At Stone's River, near 
Murfreesboro, Kentucky, the 
Confederate position had two 
divisions on the west side of 
the river and one division to 
the east.  The Union forces 
were drawn up with all three 
divisions on the west side.  
The battle began on New Year's 
Eve, 1862.

The Confederate attack began at 
first light with a savage 
assault by the left wing.  The 
Union Commander, Rosecrans, had 
planned his attack to begin at 
8 a.m.  Caught by surprise, the 
Union right collapsed.  Two 
full divisions were pushed back 
until they were at a right 
angle to their original position
- the Union line now resembled 
a large number seven.

The Confederate commander, 
Bragg, was ecstatic.  He had 
captured hundreds of troops and 
a large number of cannons.  He 
decided that the weak point in 
the Union line was the junction 
between the disordered and 
undamaged divisions.  Roescrans 
realized this as well, and 
anchored the Union army at a 
wooded position known as the 
Round Forest.

The Confederates lauched a 
series of uncoordinated 
assaults, a brigade at a time, 
against the Federals.  Each 
unsuccessful, Bragg eventually 
drew from the Confederate 
division on the opposite side 
of the river, commanded by 
Breckenridge.  Breckinridge was 
convinced, however, the Union 
was planning an attack on his 
position from reinforcements 
out of Nashville.  He 
unwillingly sent Bragg the 
units requested, but slowly.  
Bragg fed these reinforcements
in as soon as they arrived.  
This met with no more success
than the previous attempt.

Both armies decided to rest and 
prepare for the next day - 
January 1st.  Though Bragg was 
unable to take the Union 
position, he fully expected the 
Union army to withdraw because 
of their massive losses.  The 
next day came; not only was 
Rosecrans still there, but he 
had been reinforced by several 
Union brigades.  Enraged, Bragg 
still felt that his Union 
counterpart would not stand if 
pressed.  

He sent one division to retake 
the Round Forest, abandoned by 
the Union in order to straighten
their line.  When Bragg's 
forces tried to force their way 
out of the forest, they were 
met with stiff resistance and 
their advance stalled.  This 
was the only attack on the 1st.

By the morning of the 2nd, 
Rosecrans had sent one division 
to hold a hill between Stone's 
River and Sinking Creek on the 
extreme left of his line.  An 
hour before sunset, Bragg sent 
one division forward to 
displace these Union forces.  
This attack was crushed when 
it was enfiladed by Mendenhall's
artillery brigade.  One man in 
three became a casualty.

Bragg reluctantly ordered the 
retreat - the Union had won the 
battle.  From this point on, 
the Confederate soldiers would 
remember Round Forest as 
"Hell's Half Acre."

The losses were extremely heavy 
on both sides:  Confederate 
casualties were 1,300 killed, 
8,000 wounded and 3,700 missing.
Union losses were 1,700 killed, 
7,800 wounded and 3,700 missing.