Rosecrans, who had fallen back with the retreating brigades, instantly
noted the opportunity. Here, a general who received too little reward
from the nation, and to whom popular esteem did not pay enough tribute,
rushed two brigades across Stone River and hurled them with all their
weight upon the Southern flank. Sixty cannon posted on the hillocks just
behind the river poured an awful fire upon the Southern column. The fire
from front and flank was so tremendous that the Southerners, veterans as
they were, gave way. The men who had held victory in their hands felt it
slipping from their grasp.
"They waver! They retreat!" shouted Colonel Winchester. "Up, boys,
and at 'em!"
The whole Union force, led by its heroic generals, rushed forward,
crossed the river and joined in the charge. The two thousand Southern
cavalry were driven off by a fire that no horsemen could withstand.
The division of Breckinridge, although fighting with furious courage,
was gradually driven back, and the day closed with the Union army in
possession of most of the territory it had lost the day before.
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