The Cowan house was in the midst of the area dubbed "Hell's Half Acre" by the soldiers who fought there. It sat east of the Round Forest, which was the position held by Col. William B. Hazen's Union brigade. On December 31, 1862, the Confederates launched four unsuccessful attacks across those fields to break the left flank of the Union line. One the reasons for the failure of these attacks was the intereference of the Cowan house and it's outbuildings. Each battle line had to split and lose momentum within close range of the Union lines.

The Confederates knew this would happen prior to the battle, which is why they tried to burn the house and other buildings down. They failed because of the rainy weather preceding the battle.