Lunette Palmer

Lunette Palmer (1863-1866) - A Union U.S. Civil War Lunette established in 1863 as a part of Fortress Rosecrans in present day Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee. Named Lunette Palmer after Brigadier General John M. Palmer. The Lunette was abandoned in 1866 after the end of the war when Fortress Rosecrans was abandoned.

History of Lunette Palmer

After the Union army occupied Murfreesboro, Tennessee in January 1863, Major General William S. Rosecrans, (Cullum 1115), Commander of the Army of the Cumberland, gave his chief engineer Brigadier General USV James St. Clair Morton, (Cullum 1495), the job of designing and constructing what became Fortress Rosecrans. Morton planned a large enclosed fortification of over 200 acres that occupied both the north and south sides of the Stones River at Murfreesboro and included an important road junction and a rail line.

Lunette Palmer and the other Lunettes at Fortress Rosecrans were lightly armed earthworks along the outer perimeter providing strong points along a line of rifle trenches that connected them. Each Lunette was served by batteries of three to nine guns under the command of a commissioned officer with 60 to 100 enlisted men present.

An inspection report dated 14 Jan 1864 indicated that the battery at Lunette Palmer was under the command of 1st Lieutenant Jones, 79th Indiana Infantry, and was armed with four 6 pounder Parrott field guns and one 8" siege howitzer.

Lunette Palmer was abandoned in 1866 after the end of the war when Fortress Rosecrans was abandoned.

Current Status

Earthworks remains of Lunette Palmer, Curtain No. 2, and portions of Lunette Thomas in Old Fort Park. Many markers at this location.

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USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 1681180

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Location: Old Fort Street in Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee. Map point is from the GNIS coordinates and may not be accurate. Maps & Images Lat: 35.85333 Long: -86.41389 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 581'

See Also:

• Fortress Rosecrans
• Murfreesboro Defense System - U.S. Civil War

Sources:

• Miscellaneous Documents of the House of Representatives for the Second Session of the 51st Congress 1890-'91 with Index, GPO, 1891, Chapt XLIV, page 93, Google Books.

Links:

• North American Forts - Lunette Palmer
• HMDB - Lunette Palmer Marker

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