Charles Bennett's Civil War in Murfreesboro

On July 13, 1862, Sergeant Charles Wilkes Bennett arose early and began walking through the camp of the Ninth Michigan Infantry in front of Oaklands, the Maney family's home. He heard shots ring out in the darkness followed by the thundering roll of galloping horses. Moments later Bennett an his men were fighting for their lives in the first Battle of Murfreesboro.

That fight was not the last Civil War experience Bennett had that involved this little town in the middle of Tennessee. He and the Ninth Michigan returned in December 1862 to fight in the Battle of Stones River. Less than a year after that, Bennett returned to middle Tennessee to serve as a Captain in the Thirteenth United States Colored Infantry which began its organization in Murfreesboro.

Listen as a ranger examines Charles Bennett's Murfreesboro experiences and their place in some of the most transformational outcomes of the Civil War. Programs will be accompanied by musket firing demonstrations. Programs will take place at 1, 2 & 3 PM.