December 31, 1862 Wednesday
The Confederates at Murfreesboro, Tennessee had awaited assault from Rosecrans’ advancing Federal army, but it had not come on the thirtieth. Now both generals resolved to attack on the last day of the year. Bragg was to swing with his left to crush the Federal right flank; Rosecrans was to swing in much the same way. But Bragg got the initiative and immediately after dawn Hardee’s reinforced Southern corps opened strongly on the Federal right. From the beginning the Federals were on the defensive. The Confederate divisions wheeled into line and the Federals wheeled with them, holding for a time until, after several assaults on the Northern flank, the Federals were forced back to the Murfreesboro-Nashville Pike and pinned with their backs against Stone’s River. Rosecrans’ offensive was called off and by noon he had a strong defensive line along the turnpike. Assaults continued until late afternoon, but the Federals did not break. Casualties of the assaulting Confederates had been heavy but success was theirs. After the day-long fight the armies remained on the field within range of each other; the Confederates entrenching, the Federals conferring. They could withdraw toward Nashville, for the road was still open; they could stay along the road with their backs to the river. Rosecrans, supported by George H. Thomas, decided to stay. Confederate cavalry under Joseph Wheeler (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wheeler ) had been active all day, riding completely around the Federal army, seizing wagons and supplies and fighting skirmishes. The armies rested as the early December evening fell upon the battlefield (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stones_River and
http://markerhunter.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/ for battlefield preservation history and
http://www.civilwaralbum.com/stonesriver/index.htm for pictures). Brigadier General James Edward Rains (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Edward_Rains ), CSA, is killed instantly by a rifle shot while leading his command in a charge against a Federal artillery battery during the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee. Brigadier General Joshua Woodrow Sill (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Woodrow_Sill ), USA, is killed instantly while leading his command during the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee. Brigadier General Edward Needles Kirk (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_N._Kirk ), USA, is mortally wounded while leading his command during the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee. He dies at home in Sterling, Illinois, on July 29, 1863..
Sherman continued to explore various plans for assaulting the bluffs at Vicksburg from Chickasaw Bayou. There was an affair at Muldraugh’s Hill in Kentucky and a skirmish at Overall’s Creek, Tennessee; as well as an affair at Plaquemine, Louisiana that lasted until Jan 3. At Parker’s Store or Cross Roads, Tennessee near Lexington, Forrest, attempting to escape Federal pursuers after his successful raid on Grant’s lines, found his way blocked. He managed to push forward, but then was hit also from behind. Forrest was beaten, losing three hundred prisoners, guns, horses, and materiel of war he had captured. But his command managed to escape (
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/pa ... dsmap.html and
http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc/parkers.htm ). Confederate John S. Marmaduke (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._Marmaduke ) began a month-long raid from Arkansas into Missouri.
In Washington, President Lincoln met with his Cabinet to make final adjustments in the Emancipation Proclamation. Burnside, called for court-martial testimony, met with the President. Mr Lincoln approved an act admitting West Virginia into the Union as the thirty-fifth state, and also signed an agreement with a promoter for a colony of free Negroes on Ile a Vache, Haiti.
President Davis wired his Secretary of War from Mobile, “Guns and ammunition most effective against iron clads needed at Vicksburg and Port Hudson. Very much depends upon prompt supply.”
The Confederate embargo, the capture of New Orleans, and the Union Navy's blockade combined to curtail greatly the export of the South's major product, cotton. Meanwhile, the North's control of the seas, threatened only by a few Confederate commerce raiders, granted the Union access to the world markets for the importation of war materials and exportation of produce such as wheat, which was a major factor in deterring European powers from recognizing the Confederacy.