Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to

episode 242 of our Civil War Podcast. I'm Rich. And I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Welcome to the podcast.

When we left off last time, it was December 30th, 1862, and the Union and Confederate armies

faced each other about three miles west of Murphy'sboro, Tennessee. Most historians consider

the 30th to be the eve of the Battle of Stone's River, but some sharp fighting actually took

place that day as the Union right wing came up and pushed forward into position, up against the

main rebel line on the southern portion of the battlefield. As the Federals ground forward,

the Confederates resisted fiercely and musketry and artillery fire inflicted numerous casualties

that day. So for the soldiers of both sides involved in this combat on that part of the battlefield,

December 30th was really the start of the battle. Also on the 30th, the senior Confederate cavalry

commander Joe Wheeler was harassing Rosecran supply line. This came about because Bracket ordered

Wheeler to make a raid into the federal rear. And so about midnight, the night before, Wheeler's

1600 troopers splashed across Stone's River and started north along the Lebanon Pike to make

certain that no Yankees were descending upon the rebel army from that direction. But once he saw

that there were no Federals to the north, Wheeler shifted west, cutting into the federal rear,

and proceeded to smash enemy wagon trains and capture Union soldiers by the hundreds as he made

nearly a full circle around the enemy army. Meanwhile, back on the battlefield at Stone's River,

the fighting died down by sunset. As darkness covered the winter landscape and the temperatures

plummeted below freezing, more than 80,000 Union and Confederate soldiers prepared themselves

as best they could for the carnage that was sure to come the next day.

That night, both commanding generals assessed the situation and both came to the same conclusion.

Defend on the right and hit the enemy's left the next morning, December 31st.

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