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PREPARING FOR BATTLE AT STONE RIVER.

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fore night our army was nearly all in position along a line stretching irregularly from north to south, a distance of some three or four miles: Crittenden on the left, Thomas in the center, and McCook on the right; and, at 9 P. M., the three met, by invitation, at Rosecrans's headquarters, and received their orders for the morrow.

It being now certain that Bragg had deliberately chosen this as his ground whereon to stand and fight, and that he had concentrated here his forces, while his cavalry so stub

and constantly, taking advantage of the continually increasing roughness of the country, which is in good part heavily wooded with forests of oak and dense thickets of cedar, rendering the movement slow and by no means bloodless. McCook, with our right, rested that night at Nolensville, and the next at Triune; Crittenden, with our left, advanced the first day to Lavergne, and the next to Stewart's creek, where Rosecrans seems to have expected that the Rebels might give him battle. The third day, being Sunday, our troops mainly rested. Next morning, Mc-bornly contested and impeded our Cook pressed on to Wilkinson's Cross-Roads, six miles from Murfreesboro'; while Crittenden, with Palmer's division in advance, moved on the main Murfreesboro' pike to STONE RIVER; finding the Rebel army in position along the bluffs across that stream. Palmer, observing an apparently retrogade movement on the part of the enemy, erroneously reported to headquarters that they were retreating; and Crittenden was thereupon ordered to push across a division and occupy Murfreesboro'. Harker's brigade was accordingly sent across the stream being almost everywhere fordable-and drove a Rebel regiment back upon their main body in some confusion; but prisoners thus captured reporting that Breckinridge's entire corps was there.present, Crittenden wisely took the responsibility of disobeying Rosecrans's order, and, favored by nightfall, withdrew Harker across the river without serious loss.

Next day," McCook fought his way down nearly to Stone river, somewhat west of Murfreesboro'; and be

10 Dec. 30.

VOL. II.-18

advance, Rosecrans proposed at daylight to throw forward his left and center, crushing Breckinridge, who held the Rebel right, and then, wheeling rapidly, fall with overwhelming force in front and flank on their center, sweeping through Murfreesboro' and gaining the rear of the enemy's center and left, pushing them off their natural line of retreat, and so cutting up and destroying their entire army. In pursuance of this plan, Van Cleve's division, on our extreme left, advanced soon after daylight; Wood's being ready to support and follow him.

Bragg, however, had already decided to fight his own battle, and not Rosecrans's. To this end, he had concentrated heavily on his left, where Hardee was in command, with orders to attack McCook at daylight." Bishop Polk, in his center, strengthened by McCown's division, was directed to second and support Hardee's attack; the two corps moving by a constant right wheel, and crushing back our routed right upon our center, seizing first the Wilkin

11 Dec. 31.

son and then the Nashville turnpike; | attacks on their front, when the disinterposing between our army and appearance of Johnson's division enits supply-trains, whenever they should have flanked our right and gained our rear.

According to Rosecrans's plan, McCook, however strongly assailed, was to hold his position for three hours, receding—if attacked in overwhelming force-very slowly, and fighting desperately; which he had undertaken to do. But there was a serious mistake in the calculation. Before 7 A. M., Hardee's corps burst from the thickets in McCook's front and on his right; Cleburne's four brigades charging vehemently its extreme right, Cheatham's and McCown's divisions striking it more directly in front, hurling back our skirmishers at once on our lines, and crumbling these into a fleeing mob within a few minutes. Of the two brigade commanders in Johnson's division, holding our extreme right, Gen. Kirk was severely wounded at the first fire; while Gen. Willich had his horse killed and was himself captured. So sudden and unexpected was the attack, that a portion of our battery horses had been unhitched from the guns and sent off to drink, a few minutes before. The guns, of course, were lost.

McCook attempted to reform in the woods behind his first position; but his right was too thoroughly routed, and was chased rapidly back toward our center. A large part of this (Johnson's) division was gathered up as prisoners by the Rebel cavalry; the rest was of little account during the remainder of the fight.

McCook's remaining divisions, under Jeff. C. Davis and Sheridan, had repulsed several resolute

abled the Rebels to come in on their flank, compelling them also to give ground; and, though repeated efforts. were made by Davis and his subordinates to bring their men again up to the work, their fighting did not amount to much thereafter.

Sheridan's division fought longer and better; but of his brigade commanders, Gen. J. W. Sill was killed early in the day, while leading a successful charge, and Colş. Roberts and Shaeffer at later periods-each falling dead at the head of his brigade, while charging or being charged. This division fought well throughout; but was pushed back nearly or quite to the Nashville turnpike, with the loss of Houghtaling's and a section of Bush's battery.

By 11 A. M., the day was apparently lost. McCook's corps—a full third of our army-was practically demolished, and the Rebel cavalry in our rear working its wicked will upon our supply trains and stragglers. Nearly half the ground held by our army at daylight had been won by the triumphant enemy, who had now several batteries in position, playing upon our center, where Negley's division of Thomas's corps was desperately engaged, with its ammunition nearly expended, its artillery horses disabled, and a heavy Rebel column pushing in between it and what was left of McCook's corps, with intent to surround and capture it.

This compelled Negley to re-. coil; when Gen. Rousseau, pushing

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his reserve 'division to the front, sent Maj. Ring's battalion of regulars to Negley's assistance. The regulars made a most gallant and effective

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charge, losing heavily, but rendering | was repulsed; and the fight closed on admirable service. this part of the field with our troops entirely successful.

The weight of the Rebel attack had by this time fallen wholly on Thomas, commanding our center; Sheridan, entirely out of ammunition, falling still farther to the rear, and the triumphant Rebels pressing on until they had reached a position which gave them a concentric crossfire at short-range on Negley's and Rousseau's divisions. This compelled Thomas to withdraw them from the cedar woods to more open and favorable ground; his artillery holding a ridge on the right (south) of the Nashville turnpike. In executing this movement, the regulars, Lt.-Col. Shepherd, were brought under a murderous fire, by which they lost 530 men. But the ground now taken was held; our batteries here concentrated, and the Rebels' progress finally arrested; their repeated attempts to advance out of the cedar thicket on our right and front being defeated with great slaughter.

Palmer's division, holding the right of our left wing, had advanced, at 8 A. M., to support Negley's movement, covering his left; but had not proceeded far when Palmer found his safety compromised by a Rebel advance on his rear. Halting Cruft's brigade, and ordering Col. Grose to face to the rear, he opened fire on the Rebels, and quickly repulsed them; while Col. Hazen, falling back a short distance, occupied the crest of a low, wooded hill, between the Nashville turnpike and railroad, and held it firmly until Grose, having driven the enemy from his rear, came up to his assistance; as did two or three other regiments. Again and again was his position assailed; but each attack

Bragg had brought all his army across the creek to overwhelm our right and center, save that Breckinridge, with his division, remained opposite our left. At 103 A. M., he, too, received an order to advance and attack; but he had only moved half a mile, when a new order came to detach one or two brigades to the support of Polk, in the center; and he sent two brigades accordingly. He soon received a still further order to advance and attack, and then one to report to Polk with all but Hanson's brigade. Moving his remaining brigades, under Preston and Palmer, by the left flank, he crossed the creek and reported to Polk and Bragg just in season to see the brigades of Jackson and Adams, which he had previously sent, recoil from an assault on our lines; Adams being among the wounded. Breckinridge was now ordered to charge with Preston's and Palmer's brigades, and did so; gaining some ground, but losing considerably, and finally desisting, as night fell, because the position in his front. was too strong to be carried by his force. During the night, he was ordered back, with Palmer's brigade, to his old position on the Rebel right.

Gen. Wood, who was in command of our division thus assailed, was wounded in the foot at 10 A. M.; but remained in the saddle till evening, when he turned over his command to Gen. M. S. Hascall. Though he had been obliged, early in the fight, to spare Hascall's and Harker's brigades to the relief of the center and right, he held his ground nobly through the day; his batteries replying forcibly

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CLOSE OF THE FIRST DAY'S CONFLICT.

to those with which the enemy annoyed us from the heights south of the river, and his infantry repelling every charge made by the enemy. Before night, Estep's battery, which, with Cox's, had been splendidly served throughout, had lost so heavily that a detail of infantry was required to aid in working its guns. Bradley's 6th Ohio battery at one time lost two of its guns; but they were subsequently recaptured by the 13th Michigan.

Night fell on our army successful against every attempt which had for some hours been made to drive it; but with little reason for exultation. It had lost, since daylight, including stragglers, at least one-fourth of its numbers, with an equal proportion of its guns. It had lost half the ground on which it was encamped in the morning; and the Rebel cavalry were on its line of communications, making free with its baggage and supplies. Almost any General but Rosecrans would have supposed that there was but one point now to be considered: how to get back to Nashville with the least additional loss. But Rosecrans took stock of his ammunition, and found that there was enough left for another battle; so he resolved to stay. His guns were now well posted, and had the range of the ground in their front; and it had been fairly proved that the enemy could not take them, even with the help of the 28 we had lost. So, giving orders for the issue of all the remaining ammunition, drawing in his left a few rods, so that it might rest

12 Rousseau, in his official report, says: "As the enemy emerged from the woods in great force, shouting and cheering, the batteries of Loomis and Guenther, double-shotted with canister, opened upon them. They moved

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advantageously on the creek, and welcoming and posting the brigades of Starkweather and Walker, which had come up as night fell, he lay down with his army to await such a New Year's Day as it should please God to send them. Ammunition being rather scanty, and fresh supplies expected, he proposed to keep the holiday in quiet, unless Bragg should decide otherwise.

On a calm review of this day's desperate and doubtful carnage, there can not be a doubt that the battle was saved after it had been lost; and that the man who saved it was William S. Rosecrans. Thousands had done nobly-Thomas, Sheridan, Wood, Rousseau, Palmer, Van Cleve, and others, eminently so-but the day might have been saved without any of them; while without Rosecrans it must have been lost. It was he who, when apprised too late of the sudden and utter demolition of his right wing, instantly pushed up Rousseau from his center to its relief, and hurried across Van Cleve's and other divisions from the left to stay the tide of Rebel success; it was he who-Van Cleve having just fallen-led the charge by a part of his division, which finally arrested the Rebels and repelled their advance on our right-Rousseau forthwith emulating his example, charging desperately the enemy in his front, and hurling them back into the cedars with fearful loss on both sides, but with prisoners taken by ours only." And when, later in the day, the storm of battle rolled around to

straight ahead for a while; but were finally driven back with immense loss. In a little while, they rallied again, and, as it seemed, with fresh troops, again assailed our position; and were again, after a fierce struggle, driven back.

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