Assault From The Bottom House

Outnumbered Union soldiers of the 3rd Ohio Infantry Regiment, holding the southern end of the Federal defensive line on a hill across the road, faced repeated Confederate attacks. A brigade led by Brigadier General Bushrod Johnson charged uphill, but the Union defenders stopped the advance halfway up the slope, forcing the Confederates to take shelter behind a stone wall. The two sides fought for more than an hour until Johnson's men ran out of ammunition and withdrew. Another Confederate brigade under Brigadier General Patrick Cleburne then attacked as Southern artillery bombarded the hilltop. The Union line held again, but an artillery shell struck a hay-filled barn at the end of the Federal position, setting it ablaze. As flames and smoke engulfed the building, several wounded Federal soldiers who had crawled inside perished in the fire.

Kentucky · United States