The 56th Illinois was in reserve of Colonel S.A. Holmes’ brigade on Hamilton’s left. The front line fired a few volleys before falling back. The retreat soon became a rout, and they rushed pell-mell upon their comrades, running over men in every direction. The Confederates added to the confusion by turning captured cannon on the Union units still holding their ground.

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Green’s men swiftly drove through the hole in Rosecrans’ right. “My men pressed forward upon the enemy, and with heavy loss succeeded in getting into his works, having driven him from them, capturing more than forty pieces of artillery and forcing him to take refuge in the houses of the town and in every place that afforded protection from our galling fire,” Green reported. “He was followed and driven from house to house with great slaughter.” The Confederates penetrated so deeply into the town that hand-to-hand fighting occurred in the yard outside Rosecrans’ headquarters.

When he heard firing on his left, Maury ordered his division forward down Chewalla Road toward Batteries Robinett and Williams. Defending Battery Robinett was Colonel John Fuller’s Ohio Brigade of Stanley’s division. Fuller had all four regiments on line, with the 11th Missouri in reserve behind the 63rd Ohio.

About 11 a.m., Fuller saw Confederates approaching in three or four columns. At their appearance, the 30-pound Parrotts of Battery Robinett opened fire, as did a battery of field artillery. Fuller ordered his regiments to lie down and hold their fire unit the Confederates were close. When they were 100 yards away, Fuller’s line came to its feet and fired one volley.

Captain Oscar Jackson, commanding Company H of the 63rd Ohio, watched the Confederates fall back. “As the smoke cleared away, there was apparently ten yards square of a mass of struggling bodies and butternut clothes,” he said. “Their column appeared to reel like a rope shaken at the end.”

A second attack came, this one using a ravine to cover the advance. Emerging into sight at a run, the Confederates smashed into the 27th Ohio. That regiment fired one volley before the fighting became hand-to-hand. Fighting centered on the colors of the 9th Texas. A Confederate officer yelled for his men to protect their flag, but Private Orrin Gould of Company G made off with it, despite being shot in the chest.

During the first two attacks, the company that Colonel John W. Sprague of the 63rd Ohio had placed in front of Battery Robinett was all but wiped out. He turned to Jackson’s Company H to replace it. Jackson ordered his men to the left and moved into position. In his diary he recorded, “It was like moving into dead men’s shoes, for I had seen one company carried away from there on litters, but without a moment’s hesitation we moved up.”

A third attack appeared in sight. As it neared the Union line, it divided, one column, the 2nd Texas Legion under Colonel William Rogers, splitting off so it headed directly at Company H. Sprague asked if he could move the rest of his regiment to support Jackson, but Fuller refused.

Rogers, marching to the left of his men, turned about, walking with his back to the Union lines so he could address his men. “Boys, when you charge, give a good yell!” he urged. As the Confederates charged, a volley from Jackson’s company dropped the men in the front rank, bringing the attack to a temporary halt. Since most of his men did not have bayonets, Rogers rearranged his ranks, putting those who did in the front rank.

Jackson saw that the Confederates were about to charge before his men were finished reloading. “Don’t load, boys; they are too close on you; let them have the bayonet,” he shouted.

To check the Confederate momentum, Jackson ordered his handful of men forward. The two forces smashed into one another, with survival depending on the individual soldier’s skill with the bayonet.

Jackson continued to fire his pistol point-blank at Confederates until it was knocked from his hand with a musket, and he was thrown to the ground. Meanwhile, carrying the colors of the 2nd Texas Legion, Rogers marched forward to the parapet of Battery Robinett. As he planted the colors there, a Union drummer boy killed him with a pistol.

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