page_title: Nicholas Greusel
section_title: Perryville–Stones River
hierarchical_section_title: Nicholas Greusel / Civil War / Perryville–Stones River
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Battle of Perryville of the American Civil War
context_page_description: Nicholas Greusel commanded the 36th Illinois Infantry Regiment during the early part of the American Civil War. As a teenager, he emigrated from the Kingdom of Bavaria to the United States. Later moving to Detroit, he was elected to political office for two years. He led a Michigan volunteer company during the Mexican-American War and later moved to Illinois. At the start of the Civil War he joined a three-month Illinois regiment, rising to field officer rank before the state governor appointed him colonel of the 36th Illinois. He led a brigade at the battles of Pea Ridge and Perryville and at the Siege of Corinth. At the Battle of Stones River he assumed command of the brigade when its commander was killed. He resigned because of poor health soon after Stones River and worked for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. He espoused pacifism in his later years.
context_section_description: At the Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862, Greusel commanded the 37th Brigade in Philip Sheridan's 11th Division, Charles Champion Gilbert's III Corps, Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio. The brigade included the 36th Illinois, 88th Illinois, 21st Michigan, and 24th Wisconsin Regiments. According to one source, the brigade sustained losses of 15 killed, 124 wounded, and four missing. A second source recorded losses of 12 killed, 61 wounded, and four missing in the 36th Illinois, eight killed and 35 wounded in the 88th Illinois, 22 wounded in the 21st Michigan, and one killed in the 24th Wisconsin. On the late afternoon of October 7, Greusel's brigade was committed to help the Federal cavalrymen, causing the Confederate horsemen under Joseph Wheeler to pull back. At 4:00 pm on October 8, three Confederate regiments launched an ill-considered attack on Sheridan's division perched on Peters Hill. They were stopped cold by the 36th Illinois which rose up suddenly and fired a volley. A firefight ensued at 100 ft (30 m) range across a cornfield with the 88th Illinois on the right of the 36th Illinois and Daniel McCook Jr.'s brigade on its left. Presently, the 36th Illinois ran out of ammunition and withdrew, to be replaced one of McCook's regiments. Meanwhile, Sheridan moved the 24th Wisconsin to the far left and the Confederate line soon collapsed after suffering 200–300 casualties. The 21st Michigan remained in support of Charles M. Barnett's Battery I, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery. 
    
  At the Battle of Stones River on December 31, 1862–January 2, 1863, Greusel commanded the 36th Illinois in Joshua W. Sill's 1st Brigade, Sheridan's 3rd Division, Alexander McDowell McCook's Right Wing, William Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland. The regiments were the same as at Perryville. The brigade suffered losses of 104 killed, 365 wounded, and 200 missing. An hour after the Confederates attacked McCook's right flank on the morning of December 31, five Union brigades were fleeing in confusion or panic. At some time after 7:00 am, the last of Jefferson C. Davis's brigades and Sheridan's division began to come under attack. They were facing east and southeast. The 24th Wisconsin disintegrated at the first blow, leaving a gap on the right of the 36th Illinois. When the 19th Alabama approached within 50 yd (46 m), the Illinoisans blasted them with a volley. For a half hour, the two regiments blazed away at each other before the 19th Alabama began edging backward. Greusel ordered a counterattack with fixed bayonets and routed the Confederates. During the first clash, Sill was shot dead and Greusel assumed leadership of the brigade, with Silas Miller taking command of the 36th Illinois.   
  For 90 minutes, Sheridan's three brigades fought seven Confederate brigades to a deadlock, in what some would call "the most determined stand of the entire war". At 8:00 am, Davis's last brigade was finally bludgeoned into retreat. Arthur Middleton Manigault's Confederate brigade attacked and was repulsed. Out of ammunition and unable to secure 0.67 caliber cartridges (0.58 caliber was standard issue), the 36th Illinois was given permission to withdraw. It had lost 46 killed, 151 wounded, and 15 missing. Sheridan pulled back to a second position, sending the 88th Illinois and 21st Michigan to hold a position near the Harding farm. At 8:30 am, the brigades of Manigault and George Maney attacked the new position. Taking up a third position, Sheridan swung Greusel's brigade back to the Blanton house where the 24th Wisconsin had rallied. Around 10:00 am, Sheridan was compelled to order a retreat because his soldiers were out of ammunition. By this time, the division was bent into a V with Greusel's brigade facing west. McCook appeared and ordered Greusel to withdraw without consulting Sheridan. This badly-timed command resulted in the Confederate seizure of six guns from Charles Houghtaling's Battery C, 1st Illinois Light Artillery. At 2:00 pm, the 36th Illinois took a position in reserve near the Round Forest. 
  On January 2, 1863 after several days of fig
caption: Battle of Perryville, 4 pm: Powel's attack on Sheridan's division. 35 IL should read 36 IL.
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