As part of the Stones River campaign on December 29, 1862, Col. Charles Harker’s brigade (Maj. Gen. Crittenden’s Left Wing, Union Army of the Cumberland) crossed the Stones River at a ford near the base of Wayne’s Hill. Harker’s men drove in the enemy’s skirmishers only to find themselves facing a massive Confederate presence (Hardee’s Corps). Harker’s men pulled back while under fire and somehow avoided bringing on a general engagement that might have spelled doom for one third of the Union army.