Editor’s Note: The following article is the fourth of a six-part series by Marysville resident Eric Demchak about one of Marysville’s forgotten war heroes. The series describes the career of Col. Joseph G. Hawkins, a resident of Marysville who organized a local company of soldiers to fight for the North in the Civil War. It details the role that he and his men played in what became known as the Battle of Stones River in Tennessee in late December of 1862 and early January of 1863.
by ERIC DEMCHAK
While the rest of the Union army waited for Gen. McCook to bring up the right (which he did the next day), the men prepared to fight.
Signs of the impending battle of Stones River were apparent throughout the overcast day of December 30. Lines of men were forming for battle and maneuvering into place for easy deployment. Batteries were rolled into position and hospitals were set up in the rear for the expected wounded. Stretcher bearers and ambulance drivers were ordered to be ready. Rations were issued and men were given extra ammunition.
As the rain came down, the men tried to protect their muskets and powder from the drizzle to keep it dry.
On the night of December 30, the troopers of the 13th Regiment drew outpost duty on the Union’s left flank. That night, commanders of both armies drew up plans for battle.
In his log cabin a mile up the Nashville-Murfreesboro Poke, Rosecrans conceived his plan. He ordered Crittenden to send Van Cleve’s division across McFadden Ford, followed by Brig. Gen.. Thomas Wood’s division, to turn the Confederate flank and push Bragg out of Murfreesboro.
McCook was instructed to hold the right flank while Crittenden’s men fought their way into town. He was also instructed to build fires, a ruse to give the illusion of strength.
With the plan, Rosecrans would put the 13th Regiment in the advance.
Bragg, on the other hand, had come up with exactly the same plan. He was going to try to turn the enemy’s right flank.
Maj. Gen. John Breckinridge’s division was ordered to hold the right flank. Brig. Gen. Patrick Cleburne’s division was pulled out from behind Breckinridge and transferred to the left. With McCown’s and Cleburne’s divisions, Hardee was ordered to assail the enemy at daylight and Polk to wheel in successions and cut the Union army off from its base of operations and supplies along the Nashville-Murfreesboro Pike.
The rebel cavalry would sweep north and wreak havoc in the Federal rear.
The phony campfires only persuaded Bragg to extend his lines further to accommodate his plan.
Soldiers from both sides tried to sleep as best as they could that night. The weather would not permit it. Rain drenched the men as winds shipped across the valley. Except for Rosecrans order to McCook, troops on both sides were forbidden to build fires lest they expose their positions.
As dawn drearily streaked across the sky on December 31, both armies awoke to a drizzly, cold, uncomfortable morning.
The 13th came in from outpost duty to prepare their breakfast and make coffee. Couriers on horseback raced to and fro relaying orders through the chain of command.
At 7 a.m., Van Cleve’s division received orders to form and advance across the ford and clear the rebels from Murfreesboro. As the 13th stirred to its feet and took its place in line, deep muffled roars and gunshot cracks to the north could be heard. They were the sounds of McCook’s holding action.
Hawkins had studied the terrain around his campsite. The land was rough and uneven. The thick foliage broke up troop formation and made coordinated movement a nightmare.
It seemed impossible to fight a battle here.
Before the 13th advanced across the ford, Hawkins reluctantly gave up his faithful horse to his orderly who was instructed to take good care of the animal. It had been with him since the beginning of the way but the land was just too treacherous and punishing for it.
Sometime after 8 a.m., the 13th splashed across the chilling Stones River, but almost as soon as they crossed, they were stopped and called back cross the river along with the rest of Van Cleve’s men. Events on the right flank had drastically changed the course of the battle.
Hardee’s corps, led by McCown’s and Cleburne’s divisions had earlier smashed the Union’s right flank. McCook’s troops had crumbled quickly, and Rosecrans sought to reinforce his right.
He ordered some of Van Cleve’s men, the brigades of Col Sam Beatty and James Fyffe (which included the 13th Regiment), and Charles Harker’s brigade from Wood’s division on the double up the poke to stop the rebels. If Hardee’s men captured the pike, the Army of the Cumberland would be in serious trouble.
The fifth part of this series will appear in Saturday, June 26th edition of the Marysville Journal-Tribune.