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This week's hero is...
William B. Hazen
William Babcock Hazen was born on September 27, 1830, in West Hartford, Vermont. He entered the US Military Academy (West Point) in the 1850s and graduated in 1855. For the next 4 1/2 years he served along the American frontier and fought skirmishes against Comanche natives. Little did he know, this would pale in comparison to what he would face in the winter of 1862.
On December 30, the Federal Army of the Cumberland was camped outside the small town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Confederate Army of Tenessee was camped just 700 yards away. For the last two days, the two armies had been camping directly parallel to each other awaiting orders from their commanders. Both sides knew that the next day, thousands were going to die.
On the morning of December 31, the Confederates launched their attack. They successfully broke through the Union right flank and drove the latter across the nearby Stones River. Most of the Federals fled in disarray but one key point in the Union line held firm. At the left wing, Colonel Hazen pulled the 2nd Brigade into a tight perimeter at the Round Forest. With their backs literally to the river, four regiments from Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio dug in and stopped the Confederate attack.
Despite being severely wounded, Col. Hazen ordered his brigade to hold their position at all costs. Within minutes of stopping the first Confederate attack, another one quickly followed. For the next five hours, Hazen's brigade repulsed four assaults and drove back the Confederates. Finally at 4:30 PM, the Confederates decided to withdraw. By then both sides had suffered thousands of casualties. After the battle, William Hazen and his soldiers would officially refer to the Round Forest as, "Hell's Half Acre". Of the whole Army of the Cumberland, they were only ones to hold their positions that day.
The stand of Hazen's brigade at the Round Forest had successfully bought time for the Army of the Cumberland to reorganize and regroup. There was little fighting the next day. But on January 2, 1863, when the Confederates launched a new attack, the Federals were ready. They caught the Confederates in a vicious artillery crossfire and forced them to retreat. This concluded what would be known as, the Battle of Stones River (or Murfreesboro). The casualties were >12,900 for the Union and >11,700 for the Confederates.
For his heroism at Stones River, William Hazen was promoted to Brigadier General. He went on to fight in the Chattanooga Campaign and the March to the Sea. After the war, Hazen worked in the US Signal Corps. In 1880, President Rutherford Hayes promoted him to the rank of Chief Signal Officer, a position that he held until his death on January 16, 1887. General Hazen was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
In the summer of 1863 (while the war was still being fought), members of Hazen's brigade returned to Hell's Half Acre and erected a small monument to their fallen comrades. It reads: Hazen's Brigade/ To the Memory of it's Soldiers who fell at Stones River, Dec. 31st 1862/ Their faces towards Heaven, their feet to the foe. It was the very first (and currently the oldest) civil war monument to have ever been erected on the original battlefield. Today it remains a solemn memorial to a brave group of soldiers led by a great commander who made a critical difference in the American Civil War.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/william-babcock-hazen
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wbhazen.htm
https://www.nps.gov/places/hazen-brigade-monument.htm
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1990-01-07-9001034345-story.html
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