The Battle of Nashville, December 15-16, 1864, almost destroyed the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Twice as many Union soldiers fought in the battle as Confederate soldiers, leading to a Union victory. The Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Minnesota Regiments all fought in the deadly charge across a muddy cornfield at Shy's Hill near Nashville, Tennessee. More than 300 Minnesota soldiers were left on the field of battle. These losses appear in Howard Pyle's 1906 painting, with its face-to-face depcition of the dangers of war. Pyle is often called the "Father of American Illustration," as he illustrated many classic books and fairy tales. 

"Battle of Nashville" is one of six mural-size paintings of Minnesota's Civil War regiments that hang in the Governor's Reception Room of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. In late 2016, the Minnesota Historical Society, after receiving input from legislators and residents, decided to keep all of the Civil War paintings in the Reception Room. Many of the paintings were commissioned to honor Minnesota soldiers when the Capitol was built in 1905.