Gen. Don Carlos Buell assumed command of the Army of the Ohio in November 1861, and in an attempt to consolidate Union control over the surrounding area, organized a spate of troop movements into the field.

Meanwhile, the Confederate Western Department, under General Albert Sidney Johnston, set up a defensive line along the Green River near Munfordville, Kentucky.

Gen. Richard W. Johnson ordered troops toward the Confederate lines near Munfordville to secure the Louisville and Nashville Railroad bridge spanning the Green River.

Gen. Thomas C. Hindman, which included a Confederate force of Terry's Texas Rangers, Arkansas infantry, and Mississippi artillery, responded by blowing up the south pier of the railroad bridge and about 100 feet (30 m) of track.

[1][7] A detachment of Union companies from the 32nd Indiana (fewer than 500 men) under Lt. Col. Henry von Trebra fought 1,300 Confederate troops, including Terry's Texas Rangers, the Mississippi artillery, and the Arkansas infantry under Brig.

[9] Col. Willich, who was away at division headquarters at the beginning of the battle, returned in time to order a withdrawal to a stronger position in the rear; Brig.

[1] Casualties from both sides were scattered over a wide area, making recovery and the accounting of those lost, wounded, or missing a difficult task.

[11] In the weeks following the battle, the 32nd Indiana gained nationwide recognition in the newspapers for its stand against Confederate forces at Rowlett's Station.

The battle was one of the few times during the Civil War when the Union infantry successfully defended itself in the open against repeated Confederate cavalry assaults.

It was relocated indoors at the Frazier History Museum in Louisville in August 2010 as a long-term loan from the National Cemetery Administration.