Dr. Shellenberger Visits Stones River 30 Years Later
T hirty years after witnessing the carnage of Stones River as a 17-year-old drummer boy in the ranks of the 94 th Ohio, Dr. James E. Shellenberger returned to visit the area while journeying to Chickamauga in company with several fellow Buckeyes. In some ways, it was as if he had never left. “Soon we arrived at LaVergne, the scene of a cavalry engagement during the Battle of Stones River and the place of Wheeler’s raid on our trains. It was found just as we left it 30 years ago,” commented Shellenberger. Once in Murfreesboro, the men hired a guide, a local soldier named H.C. Moore who had fought in the battle in the ranks of the 18 th Tennessee. “We came out by the courthouse out towards the line of earthworks or forts on both sides of Stones River. The large one is on the east side of the pike near the river and called Fortress Rosecrans. These works, all plainly marked, remain undisturbed by the natives living about them.” Dr. Shellenberger’s account of visi