he tide of battle, driving the rear forward upon
the front, where the Fourth Cavalry struck it with drawn sabers. The rout
of the Confederates was complete. The entire train, with 250 prisoners,
were recaptured. The hospital of Palmer's division, which had fallen into
their hands, as well as the Fifth Wisconsin Battery, and one section of
the First Ohio, were recaptured, and Wharton's Brigade routed and driven
back two miles. The Third Ohio easily rallied and took part in the fray.
Captain Otis' saber charge was brilliantly executed. Dashing forward with
the velocity of a locomotive, the trained battalions fell upon the
undisciplined mob huddled together at the head of the train where Murray
had swept them in his irresistible onslaught. The train was moved close up
in the rear of the left wing, where it remained unmolested during the
remainder of the day. In a battle such as that at Stones River, where a
long line of troops is engaged simultaneously, it is impossible to give
due credit to each regiment that deserves it. The writer witnessed scenes
of personal daring which to recount would occupy the night in the
description. There were many instances in which officers, casting aside
their swords, seized the muskets of their fallen soldiers, and fought side
by side with their men. Entire companies fought without officers. In great
emergencies such as this there is positively no rank except that which
valor bestows. Orders to fall back were in several cases unheeded, and the
men held their places in line under the leaden hail, obstinately refusing
to retreat. It was not merely a line of battle, but a Nation in arms,
repelling, with a Nation's pride, this bold assault of its rebellious sons
upon its life.

Darkness covered the battle-field. The roar of artillery, the rattle of
musketry, the hoarse shouts of command had ceased, and in the silence that
followed there fell upon the ears of the soldiers on picket the groans of
men in mortal agony lying within the space that separated the lines. In
rear of the pickets men sank upon the ground where they stood and shivered
through the night without fires, for the faintest flash of light on either
side became a target for alert artillerists. A cup of hot coffee, that
_Dominus donari_ to the weary soldier, on this night of all nights when he
needed it most, was denied him. All through the night the ambulances
passed to and fro on the road to the hospitals, where further torture
awa