THE FEDERAL DEFENSE WAS crumbling not only on the right and center, but also on the extreme left, for Hardee was beginning to make brigade-sized attacks on Colonel Peabody’s brigade. From left to right the icily-tempered Colonel Peabody placed what was left of the Sixteenth Wisconsin, Colonel Benjamin Allen, Twenty-first Missouri, Lieutenant Colonel Humphrey Woodyard, Twelfth Michigan, Colonel Francis Quinn, and the Twenty-fifth Missouri, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Van Horn.1
Since the forming of this position around 7:30 a.m., after its withdrawal from Seay’s Field area, the Westerners had been catching fairly heavy fire from Shaver’s Brigade, and, to a lesser extent, from their first foe, Wood’s Brigade. For some reason the latter organization appears to have made a singularly slow advance, thus Shaver’s Brigade did most of the fighting along the Rhea Field.
Captain Charles Swett’s Battery opened up with its 6- and 12-pound guns as Shaver’s infantry moved forward.2 Shaver’s order of advance was the Seventh Arkansas, Lieutenant Colonel John Dean, Second Arkansas, Colonel Daniel C. Govan, Sixth Arkansas, Colonel Alexander Hawthorn, and Third Confederate, Colonel John Marmaduke.3 The Southern infantry held their fire while advancing in a tight linear formation.
Seventeen year old Private Henry Parker, Company E, Sixth Arkansas, wore some violets in his cap and naively remarked, “Perhaps the Yanks won’t shoot me if they see me wearing such flowers, for they are a sign of peace.” Unfortunately young Parker’s idea did not work, and he ended up with a badly smashed foot.4
Drawn up in double lines, Peabody’s soldiers had little to do but await the arrival of the enemy. Lieutenant Colonel Van Horn delayed giving an order until the Rebels were close enough to receive an effective fire. When they stepped into range, he gave the command: “Attention, battalion. Ready! Aim! Fire!” The blast of rifle fire stopped the Confederates’ charge cold, with the surviving Southerners either falling back in disorder or taking cover as best they could.
But now it was the Northerners’ turn to suffer, as the Confederate soldiers raked their line with musketry. Van Horn’s men held, but Confederate troops turned the right of the brigade, and soon the Federals were falling back to a new position in front of their camp site. By this time Colonel Peabody was no longer alone. His left flank was protected by the rest of the division: Miller’s brigade deployed along the north end of the Spain Field and two supporting artillery batteries, Munch’s and Hickenlooper’s.
From left to right, Miller arranged his Eighteenth Wisconsin, Colonel James Alban, Sixty-first Illinois, Colonel Jacob Fry, and the Eighteenth Missouri, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Pratt. It was a good position, since any advancing Confederate troops would have to come up a sharp slope, while Hickenlooper’s Battery, located just to the right rear of the brigade, dropped explosives on their heads. Peabody’s brigade was deployed on the other side of the Eastern Corinth Road, with Munch’s First Minnesota Battery immediately to their rear. There was a plowed field and a few scattered trees in front. The infantry had the protection of a slight swell in the ground along the edge of the trees.5