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    Wannabe Outlawsubscriberuc-winner-lvl1featured-lvl1pro-noder 2026-01-01 04:39:50 UTC

    History Happens Every Day. History Happens Every Day.

    📰 TODAY IN HISTORY 📰

    December 31st, 1863
    After a hard day’s fighting at Stones River, a battle which would produce the highest percentage of casualties in the war on both sides, General William Rosecrans held a council of war to decide what to do on New Year’s Eve 1862, although some of Rosecrans’s generals felt the day was lost and retreat was necessary, Rosecrans disagreed and looked for support from his subordinates.

    This support would come from Thomas Crittenden, but it wasn’t enough. Then, one general who was asleep in a chair in the corner awoke. “This army does not retreat,” came the encouragement from George Thomas, although some would later say the quote was “there’s no better place to die”. Either way, Rosecrans had the support he needed. Both armies would spend New Year’s Day reorganizing and preparing.

    The fighting would resume on January 2 and conclude with Braxton Bragg conceding the field. “Just as at Perryville, Bragg seemed to change under stress from a bold and aggressive attacker to a hesitant and cautious retreater.

    He had, of course, sound reasons for withdrawing from Murfreesboro. His principal subordinates advised him to retreat. He had lost nearly 30% of his men in the recent battles; if forced to fight again without some rest, his army might disintegrate. But his decision to retreat allowed his enemies to charge that once again Bragg had lost his nerve.”
    —Grady McWhiney.
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