Skirmishes At Rural Hill

During the Civil War, in the late autumn of 1862 the Union Army of the Cumberland encamped at Nashville faced the Confederate Army of Tennessee at Murfreesboro. Both armies maintained cavalry patrols to stay abreast of each other's movements, frequently clashing as they scouted the key roads and junctions. In November and December 1862 two such skirmishes occurred east of this location between Rural Hill and Gladeville, along what is now called Stewarts Ferry Pike. Side 2 On November 18, 1862, just east of this location near the junction of Mires Road and Stewarts Ferry Pike, a Union brigade advancing east from Rural Hill was attacked by Confederate cavalry under the command of Colonel John Hunt Morgan. The Union troops, armed with artillery and Colt revolving rifles, repulsed the early morning assault. Four Confederate dead were left on the field and four Union soldiers from the 13th Ohio were taken prisoner. The dead are believed to be buried in Suggs Creek Cemetery. On December 20, 1862, Union scouts again met Confederate resistance at the crossroads near Rural Hill. Both skirmishes preceded the Union advance from Nashville to Murfreesboro that culminated in the Battle of Stones River.