Murfreesboro TN037

supportedunresolved Rousseau says he sent Milroy out on the 7th 'Not knowing where the main body of the enemy was'. Forrest says he reconnoitred the works on the 6th and on the 7th saw the enemy moving out in strong force on the Salem pike, and was satisfied he meant to give battle.

Attributed knowledge from interested reports.

supportedunresolved Rousseau writes on December 12 that the wires to Stevenson were down, that a train to Stevenson for supplies would carry his dispatch, and that he was subsisting off the country. NPS says Hood aimed at the railroad and the supply depot at Murfreesboro.

Supply statements from an interested dispatch; no commissary return inspected.

supportedunresolved Forrest says he received orders on the 4th to move on Murfreesborough and on the 6th ordered the infantry to move on the enemy's works. Rousseau sent Milroy to swing around and return along the woods west and northwest of the fortifications. NPS says Hood sought to destroy the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad and disrupt the depot.

Stated orders from interested reports and a modern summary.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen and live results read Union victory. Rousseau says the rout was complete; Forrest says his cavalry checked the Union advance, the infantry retired to Stewart's Creek, and when the enemy returned to Murfreesborough his cavalry resumed its former position. NPS calls the raid a minor irritation.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. The commanders' characterizations conflict.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 422 (US 225; CS 197); the live field reads 422 (US 208; CS 214). Rousseau's December 8 dispatch gives the Wilkinson pike loss as about 30 killed and 175 wounded and 207 prisoners taken; his December 12 dispatch gives about 175 killed and wounded and 1 missing. For Buford's attack on the town he reports 30 enemy killed or wounded, 25 prisoners and one man of his own wounded. Forrest gives no count; he reports two guns lost.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. Rousseau's two dispatches differ; the December 4 Overall's Creek losses (4 or 5 killed, 49 wounded) are outside the record.

supportedunresolved Rousseau says he sent Milroy with seven regiments, that 'The fight was well conducted by Major-General Milroy', and that he himself drove Buford's cavalry out of the town with a regiment and a section. Forrest says the infantry except Smith's brigade made 'a shameful retreat', that he and Bate tried and failed to rally them, that Armstrong's and Ross's cavalry checked the advance, and that his order to Buford to protect his left never reached him. The frozen commanders are Major General Forrest (CS), Major General Rousseau and Brigadier General Milroy (US); Rousseau styles Milroy Major-General.

Direction is attributed as the reports state; Rousseau's style for Milroy is not adopted. No listed commander receives automatic sole credit.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. Imported numerical estimates remain unchanged; this pass does not validate them as simultaneous opening forces.

disputedunresolved The frozen force text reads approx. 8,000 in the District of Tennessee against Forrest's cavalry, Bate's division and Sears's and Palmer's brigades, 6,500-7,000, while the frozen force table stores the Confederate bounds as 6,500 and 6,500; the live field reads 14,750 (US 8,000; CS 6,750). Rousseau's December 8 dispatch says the enemy was reinforced on the 5th by two brigades of infantry and 2,500 of Forrest's cavalry; his December 12 dispatch says 2,500 cavalry and two divisions of infantry. Rousseau sent Milroy out on the 7th with seven regiments and a battery. Forrest says he moved with Buford's and Jackson's divisions, leaving 250 men to picket, and was joined by Bate's division and, on the 6th, by Sears's and Palmer's brigades.

The frozen Confederate range in the force text (6,500-7,000) and the stored bounds (6,500-6,500) differ. Rousseau's two dispatches differ (brigades against divisions); no inspected passage gives Forrest's own numbers or the garrison's. None is adopted as a matched opening strength; the live figures are not adopted.

supportedunresolved NPS says Forrest drove the garrison into the Fortress Rosecrans fortifications. Rousseau says Milroy found the enemy on the Wilkinson pike behind breastworks of logs and rails, near the Stones River battlefield. Forrest says he withdrew to the Wilkinson pike and formed a new line 'on a more favorable position'.

The fortress predates the operations; the log breastworks and the new Confederate line were made during them and are not inherited.