A Tale of Brave Ulysses: The 64th Ohio at Stones River

Sent out on picket on the night of December 31, 1862, Private Ulysses Greene of the 64th Ohio recorded the scenes that greeted him upon the moon-swept battlefield of Stones River.

“By the pale light of the moon, we could see that every ditch and gulley was filled with mangled corpses of men who had that morning entered the fight in the pride of their strength and in the enjoyment of health. The field was covered with the debris of the fight- guns, swords, broken down gun carriages, and dismounted cannons, all in one promiscuous wreck and ruin. I could dwell longer on this dreadful scene but you are doubtless tired already of so long an epistle,” he wrote.

          Private Greene’s missive first saw publication in the February 6, 1863, edition of the Bucyrus Journal. During the Stones River, the 64th Ohio was part of Colonel Charles G. Harker’s brigade along with the 51st Indiana, 73rd Indiana, 13th Michigan, 65th Ohio, and 6th Ohio Battery.

 


Murfreesboro, Tennessee

January 22, 1863

          Permit me, through the columns of your valuable paper, to pay due respect and tribute to the memory of some of Crawford County’s noble sons who fell contending with Southern traitors for the Constitution, the Union, and our dear old flag. Long ere this reaches you, the telegraphic lines will have flashed the intelligence to Northern homes that another battle has been lost and won. We met the traitorous hordes of Bragg and Johnston and there by the stern argument of bloody steel, drove them from their entrenchments with tremendous loss and taught them that Yankee valor as well as Yankee rifles were not to be trifled with.

          I will now give you a synopsis of the fight as far as our brigade was concerned. On the 31st of December, our regiment was eating breakfast when the enemy made a desperate charge on the troops comprising Major General McCook’s command and drove them some distance. Nothing could be heard by the roar of the cannon, the clash of muskets, and the yells of the too-confident Rebels as they hurled their masses on our right flank.

          Our brigade was ordered forward on the double quick to the scene of action. Our battery being placed in position, they commenced to rake the enemy with a very galling fire. This was more than they could well put up with, so with yells as loud as devils let loose from pandemonium, they charged upon the battery [6th Ohio Battery] and with yells as loud as theirs, the 64th Ohio with fixed bayonets charged upon them. We drove the Rebels some distance and recovered the two pieces of artillery which they had captured from our battery. Showers of leaden hail poured upon us but our boys stood up to the work and piled the ground with their dead bodies.

Sgt George Howenstein
Co. K, 64th OVI

          All was going well with us when the Rebels with one giant effort broke the lines on our left and a whole Rebel division precipitated itself on our unfortunate brigade. Torrents of bullets passed into our fast thinning ranks; scores fell at every discharge but still undaunted we held our ground, disdaining to yield the field to the minions of Jeff Davis. At this moment the Rebels, perceiving an advantage, prepared to make the best use of it.

They planted a battery to bear upon our regiment, pouring volleys of grape and canister through our ranks. The carnage was frightful: the scene at that moment was sublimely terrific, the red flashes of the artillery as they vomited forth their iron hail, made still more terrific by the volumes of smoke that ascended from the scene of strife. Unable longer to stem the fire that was now poured upon us, we broke and fled before the enemy. Our company was badly cut off as were the others, but when we fell back, the Rebel sharpshooters made fearful havoc in our ranks. It was during the retreat that our brave and gallant Captain Joseph B. Sweet fell dead- a ball penetrated his brain.

“We went into battle about noon and were actually engaged about half an hour when we were ordered to fall back, which we did. Most of our men were killed on the retreat. We were exposed to a crossfire from the infantry as well as grape, canister, and shells from a battery. We were on a slight elevation in the field and they had a fair range at us which accounts for the great proportion killed in our company.” ~ Second Lt. John A. Gillis, Co. K, 64th Ohio 

We retreated about one-fourth of a mile and rallied in the woods. Reinforcements coming up, we drove the Rebels back, thus ending the long to be remembered 31st of December 1862. Our regiment lost 106 killed, wounded, and missing out of about 350 men, the number with which we entered the fight. The other regiments of our brigade suffered as equally severe. Our company lost with our captain five killed and seven wounded and taken prisoners.

Captain Joseph B. Sweet, Co. K, 64th O.V.I.
Killed in action December 31, 1862 

That night, our brigade was ordered on picket duty and it was then that we found that in other places the conflict had been equally severe. By the pale light of the moon, we could see that every ditch and gulley was filled with mangled corpses of men who had that morning entered the fight in the pride of their strength and in the enjoyment of health. The field was covered with the debris of the fight- guns, swords, broken down gun carriages, and dismounted cannons, all in one promiscuous wreck and ruin. I could dwell longer on this dreadful scene but you are doubtless tired already of so long an epistle.

To read more about Harker's Brigade at the Battle of Stones River, please check out these posts:

The Night Attack at Harker's Crossing (51st Indiana)

Diary Discoveries Podcast on Gillis McBane, 73rd Indiana 

A Missed Opportunity at Harker's Crossing (13th Michigan)

All the Fury of Demons: The 65th Ohio at Stones River 

Sources:

Letter from Private Ulysses Greene, Co. K, 64th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Bucyrus Journal (Ohio), February 6, 1863, pg. 3

Letter from Second Lieutenant John A. Gillis, Co. K, 64th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Bucyrus Journal (Ohio), January 30, 1863, pg. 3


To learn more about the Stones River campaign, be sure to check out my award winning ook "Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Stones River Campaign" available now from Savas Beatie.

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