The sleepy town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was about to become the unlikely setting for one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War. On a chilly winter morning, Union and Confederate forces clashed in a frenzy of musket fire and cannonballs, marking the start of the three-day Battle of Stones River. Over 23,000 casualties would eventually pile up, making it one of the war's deadliest engagements. Braxton Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee faced off against William S. Rosecrans' Union Army of the Cumberland, as both sides fought desperately for control of Middle Tennessee. The battle would be a brutal and pivotal turning point in the war, with far-reaching consequences for the fate of the nation.