“Enemy Retreating! Glorious Result!! Our Boys following and peppering their Rear!! A complete Victory!”
The bell-ringers rang jubilant peals, and the citizens shook hands over the good news as they went to church. Services had hardly commenced, when a horseman dashed through the streets, covered with mud, and almost breathless from hard riding, shouting, “Fort Donelson has surrendered, and the Yankees are coming!”
The people poured out from the churches and their houses into the street. Such hurrying to and fro was never seen. Men, women, and children ran here and there, not knowing what to do,imagining that the Yankees would murder them. They began to pack their goods. Carts, wagons, carriages, drays, wheelbarrows,—all were loaded. Strong men were pale with fear, women wrung their hands, and children cried.
Before noon Generals Floyd and Pillow arrived on steamboats. The people crowded round the renegade officers, and called for a speech. General Floyd went out upon the balcony of the hotel, and said:—
“Fellow-Citizens: This is not the time for speaking, but for action. It is a time when every man should enlist for the war. Not a day is to be lost. We had only ten thousand effective men, who fought four days and nights against forty thousand of the enemy. But nature could hold out no longer. The men required rest, and having lost one third of my gallant force I was compelled to retire. We have left a thousand of the enemy dead on the field. General Johnston has not slept a wink for three nights; he is all worn out, but he is acting wisely. He is going to entice the Yankees into the mountain gaps, away from the rivers and the gunboats, and then drive them back, and carry the war into the enemy’s country.”[7]
General Johnston’s army, retreating from Bowling Green, began to pass through the city. Thesoldiers did not stop, but passed on towards the South. The people had thought that General Johnston would defend the place, the capital of the State; but when they saw that the troops were retreating, they recklessly abandoned their homes. It was a wild night in Nashville. The Rebels had two gunboats nearly completed, which were set on fire. The Rebel storehouses were thrown open to the poor people, who rushed pell-mell to help themselves to pork, flour, molasses, and sugar. A great deal was destroyed. After Johnston’s army had crossed the river, the beautiful and costly wire suspension bridge which spanned it was cut down. It cost two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and belonged to the daughters of the Rebel General Zollicoffer, who was killed at the battle of Mill Springs in Kentucky. The Rebel officers undertook to carry off the immense supplies of food which had been accumulated; but in the panic, barrels of meat and flour, sacks of coffee, hogsheads of sugar were rolled into the streets and trampled into the mire. Millions of dollars’ worth were lost to the Confederacy. The farmers in the country feared that they would lose their slaves, and from all the section round they hurried the poor creatures towards the South, hoping to find a place where they would be secure.
Throughout the South there was gloom anddespondency. But all over the North there was great rejoicing. Everybody praised the brave soldiers who had fought so nobly. There were public meetings, speeches, processions, illuminations and bonfires, and devout thanksgivings to God.
The deeds of the brave men of the West were praised in poetry and song. Some stanzas were published in the Atlantic Monthly in Boston, which are so beautiful that I think you will thank me for quoting them.
“O gales that dash the Atlantic’s swellAlong our rocky shores,Whose thunders diapason wellNew England’s glad hurrahs,“Bear to the prairies of the WestThe echoes of our joy,The prayer that springs in every breast,—‘God bless thee, Illinois!’“O awful hours, when grape and shellTore through the unflinching line!‘Stand firm! remove the men who fell!Close up, and wait the sign.’“It came at last, ‘Now, lads, the steel!’The rushing hosts deploy;‘Charge, boys!’—the broken traitors reel,—Huzza for Illinois!“In vain thy rampart, Donelson,The living torrent bars,It leaps the wall, the fort is won,Up go the Stripes and Stars.“Thy proudest mother’s eyelids fill,As dares her gallant boy,And Plymouth Rock and Bunker HillYearn to thee, Illinois.”
“O gales that dash the Atlantic’s swellAlong our rocky shores,Whose thunders diapason wellNew England’s glad hurrahs,“Bear to the prairies of the WestThe echoes of our joy,The prayer that springs in every breast,—‘God bless thee, Illinois!’“O awful hours, when grape and shellTore through the unflinching line!‘Stand firm! remove the men who fell!Close up, and wait the sign.’“It came at last, ‘Now, lads, the steel!’The rushing hosts deploy;‘Charge, boys!’—the broken traitors reel,—Huzza for Illinois!“In vain thy rampart, Donelson,The living torrent bars,It leaps the wall, the fort is won,Up go the Stripes and Stars.“Thy proudest mother’s eyelids fill,As dares her gallant boy,And Plymouth Rock and Bunker HillYearn to thee, Illinois.”
“O gales that dash the Atlantic’s swellAlong our rocky shores,Whose thunders diapason wellNew England’s glad hurrahs,
“Bear to the prairies of the WestThe echoes of our joy,The prayer that springs in every breast,—‘God bless thee, Illinois!’
“O awful hours, when grape and shellTore through the unflinching line!‘Stand firm! remove the men who fell!Close up, and wait the sign.’
“It came at last, ‘Now, lads, the steel!’The rushing hosts deploy;‘Charge, boys!’—the broken traitors reel,—Huzza for Illinois!
“In vain thy rampart, Donelson,The living torrent bars,It leaps the wall, the fort is won,Up go the Stripes and Stars.
“Thy proudest mother’s eyelids fill,As dares her gallant boy,And Plymouth Rock and Bunker HillYearn to thee, Illinois.”
Onthe 6th and 7th of April, 1862, one of the greatest battles of the war was fought near Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee, on the west bank of the Tennessee River, about twelve miles from the northeast corner of the State of Mississippi. The Rebels call it the battle of Shiloh, because it was fought near Shiloh Church. I did not see the terrible contest, but I reached the place soon after the fight, in season to see the guns, cannon, wagons, knapsacks, cartridge-boxes, which were scattered over the ground, and the newly-made graves where the dead had just been buried. I was in camp upon the field several weeks, and saw the woods, the plains, hills, ravines. Officers and men who were in the fight pointed out the places where they stood, showed me where the Rebels advanced, where their batteries were, how they advanced and retreated, how the tide of victory ebbed and flowed. Having been so early on the ground, and having listened to the stories of a great many persons, I shall try to give youa correct account. It will be a difficult task, however, for the stories are conflicting. No two persons see a battle alike; each has his own stand-point. He sees what takes place around him. No other one will tell a story like his. Men have different temperaments. One is excited, and another is cool and collected. Men live fast in battle. Every nerve is excited, every sense intensified, and it is only by taking the accounts of different observers that an accurate view can be obtained.
After the capture of Fort Donelson, you remember that General Johnston retreated through Nashville towards the South. A few days later the Rebels evacuated Columbus on the Mississippi. They were obliged to concentrate their forces. They saw that Memphis would be the next point of attack, and they must defend it. All of their energies were aroused. The defeat of the Union army at Bull Run, you remember, caused a great uprising of the North, and so the fall of Donelson stirred the people of the South.
If you look at the map of Tennessee, you will notice, about twenty miles from Pittsburg Landing, the town of Corinth. It is at the junction of the Memphis and Charleston and the Mobile and Ohio Railroads, which made it an important place to the Rebels.
“Corinth must be defended,” said the Memphis newspapers.
Pittsburg Landing and Vicinity.Pittsburg Landing and Vicinity.
Governor Harris of Tennessee issued a proclamation calling upon the people to enlist.
“As Governor of your State, and Commander-in-Chief of its army, I call upon every able-bodied man of the State, without regard to age, to enlist in its service. I command him who can obtain a weapon to march with our armies. I ask him who can repair or forge an arm to make it ready at once for the soldier.”
“As Governor of your State, and Commander-in-Chief of its army, I call upon every able-bodied man of the State, without regard to age, to enlist in its service. I command him who can obtain a weapon to march with our armies. I ask him who can repair or forge an arm to make it ready at once for the soldier.”
General Beauregard was sent in great haste to the West by Jeff Davis, who hoped that the fame and glory which he had won by attacking Fort Sumter and at Bull Run would rouse the peopleof the Southwest and save the failing fortunes of the Confederacy.
To Corinth came the flower of the Southern army. All other points were weakened to save Corinth. From Pensacola came General Bragg and ten thousand Alabamians, who had watched for many months the little frowning fortress on Santa Rosa Island. The troops which had been at Mobile to resist the landing of General Butler from Ship Island were hastened north upon the trains of the Mobile and Ohio road. General Beauregard called upon the Governors of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana for additional troops.
General Polk, who had been a bishop before the war, sent down two divisions from Columbus on the Mississippi. General Johnston with his retreating army hastened on, and thus all the Rebel troops in the Southwestern States were mustered at Corinth.
The call to take up arms was responded to everywhere; old men and boys came trooping into the place. They came from Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. Beauregard labored with unremitting energy to create an army which would be powerful enough to drive back the Union troops, recover Tennessee, and invade Kentucky.
General Grant, after the capture of Donelson, moved his army, on steamboats, down the Cumberlandand up the Tennessee, to Pittsburg Landing. He made his head-quarters at Savannah, a small town ten miles below Pittsburg Landing, on the east side of the river.
General Buell, who had followed General Johnston through Nashville with the army of the Ohio, was slowly making his way across the country to join General Grant. The Rebel generals had the railroads, by which they could rapidly concentrate their troops, and they determined to attack General Grant at Pittsburg, with their superior force, before General Buell could join him. Beauregard had his pickets within four miles of General Grant’s force, and he could move his entire army within striking distance before General Grant would know of his danger. He calculated that he could annihilate General Grant, drive him into the river, or force him to surrender, capture all of his cannon, wagons, ammunition, provisions, steamboats,—everything,—by a sudden stroke. If he succeeded, he could then move against General Buell, destroy his army, and not only recover all that had been lost, but he would also redeem Kentucky and invade Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
All but one division of General Grant’s army was at Pittsburg. Two miles above the Landing the river begins to make its great eastern bend. Lick Creek comes in from the west, at the bend.Three miles below Pittsburg is Snake Creek, which also comes in from the west. Five miles further down is Crump’s Landing. General Lewis Wallace’s division was near Crump’s, but the other divisions were between the two creeks. The banks of the river are seventy-five feet high, and the country is a succession of wooded hills, with numerous ravines. There are a few clearings and farm-houses, but it is nearly all forest,—tall oak-trees, with here and there thickets of underbrush. The farmers cultivate a little corn, cotton, and tobacco. The country has been settled many years, but is almost as wild as when the Indians possessed the land.
Pittsburg is the nearest point to Corinth on the river. The road from the Landing winds up the bank, passes along the edge of a deep ravine, and leads southwest. As you go up the road, you come to a log-cabin about a mile from the river. There is a peach-orchard near by. There the roads fork. The left-hand road takes you to Hamburg, the middle one is the Ridge road to Corinth, and the third is the road to Shiloh Church, called also the Lower Corinth road. There are other openings in the woods,—old cotton-fields. Three miles out from the river you come to Shiloh Church. A clear brook, which is fed by springs, gurgles over a sandy bed, close by the church. You fill your canteen,and find it excellent water. On Sunday noons, the people who come to church sit down beneath the grand old trees, eat their dinners, and drink from the brook.
It is not such a church as you see in your own village. It has no tall steeple or tapering spire, no deep-toned bell, no organ, no singing-seats or gallery, no pews or carpeted aisles. It is built of logs. It was chinked with clay years ago, but the rains have washed it out. You can thrust your hand between the cracks. It is thirty or forty feet square. It has places for windows, but there are no sashes, and of course no glass. As you stand within, you can see up to the roof, supported by hewn rafters, and covered with split shingles, which shake and rattle when the wind blows. It is the best-ventilated church you ever saw. It has no pews, but only rough seats for the congregation. A great many of the churches of this section of the country are no better than this. Slavery does not build neat churches and school-houses, as a general thing. Around this church the battle raged fearfully.
Not far from the church, a road leads northeast towards Crump’s Landing, and another northwest towards the town of Purdy. By the church, along the road leading down to the Landing, at the peach-orchard, and in the ravines you find the battle-ground.
General Johnston was senior commander of the Rebel army. He had Beauregard, Bragg, Polk, Hardee, Cheatham,—all Major-Generals, who had been educated at West Point, at the expense of the United States. They were considered to be the ablest generals in the Rebel service. General Breckenridge was there. He was Vice-President under Buchanan, and was but a few weeks out of his seat in the Senate of the United States. He was, you remember, the slaveholders’ candidate for President in 1860. Quite likely he felt very sour against the Northern people, because he was not elected President.
The Rebel army numbered between forty and fifty thousand men. General Johnston worked with all his might to organize into brigades the troops which were flocking in from all quarters. It was of the utmost importance that the attack should be made before General Buell joined General Grant. The united and concentrated forces of Beauregard, Bragg, and Johnston outnumbered Grant’s army by fifteen thousand. General Van Dorn, with thirty thousand men, was expected from Arkansas. They were to come by steamboat to Memphis, and were to be transported to Corinth by the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; but Van Dorn was behind time, and, unless the attack was made at once, it would be too late, for the combined armies of Grant and Buell would outnumberthe Rebels. At midnight, on the 1st of April, Johnston learned that General Buell’s advance divisions were within two or three days’ march of Savannah. He immediately issued his orders to his corps commanders, directing the routes which each was to take in advancing towards Pittsburg.
The troops began their march on Thursday morning. They were in excellent spirits. They cheered, swung their hats, and marched with great enthusiasm. The Rebel officers, who knew the situation, the ground where General Grant was encamped, believed that his army would be annihilated. They assured the troops it would be a great and glorious victory.
The distance was only eighteen miles, and General Johnston intended to strike the blow at daylight on Saturday morning, but it rained hard Friday night, and the roads in the morning were so muddy that the artillery could not move. It was late Saturday afternoon before his army was in position. It was too near night to make the attack. He examined the ground, distributed ammunition, posted the artillery, gave the men extra rations, and waited for Sunday morning.
The Union army rested in security. No intrenchments were thrown up on the hills and along the ridges. No precautions were taken against surprise. The officers and soldiers did not dream of being attacked. They were unprepared.The divisions were not in order for battle. They were preparing to advance upon Corinth, and were to march when General Halleck, who was at St. Louis, commanding the department, should take the field.
On the evening of Friday the pickets on the Corinth road, two miles out from Shiloh Church, were fired upon. A body of Rebels rushed through the woods, and captured several officers and men. The Seventieth, Seventy-second, and Forty-eighth Ohio, of General Sherman’s division, were sent out upon a reconnoissance. They came upon a couple of Rebel regiments, and, after a sharp action, drove them back to a Rebel battery, losing three or four prisoners and taking sixteen. General Lewis Wallace ordered out his division, and moved up from Crump’s Landing a mile or two, and the troops stood under arms in the rain, that poured in torrents through the night, to be ready for an attack from that direction; but nothing came of it. There was more skirmishing on Saturday,—a continual firing along the picket lines. All supposed that the Rebels were making a reconnoissance. No one thought that one of the greatest battles of the war was close at hand. General Grant went down the river to Savannah on Saturday night. The troops dried their clothes in the sun, cooked their suppers, told their evening stories, and put out their lights at tattoo, as usual.
To get at the position of General Grant’s army, let us start from Pittsburg Landing. It is a very busy place at the Landing. Forty or fifty steamboats are there, and hundreds of men are rolling out barrels of sugar, bacon, pork, beef, boxes of bread, bundles of hay, and thousands of sacks of corn. There are several hundred wagons waiting to transport the supplies to the troops. A long train winds up the hill towards the west.
Ascending the hill, you come to the forks of the roads. The right-hand road leads to Crump’s Landing. You see General Smith’s old division, which took the rifle-pits at Donelson, on the right-hand side of the road in the woods. It is commanded now by W. H. L. Wallace, who has been made a Brigadier-General for his heroism at Donelson. There have been many changes of commanders since that battle. Colonels who commanded regiments there are now brigade commanders.
Keeping along the Shiloh road a few rods, you come to the road which leads to Hamburg. Instead of turning up that, you keep on a little farther to the Ridge road, leading to Corinth. General Prentiss’s division is on that road, two miles out, towards the southwest. Instead of taking that road, you still keep on the right-hand one, travelling nearly west all the while, and you come to McClernand’s division, which is encampedin a long line on both sides of the road. Here you see Dresser’s, Taylor’s, Schwartz’s, and McAllister’s batteries, and all those regiments which fought so determinedly at Donelson. They face northwest. Their line is a little east of the church.
Passing over to the church, you see that a number of roads centre there,—one coming in from the northwest, which will take you to Purdy; one from the northeast, which will carry you to Crump’s Landing; the road up which you have travelled from Pittsburg Landing; one from the southeast, which will take you to Hamburg; and one from the southwest, which is the lower road to Corinth.
You see, close by the church, on both sides of this lower road to Corinth, General Sherman’s division, not facing northwest, but nearly south. McClernand’s left and Sherman’s left are close together. They form the two sides of a triangle, the angle being at the left wings. They are in a very bad position to be attacked.
Take the Hamburg road now, and go southeast two miles and you come to the crossing of the Ridge road to Corinth, where you will find General Prentiss’s division, before mentioned. Keeping on, you come to Lick Creek. It has high, steep banks. It is fordable at this point, and Colonel Stuart’s brigade of Sherman’s division isthere, guarding the crossing. The brook which gurgles past the church empties into the creek. You see that Prentiss’s entire division, and the left wing of McClernand’s, is between Stuart’s brigade and the rest of Sherman’s division. There are detached regiments encamped in the woods near the Landing, which have just arrived, and have not been brigaded. There are also two regiments of cavalry in rear of these lines. There are several pieces of siege artillery on the top of the hill near the Landing, but there are no artillerists or gunners to serve them.
You see that the army does not expect to be attacked. The cavalry ought to be out six or eight miles on picket; but they are here, the horses quietly eating their oats. The infantry pickets ought to be out three or four miles, but they are not a mile and a half advanced from the camp. The army is in a bad position to resist a sudden attack from a superior force. McClernand ought not to be at right angles with Sherman, Stuart ought not to be separated from his division by Prentiss, and General Lewis Wallace is too far away to render prompt assistance. Besides, General Grant is absent, and there is no commander-in-chief on the field. You wonder that no preparations have been make to resist an attack, no breastworks thrown up, no proper disposition of the forces, no extended reconnoissances by thecavalry, and that, after the skirmishing on Friday and Saturday, all hands should lie down so quietly in their tents on Saturday night. They did not dream that fifty thousand Rebels were ready to strike them at daybreak.
General Johnston’s plan of attack was submitted to his corps commanders and approved by them. It was to hurl the entire army upon Prentiss and Sherman. He had four lines of troops, extending from Lick Creek on the right to the southern branch of Snake Creek on the left, a distance of about two miles and a half.
The front line was composed of Major-General Hardee’s entire corps, with General Gladden’s brigade of Bragg’s corps added on the right. The artillery was placed in front, followed closely by the infantry. Squadrons of cavalry were thrown out on both wings to sweep the woods and drive in the Union pickets.
About five hundred yards in rear of Hardee was the second line, Bragg’s corps in the same order as Hardee’s. Eight hundred yards in rear of Bragg was General Polk, his left wing supported by cavalry, his batteries in position to advance at a moment’s notice. The reserve, under General Breckenridge, followed close upon Polk. Breckenridge’s and Polk’s corps were both reckoned as reserves. They had instructions to act as they thought best. There were from ten to twelve thousand men in each line.
The Rebel troops had received five days’ rations on Friday,—meat and bread in their haversacks. They were not permitted to kindle a fire except in holes in the ground. No loud talking was allowed; no drums beat the tattoo, no bugle-note rang through the forest. They rolled themselves in their blankets, knowing at daybreak they were to strike the terrible blow. They were confident of success. They were assured by their officers it would be an easy victory, and that on Sunday night they should sleep in the Yankee camp, eat Yankee bread, drink real coffee, and have new suits of clothes.
In the evening General Johnston called his corps commanders around his bivouac fire for a last talk before the battle. Although Johnston was commander-in-chief, Beauregard planned the battle. Johnston was Beauregard’s senior, but the battle-ground was in Beauregard’s department. He gave directions to the officers.
Mr. William G. Stevenson, of Kentucky, who was in Arkansas when the war broke out, was impressed into the Rebel service. He acted as specialaide-de-campto General Breckenridge in that battle. He escaped from the Rebel service a few months later, and has published an interesting narrative of what he saw.[8]He stood outside the circle of generals waiting by his horsein the darkness to carry any despatch for his commander. He gives this description of the scene:—
“In an open space, with a dim fire in the midst, and a drum on which to write, you could see grouped around their ‘Little Napoleon,’ as Beauregard was sometimes fondly called, ten or twelve generals, the flickering light playing over their eager faces, while they listened to his plans, and made suggestions as to the conduct of the fight.“Beauregard soon warmed with his subject, and, throwing off his cloak, to give free play to his arms, he walked about the group, gesticulating rapidly, and jerking out his sentences with a strong French accent. All listened attentively, and the dim light, just revealing their countenances, showed their different emotions of confidence or distrust of his plans.“General Sidney Johnston stood apart from the rest, with his tall, straight form standing out like a spectre against the dim sky, and the illusion was fully sustained by the light-gray military cloak which he folded around him. His face was pale, but wore a determined expression, and at times he drew nearer the centre of the ring, and said a few words, which were listened to with great attention. It may be he had some foreboding of the fate he was to meet on the morrow,for he did not seem to take much part in the discussion.“General Breckenridge lay stretched out on a blanket near the fire, and occasionally sat upright and added a few words of counsel. General Bragg spoke frequently, and with earnestness. General Polk sat on a camp-stool at the outside of the circle, and held his head between his hands, buried in thought. Others reclined or sat in various positions.“For two hours the council lasted, and as it broke up, and the generals were ready to return to their respective commands, I heard General Beauregard say, raising his hand and pointing in the direction of the Federal camp, whose drums we could plainly hear, ‘Gentlemen, we sleep in the enemy’s camp to-morrow night.’”
“In an open space, with a dim fire in the midst, and a drum on which to write, you could see grouped around their ‘Little Napoleon,’ as Beauregard was sometimes fondly called, ten or twelve generals, the flickering light playing over their eager faces, while they listened to his plans, and made suggestions as to the conduct of the fight.
“Beauregard soon warmed with his subject, and, throwing off his cloak, to give free play to his arms, he walked about the group, gesticulating rapidly, and jerking out his sentences with a strong French accent. All listened attentively, and the dim light, just revealing their countenances, showed their different emotions of confidence or distrust of his plans.
“General Sidney Johnston stood apart from the rest, with his tall, straight form standing out like a spectre against the dim sky, and the illusion was fully sustained by the light-gray military cloak which he folded around him. His face was pale, but wore a determined expression, and at times he drew nearer the centre of the ring, and said a few words, which were listened to with great attention. It may be he had some foreboding of the fate he was to meet on the morrow,for he did not seem to take much part in the discussion.
“General Breckenridge lay stretched out on a blanket near the fire, and occasionally sat upright and added a few words of counsel. General Bragg spoke frequently, and with earnestness. General Polk sat on a camp-stool at the outside of the circle, and held his head between his hands, buried in thought. Others reclined or sat in various positions.
“For two hours the council lasted, and as it broke up, and the generals were ready to return to their respective commands, I heard General Beauregard say, raising his hand and pointing in the direction of the Federal camp, whose drums we could plainly hear, ‘Gentlemen, we sleep in the enemy’s camp to-morrow night.’”
The Confederate General, the same writer says, had minute information of General Grant’s position and numbers. This knowledge was obtained through spies and informers, some of whom lived in the vicinity, had been in and out of Grant’s camp again and again, and knew every foot of ground.
Under these circumstances, with a superior force, with accurate knowledge of the position of every brigade in General Grant’s army, with troops in the best spirits, enthusiastic, ardent, expecting a victory, stealing upon a foe unsuspicious,unprepared, with brigades and divisions widely separated, with General Grant, the commander-in-chief, ten miles away, and General Buell’s nearest troops twenty miles distant, the Rebel generals waited impatiently for the coming of the morning.
Itwas a lovely morning. A few fleecy clouds floated in the sky. The trees were putting out their tender leaves. The air was fragrant with the first blossoms of spring. The birds were singing their sweetest songs.
At three o’clock the Rebel troops were under arms, their breakfasts eaten, their blankets folded, their knapsacks laid aside. They were to move unencumbered, that they might fight with more vigor. The morning brightened, and the long lines moved through the forest.
The Union army was asleep. The reveille had not been beaten. The soldiers were still dreaming of home, or awaiting the morning drum-beat. The mules and horses were tied to the wagons, whinnying for their oats and corn. A few teamsters were astir. Cooks were rekindling the smouldering camp-fires. The pickets, a mile out, had kept watch through the night. There had been but little firing. There was nothing to indicate the near approach of fifty thousand men. Beauregardhad ordered that there should be no picket-firing through the night.
General Prentiss had strengthened his picket-guard on the Corinth Ridge road Saturday night. Some of his officers reported that Rebel cavalry were plenty in the woods. He therefore doubled his grand guard, and extended the line. He also ordered Colonel Moore, of the Twenty-first Missouri, to go to the front with five companies of his regiment. Colonel Moore marched at three o’clock. General Prentiss did not expect a battle, but the appearance of the Rebels along the lines led him to take these precautions.
About the time Colonel Moore reached the pickets the Rebel skirmishers came in sight. The firing began. The pickets resolutely maintained their ground, but the Rebels pushed on. Colonel Moore, hearing the firing, hastened forward. It was hardly light enough to distinguish men from trees, but the steady advance of the Rebels convinced him that they were making a serious demonstration. He sent a messenger to General Prentiss for the balance of his regiment, which was sent forward. At the same time General Prentiss issued orders for the remainder of his division to form.
Pittsburg Landing.Pittsburg Landing.
1Hurlburt’s division.8Gunboats.2W. H. L. Wallace’s division.9Transports.3McClernand’s division.10Ravine.4Sherman’s division.AHardee’s line.5Prentiss’s division.BBragg’s line.6Stuart’s brigade.CPolk’s line.7Lewis Wallace’s division.DBreckenridge’s reserves.
1Hurlburt’s division.8Gunboats.2W. H. L. Wallace’s division.9Transports.3McClernand’s division.10Ravine.4Sherman’s division.AHardee’s line.5Prentiss’s division.BBragg’s line.6Stuart’s brigade.CPolk’s line.7Lewis Wallace’s division.DBreckenridge’s reserves.
His entire force was seven regiments, divided into two brigades. The first brigade was commanded by Colonel Peabody, and contained theTwenty-fifth Missouri, Sixteenth Wisconsin, and Twelfth Michigan. The second brigade was composed of the Eighteenth and Twenty-third Missouri, Eighteenth Wisconsin, and Sixty-first Illinois. The Twenty-third Missouri was at Pittsburg Landing, having just disembarked from a transport, and was not with the brigade till nearly ten o’clock. When the firing began, its commander, having been ordered to report to General Prentiss, moved promptly to join the division.
General Prentiss also sent an officer to Generals Hurlburt and Wallace, commanding the divisions in his rear, near the Landing, informing them that the Rebels were attacking his pickets in force. The firing increased. The Twenty-first Missouri gave a volley or two, but were obliged to fall back.
There had been a great deal of practising at target in the regiments, and every morning the pickets, on their return from the front, discharged their guns, and so accustomed had the soldiers become to the constant firing, that these volleys, so early in the morning, did not alarm the camp.
The orders which General Prentiss had issued were tardily acted upon. Many of the officers had not risen when the Twenty-first Missouri came back upon the double-quick, with Colonel Moore and several others wounded. They came in with wild cries. The Rebels were close upon their heels.
General Johnston had, as you have already seen, four lines of troops. The third corps was in front, commanded by Major-General Hardee, the second corps next, commanded by General Bragg; the first corps next, commanded by Major-General Polk, followed by the reserves under General Breckenridge.
General Hardee had three brigades, Hindman’s, Cleburn’s, and Wood’s. General Bragg had two divisions, containing six brigades. The first division was commanded by General Ruggles, and contained Gibson’s, Anderson’s, and Pond’s brigades. The second division was commanded by General Withers, and contained Gladden’s, Chalmers’s, and Jackson’s brigades.
General Polk had two divisions, containing four brigades. The first division was commanded by General Clark, and contained Russell’s and Stewart’s brigades. The second division was commanded by Major-General Cheatham, and contained Johnson’s and Stephens’s brigades.
Breckenridge had Tabue’s, Bowen’s and Statham’s brigades. General Gladden’s brigade of Withers’s division was placed on the right of Hardee’s line. It was composed of the Twenty-first, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth Alabama, and First Louisiana, with Robertson’s battery. Hindman’s brigade joined upon Gladden’s. Gladden followed Colonel Moore’s force, and fell upon Prentiss’s camp.
Instantly there was a great commotion in the camp,—shouting, hallooing, running to and fro, saddling horses, seizing guns and cartridge-boxes, and forming in ranks. Gladden advanced rapidly, sending his bullets into the encampment. Men who had not yet risen were shot while lying in their tents.
But General Prentiss was all along his lines, issuing his orders, inspiring the men who, just awakened from sleep, were hardly in condition to act coolly. He ordered his whole force forward, with the exception of the Sixteenth Iowa, which had no ammunition, having arrived from Cairo on Saturday evening.
There was a wide gap between Prentiss’s right and Sherman’s left, and Hardee, finding no one to oppose him, pushed his own brigades into the gap, flanking Prentiss on one side and Sherman on the other, as you will see by a glance at the diagram on page 173.
Behind Gladden were Withers’s remaining brigades, Chalmers’s, and Jackson’s. Chalmers was on the right, farther east than Gladden. He had the Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth Mississippi, and Fifty-second Tennessee, and Gage’s battery.
Jackson had the Second Texas, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Alabama, and Girardey’s battery. Chalmers moved rapidly upon Prentiss’s left flank. Gage’s and Robertson’s batteriesboth opened with shell. Jackson came up on Prentiss’s right, and in a short time his six regiments were engaged with twelve of Bragg’s and two batteries.
They curled around Prentiss on both flanks, began to gain his rear to cut him off from the Landing, and separate him from Stuart’s brigade of Sherman’s division, which was a mile distant on the Hamburg road. The regiments on the left began to break, then those in the centre. The Rebels saw their advantage. Before them, dotting the hillside, were the much-coveted tents. They rushed on with a savage war-cry.
General Prentiss, aided by the cool and determined Colonel Peabody, rallied the faltering troops in front, but there was no power to stop the flood upon the flanks.
“Don’t give way! Stand firm! Drive them back with the bayonet!” shouted Colonel Peabody, and some Missourians as brave as he remained in their places, loading and firing deliberately.
“On! on! forward boys!” cried General Gladden, leading his men; but a cannon-shot came screaming through the woods, knocked him from his horse, inflicting a mortal wound. The command devolved on Colonel Adams of the First Louisiana.
But the unchecked tide was flowing past Prentiss’sgallant band. Prentiss looked up to the right and saw it there, the long lines of men steadily moving through the forest. He galloped to the left and saw it there. The bayonets of the enemy were glistening between him and the brightening light in the east. His men were losing strength. They were falling before the galling fire, now given at short range. They were beginning to flee. He must fall back, and leave his camp, or be surrounded. His troops ran in wild disorder. Men, horses, baggage-wagons, ambulances, bounded over logs and stumps and through thickets in indescribable confusion. Colonel Peabody was shot from his horse, mortally wounded, and his troops, which had begun to show pluck and endurance, joined the fugitives.
Prentiss advised Hurlburt of the disaster. Hurlburt was prepared. He moved his division forward upon the double-quick. Prentiss’s disorganized regiments drifted through it, but his ranks were unshaken.
The Rebels entered the tents of the captured camp, threw off their old clothes, and helped themselves to new garments, broke open trunks, rifled the knapsacks, and devoured the warm breakfast. They were jubilant; they shouted, danced, sung, and thought the victory won. Two or three hundred prisoners were taken, disarmed, andtheir pockets searched. They were obliged to give up all their money, and exchange clothes with their captors, and then were marched to the rear.
While this was taking place in Prentiss’s division, Sherman’s pickets were being driven back by the rapid advance of the Rebel lines. It was a little past sunrise when they came in, breathless, with startling accounts that the entire Rebel army was at their heels. The officers were not out of bed. The soldiers were just stirring, rubbing their eyes, putting on their boots, washing at the brook, or tending their camp-kettles. Their guns were in their tents; they had a small supply of ammunition. It was a complete surprise.
Officers jumped from their beds, tore open the tent-flies, and stood in undress to see what it was all about. The Rebel pickets rushed up within close musket range and fired.
“Fall in! Form a line! here, quick!” were the orders from the officers.
There was running in every direction. Soldiers for their guns, officers for their sabres, artillerists to their pieces, teamsters to their horses. There was hot haste, and a great hurly-burly.
General Hardee made a mistake at the outset. Instead of rushing up with a bayonet-charge upon Sherman’s camp, and routing his unformed brigades in an instant, as he might have done, he unlimbered his batteries and opened fire.
The first infantry attack was upon Hildebrand’s brigade, composed of the Fifty-third, Fifty-ninth, and Seventy-sixth Ohio, and the Fifty-third Illinois, which was on the left of the division. Next to it stood Buckland’s brigade, composed of the Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and Seventy-second Ohio. On the extreme right, west of the church, was McDowell’s brigade, composed of the Sixth Iowa, Fortieth Illinois, and Forty-sixth Ohio. Taylor’s battery was parked around the church, and Waterhouse’s battery was on a ridge a little east of the church, behind Hildebrand’s brigade.
Notwithstanding this sudden onset, the ranks did not break. Some men ran, but the regiments formed with commendable firmness. The Rebel skirmishers came down to the bushes which border the brook south of the church, and began a scattering fire, which was returned by Sherman’s pickets, which were still in line a few rods in front of the regiments. There was an open space between the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-third regiments of Hildebrand’s brigade, and Waterhouse, under Sherman’s direction, let fly his shells through the gap into the bushes. Taylor wheeled his guns into position on both sides of the church.
Hindman, Cleburn, and Wood advanced into the gap between Sherman and Prentiss, and swung towards the northwest upon Sherman’s left flank. Ruggles, with his three brigades, and Hodgson’sbattery of Louisiana artillery, and Ketchum’s battery, moved upon Sherman’s front. He had Gibson’s brigade on the right, composed of the Fourth, Thirteenth, and Nineteenth Louisiana, and the First Arkansas. Anderson’s brigade was next in line, containing the Seventeenth and Twentieth Louisiana, and Ninth Texas, a Louisiana and a Florida battalion. Pond’s brigade was on the left, and contained the Sixteenth and Eighteenth Louisiana, Thirty-eighth Tennessee, and two Louisiana battalions.
When the alarm was given, General Sherman was instantly on his horse. He sent a request to McClernand to support Hildebrand. He also sent word to Prentiss that the enemy were in front, but Prentiss had already made the discovery, and was contending with all his might against the avalanche rolling upon him from the ridge south of his position. He sent word to Hurlburt that a force was needed in the gap between the church and Prentiss. He was everywhere present, dashing along his lines, paying no attention to the constant fire aimed at him and his staff by the Rebel skirmishers, within short musket range. They saw him, knew that he was an officer of high rank, saw that he was bringing order out of confusion, and tried to pick him off. While galloping down to Hildebrand, his orderly, Halliday, was killed.
The fire from the bushes was galling, and Hildebrand ordered the Seventy-seventh and Fifty-seventh Ohio to drive out the Rebels. They advanced, and were about to make a charge, when they saw that they were confronted by Hardee’s line, moving down the slope. The sun was just sending its morning rays through the forest, shining on the long line of bayonets. Instead of advancing, Hildebrand fell back and took position by Waterhouse, on the ridge. When Hildebrand advanced, two of Waterhouse’s guns were sent across the brook, but they were speedily withdrawn, not too soon, however, for they were needed to crush Hindman and Cleburn who were crossing below Hildebrand.
Upon the south side of the brook there was a field and a crazy old farm-house. Ruggles came into the field, halted, and began to form for a rapid descent to the brook. His troops were in full view from the church.
“Pay your respects to those fellows over there,” said Major Taylor to the officer commanding his own battery. Taylor was chief of artillery in Sherman’s division, and was not in immediate command of his own battery. When he first saw them come into the field he thought they were not Rebels, but some of Prentiss’s men, who had been out on the front. He hesitated to open fire till it was ascertained who they were.He rode down to Waterhouse, and told him to fire into the field. He galloped up to McDowell’s brigade, where Barrett’s battery was stationed, and told the officer commanding to do the same. In a moment the field was smoking hot, shells bursting in the air, crashing through Ruggles’s ranks, and boring holes in the walls of the dilapidated old cabin. The Rebels could not face in the open field so severe a fire. Instead of advancing directly against the church, they moved into the woods east of the field, and became reinforcements to the brigades already well advanced into the gap between Sherman and Prentiss.
They came up on Hildebrand’s left flank. The thick growth of hazel and alders along the brook concealed their movements. They advanced till they were not more than three hundred feet from the Fifty-third and Fifty-seventh Ohio before they began their fire. They yelled like demons, screeching and howling to frighten the handful of men supporting Waterhouse. Taylor saw that they intended an attack upon Waterhouse. He rode to the spot. “Give them grape and canister!” he shouted. It was done. The iron hail swept through the bushes. The yelling suddenly ceased. There were groans and moans instead. The advance in that direction was instantly checked.
But all the while the centre brigades of Hardee were pushing into the gap, and, without seriousopposition, were gaining Sherman’s left flank. Waterhouse began to limber up his guns for a retreat. Taylor feared a sudden panic.
“Contest every inch of ground. Keep cool. Give them grape. Let them have all they want,” said Taylor.
Waterhouse unlimbered his guns again, wheeled them a little more to the east, almost northeast, and opened a fire which raked the long lines and again held them in check. Taylor sent to Schwartz, Dresser, and McAllister, connected with McClernand’s division, to come into position and stop the flank movement.
This took time. The Rebels, seeing their advantages, and hoping to cut off Sherman, pushed on, and in five minutes were almost in rear of Waterhouse and Hildebrand. They gained the ridge which enfiladed Hildebrand. Cleburn and Wood swung up against Waterhouse. He wheeled still farther north, working his guns with great rapidity. They rushed upon him with the Indian war-whoop. His horses were shot. He tried to drag off his guns. He succeeded in saving three, but was obliged to leave the other three in their hands.
General McClernand had promptly responded to Sherman’s request to support Hildebrand. Three regiments of Raitt’s and Marsh’s brigades were brought round into position in rear of Hildebrand.You remember that McClernand’s division was facing northwest, and this movement, therefore, was a change of front to the southeast. The Eleventh Illinois formed upon the right of Waterhouse. The other two, the Forty-third and Thirtieth Illinois, were on the left, in rear. The fight was in Hildebrand’s camp. There was a fierce contest. Two thirds of Hildebrand’s men had been killed and wounded, or were missing. Most of the missing had fled towards the river. The regiments that remained were mixed up. The sudden onset had thrown them into confusion. There was but little order. Each man fought for himself. It was a brave little band, which tried to save the camp, but they were outnumbered and outflanked. The Eleventh Illinois lost six or eight of its officers by the first volley, yet they stood manfully against the superior force.
Meanwhile, Buckland and McDowell were in a hot fight against Anderson and Pond, who had moved to the western border of the field, and were forming against McDowell’s right. Barrett and Taylor were thundering against them, but there were more cannon replying from the Rebel side. They were so far round on McDowell’s flank, that the shells which flew over the heads of McDowell’s men came past the church into Hildebrand’s ranks. Sherman tried to hold his position by the church. He considered it to be of the utmost importance.He did not want to lose his camp. He exhibited great bravery. His horse was shot, and he mounted another. That also was killed, and he took a third, and, before night, lost his fourth. He encouraged his men, not only by his words, but by his reckless daring. Buckland’s and McDowell’s men recovered from the shock they first received. They became bull-dogs. Their blood was up. As often as the Rebels attempted to crowd McDowell back, they defeated the attempt. The two brigades with Taylor’s and Barrett’s batteries held their ground till after ten o’clock, and they would not have yielded then had it not been for disaster down the line.
Hildebrand rallied his men. About one hundred joined the Eleventh Illinois, of McClernand’s division, and fought like tigers.
In the advance of Bragg’s line, Gibson’s brigade became separated from Anderson and Pond, Gibson moving to the right towards Prentiss, and they to the left towards Sherman. Several regiments of Polk’s line immediately moved into the gap. It was a reinforcement of the centre, but it was also a movement which tended to disorganize the Rebel lines. Gibson became separated from his division commands, and the regiments from Polk’s corps became disconnected from their brigades, but General Bragg directed them to join General Hindman.
They moved on towards McClernand, who was changing front and getting into position a half-mile in rear of Sherman. They were so far advanced towards Pittsburg Landing, that Sherman saw he was in danger of being cut off. He reluctantly gave the order to abandon his camp and take a new position. He ordered the batteries to fall back to the Purdy and Hamburg road. He saw Buckland and McDowell, and told them where to rally. Captain Behr had been posted on the Purdy road with his battery, and had had but little part in the fight. He was falling back, closely followed by Pond.
“Come into position out there on the right,” said Sherman, pointing to the place where he wanted him to unlimber. There came a volley from the woods. A shot struck the Captain from his horse. The drivers and gunners became frightened, and rode off with the caissons, leaving five unspiked guns to fall into the hands of the Rebels! Sherman and Taylor, and other officers, by their coolness, bravery, and daring, saved Buckland and McDowell’s brigades from a panic; and thus, after four hours of hard fighting, Sherman was obliged to leave his camp and fall back behind McClernand, who now was having a fierce fight with the brigades which had pushed in between Prentiss and Sherman.
The Rebels rejoiced over their success. Theirloud hurrahs rose above the din of battle. They rushed into the tents and helped themselves to whatever they could lay their hands on, as had already been done in Prentiss’s camps. Officers and men in the Rebel ranks alike forgot all discipline. They threw off their old gray rags, and appeared in blue uniforms. They broke open the trunks of the officers, and rifled the knapsacks of the soldiers. They seized the half-cooked breakfast, and ate like half-starved wolves. They found bottles of whiskey in some of the officers’ quarters, and drank, danced, sung, hurrahed, and were half-crazy with the excitement of their victory.
Having taken this look at matters in the vicinity of the church, let us go towards the river, and see the other divisions.
It was about half past six o’clock in the morning when General Hurlburt received notice from General Sherman that the Rebels were driving in his pickets. A few minutes later he had word from Prentiss asking for assistance.
He sent Veatch’s brigade, which you remember consisted of the Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-eighth Illinois, to Sherman. The troops sprang into ranks as soon as the order was issued, and were on the march in ten minutes.
Prentiss sent a second messenger, asking for immediate aid. Hurlburt in person led his othertwo brigades, Williams’s and Lauman’s. He had Mann’s Ohio battery, commanded by Lieutenant Brotzman, Ross’s battery, from Michigan, and Meyer’s Thirteenth Ohio battery. He marched out on the Ridge road, and met Prentiss’s troops, disorganized and broken, with doleful stories of the loss of everything. Prentiss and other officers were attempting to rally them.
Hurlburt formed in line of battle on the border of an old cotton-field on the Hamburg road. There were some sheds, and a log-hut with a great chimney built of mud and sticks, along the road. In front of the hut was a peach-orchard. Mann’s battery was placed near the northeast corner of the field. Williams’s brigade was placed on one side of the field, and Lauman’s on the other, which made the line nearly a right angle. Ross’s battery was posted on the right, and Meyer’s on the left. This disposition of his force enabled Hurlburt to concentrate his fire upon the field and into the peach-orchard.
You see the position,—the long line of men in blue, in the edge of the woods, sheltered in part by the giant oaks. You see the log-huts, the mud chimney, the peach-trees in front, all aflame with pink blossoms. The field is as smooth as a house floor. Here and there are handfuls of cotton, the leavings of last year’s crop. It is perhaps forty or fifty rods across the field to the forestupon the other side. Hurlburt and his officers are riding along the lines, cheering the men and giving directions. The fugitives from Prentiss are hastening towards the Landing. But a line of guards has been thrown out, and the men are rallying behind Hurlburt. The men standing in line along that field know that they are to fight a terrible battle. At first there is a little wavering, but they gain confidence, load their guns, and wait for the enemy.
Withers’s division, which had pushed back Prentiss, moved upon Hurlburt’s right. Gage’s and Girardey’s batteries opened fire. The first shot struck near Meyer’s battery. The men never before had heard the shriek of a Rebel shell. It was so sudden, unexpected, and terrifying, that officers and men fled, leaving their cannon, caissons, horses, and everything. Hurlburt saw no more of them during the day. Indignant at the manifestation of cowardice, he rode down to Mann’s battery, and called for volunteers to work the abandoned guns; ten men responded to the call. A few other volunteers were picked up, and although they knew but little of artillery practice, took their places beside the guns and opened fire. The horses with the caissons were dashing madly through the forest, increasing the confusion, but they were caught and brought in. You see that in battle men sometimes lose their presenceof mind, and act foolishly. It is quite likely, however, that the troops fought all the more bravely for this display of cowardice. Many who were a little nervous, who had a strange feeling at the heart, did not like the exhibition, and resolved that they would not run.
At this time the fortunes of the Union army were dark. Prentiss had been routed. His command was a mere rabble. Hildebrand’s brigade of Sherman’s division was broken to pieces; there was not more than half a regiment left. The other two brigades of Sherman’s division by the church were giving way. Half of Waterhouse’s battery, and all but one of Behr’s guns were taken. Sherman and Prentiss had been driven from their camps. Four of the six guns composing Meyer’s battery could not be used for want of men. The three regiments which McClernand had sent to Sherman were badly cut to pieces. The entire front had been driven in. Johnston had gained a mile of ground. He had accomplished a great deal with little loss.
General Grant heard the firing at Savannah, ten miles down the river. It was so constant and heavy that he understood at once it was an attack. He sent a messenger post haste to General Buell, whose advance was ten miles east of Savannah, and then hastened to Pittsburg on a steamboat. He arrived on the ground about nine o’clock.Up to that hour there was no commander-in-chief, but each division commander gave such orders as he thought best. There was but little unity of action. Each commander was impressed with a sense of danger, and each was doing his best to hold the enemy in check.
The wide gap between Prentiss and Sherman, and the quick routing of Prentiss’s regiments, enabled Hardee to push his middle brigades to the centre of the Union army without much opposition. Both of Hardee’s flanks had been held back by the stout fight of Sherman on one side, the weaker resistance of Prentiss on the other. This gradually made the Rebel force into the form of a wedge, and at the moment when Hurlburt was waiting for their advance, the point of the wedge had penetrated beyond Hurlburt’s right, but there it came against General W. H. L. Wallace’s division.
When Hurlburt notified Wallace that Prentiss was attacked, that noble commander ordered his division under arms. You remember his position, near Snake Creek, and nearer the Pittsburg Landing than any other division. He at once moved in the direction of the firing, which brought him west of Hurlburt’s position.
You remember that General McClernand had sent three regiments to General Sherman, and that they were obliged to change front. Havingdone that, he moved his other two brigades, the first under the command of Colonel Hare, including the Eighth and Eighteenth Illinois infantry and the Eleventh and Thirteenth Iowa, with Dresser’s battery, and the third brigade with Schwartz’s and McAllister’s batteries. It was a complete change of front. These movements of Wallace and McClernand were directly against the two sides and the point of the wedge which Hardee was driving. Wallace marched southwest, and McClernand swung round facing southeast. They came up just in season to save Sherman from being cut off and also to save Veatch’s brigade of Hurlburt’s division from being overwhelmed.
McClernand’s head-quarters were in an old cotton-field. The camps of his regiments extended across the field and into the forest on both sides. He established his line on the south side of the field in the edge of the forest, determined to save his camp if possible. His men had seen hard fighting at Fort Donelson, and so had General Wallace’s men. They were hardened to the scenes of battle, whereas Sherman’s, Prentiss’s, and Hurlburt’s men were having their first experience. Schwartz, McAllister, and Dresser had confronted the Rebels at Donelson, and so had Major Cavender with his eighteen pieces, commanded by Captains Stone, Richardson, and Walker.
This is a long and intricate story, and I fear you will not be able to understand it. The regiments at this hour were very much mixed up, and as the battle continued they became more so. Later in the day there was so much confusion that no correct account can ever be given of the positions of the regiments. Thousands of you, I doubt not, had friends in that battle, and you would like to know just where they stood. Let us therefore walk the entire length of the line while the Rebels are preparing for the second onset. Commencing on the extreme right, we find Sherman reforming with his left flank a little in rear of McClernand’s right. There is McDowell’s brigade on the right, the Sixth Iowa, Fourth Illinois, and Forty-sixth Ohio. Buckland’s brigade next, the Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and Seventy-second Ohio. A few men of Hildebrand’s brigade, not five hundred in all, of the Fifty-third, Fifty-seventh, and Seventy-sixth Ohio. Next the regiments of McClernand’s division, the Eleventh Iowa, Eleventh, Twentieth, Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, Seventeenth, Twenty-ninth, Forty-ninth, Forty-third, Eighth, and Eighteenth Illinois. Next Wallace’s division, Seventh, Ninth, Twelfth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-second Illinois, the Twelfth, Thirteenth Iowa, and the Twenty-fifth, Fifty-second, and Fifty-sixth Indiana. I think that all of those regiments were there, although it is possible thatone or two of them had not arrived. These are not all in the front line, but you see them in two lines. Some of them lying down behind the ridges waiting the time when they can spring up and confront the enemy.
Next in line you see Veatch’s brigade of Hurlburt’s division, the Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-sixth Illinois; then Williams’s brigade, the Third Iowa, the Twenty-eighth, Thirty-second, and Forty-first Illinois, by the log-huts of the cotton-field on the Hamburg road. Here are Cavender’s guns, eighteen of them. Next is Lauman’s brigade,—not the one he commanded at Donelson in the victorious charge, but one composed of the Thirty-first and Forty-fourth Indiana, and the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky.
Behind Wallace and Hurlburt Prentiss is reforming his disorganized regiments, the Twenty-first, Twenty-third, and Twenty-fifth Missouri, Sixteenth and Eighteenth Wisconsin, and the Twelfth Michigan.
You remember that Stuart’s brigade of Sherman’s division was keeping watch on the Hamburg road at the Lick Creek crossing, towards the river from Prentiss. When Prentiss was attacked, he sent word to Stuart, who ordered his brigade under arms at once. He waited for orders. He saw after a while the Rebelbayonets gleaming through the woods between himself and Prentiss. He placed the Seventy-first Ohio on the right, the Fifty-fifth Illinois in the centre, and the Fifty-fourth on the left. These three regiments compose his brigade, and complete the list of those engaged in the fight on Sunday.
When the fight began in the morning, Stuart sent two companies across the creek to act as skirmishers, but before they could scale the high bluffs upon the south side, Statham’s and Bowen’s brigades, of Breckenridge’s reserves, had possession of the ground, and they returned. Statham’s batteries opened upon Stuart’s camp. Breckenridge had moved round from his position in rear, and now formed the extreme right of Johnston. There were eight regiments and a battery in front of Stuart. The battery forced the Seventy-first Ohio from its position. It retired to the top of the ridge behind its camp-ground, which Stuart could have held against a superior force, had he not been outflanked. The Seventy-first, without orders, abandoned the position, retreated towards the Landing, and Stuart saw no more of them during the day.
He took a new position, with his two regiments, on the crest of the hill. East of him was a ravine. Breckenridge sent a body of cavalry and infantry across the creek to creep up this ravine, get in rearof Stuart’s left flank, and with the masses hurrying past his right cut him off. Stuart determined to make a gallant resistance. He sent four companies of the Fifty-fourth Ohio, who took their position at the head of the ravine or gully which makes up from the creek towards the north. They crept into the thick bushes, hid behind the trees, and commenced a galling fire, forcing the cavalry back and stopping the advance of the infantry. The remainder of his force kept Statham back on the front. His line of fire was across an open field, and as often as Statham attempted to cross it, he was sent back by the well-directed volleys. Stuart received assurances from General McArthur, commanding one of Wallace’s brigades, that he should be supported, but the supports could not be spared from the centre. Stuart maintained his position more than two hours, till his cartridge-boxes were emptied. When his ammunition failed, Statham and Bowen made another rush upon his left, and he saw that he must retreat or be taken prisoner. He fell back to Hurlburt’s line, and formed the remnant of his brigade on the left, thus completing the line of battle which was established at ten o’clock.
Generals Bragg and Polk directed the attack on McClernand and Wallace. Pond’s brigade wasnorthwest of the church, Anderson’s by the church, Cleburn’s and Wood’s east of it. Hindman’s and the regiments of Polk’s corps which had broken off from their brigades were in front of Wallace’s right. These regiments belonged to Cheatham’s division. The whole of his division was in front of Wallace.
Russell, Stewart, and Gibson were in front of Wallace’s left. Gladden, Chalmers, and Jackson were on Hurlburt’s right, while Breckenridge, having driven back Stuart, came up on his left.
The Rebels, confident of final victory, came up with great bravery, and commenced attacking McClernand, but they were confronted by men equally brave. Pond and Anderson charged upon the regiments on McClernand’s right, but the charge was broken by the quick volleys of the Eleventh, Twentieth, and Forty-eighth Illinois. Cleburn and Wood rushed upon the Forty-fifth, Seventeenth, and Forty-ninth, which were in the centre of the division, but were repulsed. Then they swung against the Eleventh and Eighteenth, in front of McClernand’s head-quarters, but could not break the line. For a half-hour more, they stood and fired at long musket range. Dresser, McAllister, and Schwartz gave their batteries full play, but were answered by the batteries planted around the church, on the ground from which Sherman had been driven. Bragg advanced hismen to short musket range, fifteen to twenty rods distant. Trees were broken off by the cannon-shot, splintered by the shells; branches were wrenched from the trunks, the hazel-twigs were cut by the storm of leaden hail. Many trees were struck fifty, sixty, and a hundred times. Officers and men fell on both sides very fast. Polk’s brigades came up, and the united forces rushed upon the batteries. There was a desperate struggle. The horses were shot,—Schwartz lost sixteen, Dresser eighteen, and McAllister thirty. The guns were seized,—Schwartz lost three, McAllister two, and Dresser three. The infantry could not hold their ground. They fell back, took a new position, and made another effort to save their camp.
The woods rang with the hurrahs of the Rebels. The ground was thick with their dead and wounded, but they were winning. They had the largest army, and success stimulated them to make another attack. Bragg reformed his columns.
McClernand’s second line of defence was near his camp. His men fought bravely to save it. Polk’s brigades moved to the front, and charged upon the line, but they were checked. McClernand charged upon them, and in turn was repulsed. So the contest went on hour after hour.
Buckland and McDowell, of Sherman’s command, were too much exhausted and disorganizedby their long contest in the morning to take much part in this fight. They stood as reserves. Barrett and Taylor had used all their ammunition, and could not aid.
McClernand’s right was unprotected. Bragg saw it, and moved round Anderson’s, Pond’s, and a portion of Stewart’s brigades. There was a short struggle, and then the troops gave way. The men ran in confusion across the field swept by the Rebel artillery. The pursuers, with exultant cheers, followed, no longer in order, but each Rebel soldier running for the plunder in the tents. The contest was prolonged a little on the left, but the camp was in the hands of the Rebels, and McClernand and Sherman again fell back towards Wallace’s camp.
Wallace was already engaged. The tide which had surged against Sherman and McClernand now came with increased force against his division. Beauregard aimed for the Landing, to seize the transports, using his force as a wedge to split the Union army off from the river. He might have deflected his force to Grant’s right, and avoided what, as you will presently see, prevented him from accomplishing his object; but having been thus far successful in his plan, he continued the direct advance.
General Wallace was a very brave man. He was cool, had great presence of mind, and possessedthe rare qualification of making his soldiers feel his presence. He could bring order out of confusion, and by a word, a look, or an act inspire his men. He posted Cavender’s three batteries in commanding positions on a ridge, and kept his infantry well under cover behind the ridge. Cavender’s men had fought under the brave General Lyon at Wilson’s Creek in Missouri, and had been in half a dozen battles. The screaming of the shells was music to them.
From eleven till four o’clock the battle raged in front of Wallace. The men who had fought their first battle so determinedly at Donelson were not to be driven now.
Four times Hardee, Bragg, and Cheatham rushed upon Wallace’s line, but were in each instance repulsed. Twice Wallace followed them as they retired after their ineffectual attempts to crush him, but he had not sufficient power to break their triple ranks. He could hold his ground, but he could not push the superior force. His coolness, endurance, bravery, stubbornness, his quick perception of all that was taking place, his power over his men, to make each man a hero, did much towards saving the army on that disastrous day.
General Bragg says: “Hindman’s command was gallantly led to the attack, but recoiled under a murderous fire. The noble and gallant leader(Hindman) fell severely wounded. The command returned to its work, but was unequal to the heavy task. I brought up Gibson’s brigade, and threw them forward to attack the same point. A very heavy fire soon opened, and after a short conflict this command fell back in considerable disorder. Rallying the different regiments by my staff officers and escort, they were twice more moved to the attack only to be driven back.”[9]