Hazen Brigade Monument, Civil War memorial in Rutherford County, United States
The Hazen Brigade Monument is a limestone structure at Stones River Battlefield that commemorates fallen Union soldiers through carved inscriptions. The 15-foot (4.5-meter) structure documents the defense mounted by Hazen's brigade against repeated attacks during the fighting at this location.
Colonel William Hazen's brigade built this memorial in 1863, shortly after the battle, to record their defense against four successive assaults. This action was unusual because soldiers were honoring their own fallen while the war continued around them.
The monument was built by the soldiers who fought here, showing how troops began honoring their own fallen during wartime itself. This form of remembrance created by the combatants was new at the time and influenced how future conflicts would be commemorated.
The monument is reached via marked trails on the battlefield and is supported by informational signs and guided tours of the area. Plan time to read the inscriptions carefully and to explore the broader battlefield landscape around the structure.
Excavations in the 1980s uncovered hidden objects buried within the monument itself, including cannonballs and musket barrels. These findings reveal that soldiers deliberately incorporated battle remnants into the structure they built.
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