Year Erected: 1956

Marker Text: July 22, 1864. Gen. E. W. Rice's brigade [US] was hastily deployed in open ground to meet the attack by Bate's div. [CS] The 66th Ind. was posted on the hill (Murphy High School) adjacent to Laird's 14th Ohio Battery; leftward, to & along Clay Rd., were the 2d & 7th Iowa regts. with Blodgett's 1st Mo. Battery H between them -- the 52d Ill. in reserve. These troops faced East.

The rt. angular alignment of Rice's & Mersy's brigades, together with the timely placement of artillery at the apex, on a commanding hill, resolved a critical situation brought about by the absence of cavalry on the left & rear of McPherson's Army of the Tennessee.