donated $1,000 from the advance on publication of his recent work, Jeff Shaara’s Civil War Battlefields, to the Friends of Stones River National Battlefield. Shaara also pledged future donations from the royalties he receives from sales of his book. The Friends of Stones River National Battlefield used a portion of these funds to purchase the newspapers.
One edition of the paper describes Nathan Bedford Forrest’s raid and capture of Murfreesboro in July, 1862. Another paper has an account of Forrest’s other Murfreesboro engagement, The Battle of the Cedars, fought in December, 1864. The remaining editions include reports of the Battle of Stones River, one of the most significant and bloody battles of the Civil War, which raged from December 31, 1862 through January 2, 1863.

The remainder of the $1,000 donation will be used to reproduce excerpts from articles in the papers to be displayed in a museum exhibit which allows visitors a chance to see how the results of the Battle of Stones River were viewed by northern and southern citizens as well as people from other countries. The exhibit panels will be prepared by specialists at the National Park Service’s Harpers Ferry Center. The public will soon be able to view these and other newspapers at the park’s web catalog at http://www.museum.nps.gov/stri/page.htm.

For more information about the Friends of Stones River National Battlefield, visit the park’s website (http://www.nps.gov/str1) or write to them at P.O. Box 4092, Murfreesboro, TN 37133-4092.