WAR PAPER

No. 5. 

CommanderyOf the StateOFCALIFORNIA

MILITARY ORDEROF THELoyal LegionOF THEUNITED STATES. 

"SHILOH"ASSEEN BY A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 

A PAPER READ BEFORECALIFORNIA COMMANDERYOF THEMILITARY ORDEROF THELoyal Legion of the United States, MAY 31, 1889. 

BY COMPANIONWARREN OLNEY, LATE CAPTAIN 65TH U. S. C. Inf. (Insignia No. 4862. )

THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 

With Some Personal Reminiscences. 

Very interesting descriptions of the great battles of the late war, written by prominent generals, have been lately published and widelyread. It seems to me, however, that it is time for the private soldierto be heard from. 

Of course, his field of vision is much more limited than that of hisgeneral. On the other hand, it is of vital importance to the latter togloss over his mistakes, and draw attention only to those things whichwill add to his reputation. The private soldier has no such feeling. Itis only to the officers of high rank engaged that a battle can bringglory and renown. To the army of common soldiers, who do the actualfighting, and risk mutilation and death, there is no reward except theconsciousness of duty bravely performed. This was peculiarly the casein the late war, when more than a million of young men, the flower ofour country, left their workshops and farms, their schools andcolleges, to endure the hardships of the march and the camp, to riskhealth, limb and life, that their country might live, expectingnothing, hoping nothing for themselves, but all for their fatherland. 

The first really great battle of the war was that of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, and I shall not only attempt to give a general account ofthe battle, but also describe it from the point of view of a man in theranks. 

In respect to the general features of this desperate struggle betweenour own countrymen, my statements are derived from many reports andaccounts carefully collated, and from many conversations with soldiersengaged, both from the Union and Confederate armies. 

Who of us, having reached middle life, does not recall the exultationand enthusiasm aroused by the news of the capture of Fort Donelson?What a thrill of pride and patriotism was felt through all the loyalNorth! The soldiers of the great Northwest had attacked a citadel ofthe rebellion, and captured it, with sixteen thousand of its defenders. 

At this time the Third Iowa Infantry was strung along the NorthMissouri Railroad, guarding bridges and doing other police work. Company B, which had the honor of having on its muster roll privateOlney, was stationed at that time in the little town of Sturgeon, Missouri, where our principal occupation was to keep from freezing. Wehad then spent eight months campaigning in that border State--that is, if you call guarding railways and bridges, and attempting to overawethe disaffected, enlivened now and then by a brisk skirmish, campaigning. The Second Iowa had led the charge which captured thehostile breastworks at Donelson, and General Grant had telegraphed toGeneral Halleck at St. Louis, who had repeated the message to theGovernor of our State, that the Second Iowa was the bravest of thebrave. The First Iowa had distinguished itself at Wilson's Creek, nearSpringfield, under General Lyon, while _we_--well, we hadn't done muchof anything but to get a licking at Blue Mills. Therefore, when amessage to move came, and we found ourselves on the way to join GeneralGrant's army, we felt quite hilarious. 

At St. Louis we were put on board the steamer "Iatan. " Down theMississippi, up the Ohio, up the Tennessee. As we proceeded up theTennessee we were continually overtaking or being joined by othersteamboats loaded with troops, until presently the river was alive withtransports, carrying the army of the West right into the heart of theConfederacy. It was a beautiful and stirring sight; mild weather hadset in (it was now the second week of March), the flotilla ofsteamboats, black with soldiers, bands playing, flags flying, allcombined to arouse and interest. It was the "pomp and circumstance ofglorious war. "

Frequent stoppages were made, giving us a chance to run ashore. Aboutthe thirteenth we reached the landing-place, which soon afterwardsbecame famous. The river was very high, and at first there seemed to bedoubts as to where a landing should be effected, but in a few days thequestion was settled. Our boat was moored as near the shore aspossible, and we joined the immense throng painfully making their waythrough the unfathomable mud to camps in the dense woods. The firstthings I observed after reaching the high bluff, were trees that hadbeen torn and shattered by shells from our gunboats, which, it seems, had dislodged a company of Confederates, who had dug rifle-pits on thebluff, from whence they had fired on our steamboats. 

We first camped on the bluff near the landing, but shortly moved backabout a mile from the river, and camped on the edge of a small cottonfield with dense forests all around. The Hamburg road ran past the leftof our line, between us and the Forty-first Illinois; while on theright was a small ravine, which ran into a little creek, and that intoSnake Creek. 

The mud--well, it was indescribable. Though we were only a mile fromour base of supplies, the greatest difficulty was experienced ingetting camp equipage and provisions. We found that other divisions ofthe army had landed before us, moving farther out to the front towardsCorinth, and had so cut up the roads that they were quagmires theirwhole length. Teams were stalled in the mud in every direction. Theprincipal features of the landscape were trees, mud, wagons buried tothe hub, and struggling, plunging mule teams. The shouts of teamstersand resounding whacks filled the air; and as to profanity--well, youcould see the air about an enraged teamster turn blue as he exhortedhis impenitent mules. And the rain! how it did come down! As I recallit, the spring of 1862 did not measure its rainfall in WesternTennessee by inches, but by feet. 

But in time our camp was fairly established. Sibley tents weredistributed, one for fourteen men. They protected us from the rain, butthey had their drawbacks. Several of us were schoolmates from a Westerncollege, and, of course, in some respects, constituted a littlearistocracy. We had had a small tent to ourselves, and the socialisticgrayback, as yet, had not crawled therein. Now, we were required toshare our tent with others, and that might mean a great many. But whenit came to a question of sleeping out in the cold rain, or camping downin a crowded tent in true democratic equality and taking the chances ofimmigration from our neighbors' clothing, we did not prefer the rain. 

Of course, the private soldier has not much opportunity for explorationabout his camp, however strong may be his passion in that direction. Idid what I could, but my knowledge of the general encampment was muchenlarged when, during the days following the battle, all disciplinebeing relaxed, I tramped the field over in every direction and talkedwith the men of numerous regiments on their camp grounds. Further on, Ishall refer to the position occupied by our army more at length, andshall only refer now to the general position of our encampment, as on awooded plateau, accessible to attack only from the direction ofCorinth, the river being in our rear, Snake Creek and Owl Creek on ourright flank, and Lick Creek on our left. In places there were smallfields with their adjuncts of deserted cabins. Our troops were campedwherever there was an opening in the woods or underbrush sufficientlylarge for a regiment. There seemed to be no order or system about themethod of encampment, but each regiment occupied such suitable groundas presented itself in the neighborhood of the rest of the brigade; andthe same was true of the brigades composing the divisions. 

Our regiment was brigaded with the Twenty-eighth, Thirty-second, andForty-first Illinois. The division was commanded by Brigadier-GeneralStephen A. Hurlbut (since somewhat noted as United States Minister toPeru). We had served under him in Missouri, and our principalrecollection of him was an event which occurred at Macon. We had gotaboard a train of cattle cars for the purpose of going to the relief ofsome point threatened by the enemy. After waiting on the train two orthree hours, expecting every moment to start, we noticed a couple ofstaff officers supporting on each side the commanding general, andleading him to the car I was in. Getting him to the side of the car, they boosted him in at the door, procured a soldier's knapsack for himto sit on, and left him. He was so drunk he couldn't sit upright. Theconsequence was that the regimental officers refused to move. Acourt-martial followed, and we heard no more of our general until wefound him at Pittsburg Landing in command of a division. He showed somuch coolness and bravery in the battle which followed, that we forgavehim his first scandalous appearance. But the distrust of him before thebattle can readily be imagined. 

No one who has not been through the experience can realize the anxietyof the private soldier respecting the character and capacity of hiscommanding officer. His life is in the general's hand. Whether he shallbe uselessly sacrificed, may depend wholly upon the coolness orreadiness for an emergency of the commander; whether he has had twodrinks or three; whether he has had a good night's rest, or a goodcigar. The private soldier regards a new and unknown commander verymuch as a slave does a new owner, and with good reason. Withoutconfidence on the part of the rank and file, victory is impossible. Their soldiers' confidence in Stonewall Jackson and Lee doubled theeffective strength of their armies. When in the Franco-Prussian war aGerman regiment was called upon for a charge, each man felt that theorder was given because it was necessary, and that what he was doingwas part of a comprehensive scheme, whose success might very likelydepend upon whether he did his assigned part manfully. The Frenchsoldier in that war had no such feeling and, of course, the result ofthat campaign was not long in doubt. In Napoleon's time, the confidenceof the rank and file was such that time and again he was saved fromdefeat by the feeling of the attacked corps or detachment that it_must_ hold its ground, or probably imperil the army. Oh, the sickeningdoubt and distrust of our generals during the first years of the war!Our soldiers were as brave as ever trod the earth, and thoroughlyimbued with the cause for which they were fighting; but the suspicionthat at headquarters there might be inefficiency or drunkenness; thatmarches and counter-marches had no definite purpose; that their livesmight be uselessly thrown away--you would have to go through it torealize it! At the beginning of the war, the Southerners had a vastadvantage over us in that respect. Generally speaking, they started outwith the same able commanders they had at the end. 

Our colonel was thoroughly disliked and distrusted. As he was theranking colonel of the brigade, he was placed in command of it; so yousee we did not feel particularly happy over the situation, especiallyas we knew the Confederate army was only twenty-two miles off. 

The steady, cold rains of the first week or two was most depressing. Onaccount, probably, of the bad weather and exposure, the soldiers' worstenemy, diarrhoea, took possession of our camps, and for a week or tendays we literally had no stomachs for fighting. But after a little therain let up, the sun came out warm, our spirits revived, the roads, andconsequently the supplies improved; and on the whole, we thought itrather jolly. 

If you had been there of a warm, sunny day you would have noticed everylog and stump serving as a seat for a soldier, who had taken off hisshirt and was diligently hunting it all over. It was not safe to askhim what he was looking for. 

Troops were continually arriving, some of them freshly recruited, andnot yet familiar with their arms, or the simplest elements ofregimental maneuvers. It was said there were some regiments who hadjust received their guns, and had never fired them. Badeau says theycame on the field without cartridges. I know that improved rifles werescarce, for my own regiment at that time did not have rifles, but oldsmooth bore muskets with buck-and-ball ammunition--that is, thecartridge had next to the powder a large ball, and then next to itthree buck shot. Of course, we should have had no show against riflesat long range, but at short range, in woods and brush, these weaponswere fearfully destructive, as we shall presently see. 

Strange to say, these freshly recruited regiments were assigned toSherman's division and to Prentiss' division, whose camps werescattered in the woods farthest out towards Corinth. As might have beenexpected, these new soldiers did not stand on the order of their going, when they suddenly discovered a hostile army on top of them. 

A map of the place selected for the concentration of our army showsthat with proper precautions and such defensive works as, later in thewar, would have been constructed within a few hours, the place wasimpregnable. The river which ran in the rear was controlled by ourgunboats, and furnished us the means of obtaining abundant supplies. Creeks with marshy banks protected either flank. The only possibleavenue of attack upon this position was directly in front, and acrossthat ran little creeks and ravines, with here and there open fieldsaffording fine vantage-ground. A general anticipating the possibilityof attack, would not have scattered his divisions so widely, and wouldhave marked a line of defense upon which the troops should rally. Advantage would have been taken of the ground, and trees felled withthe tops outwards, through which an attacking force would have, withgreat difficulty, to struggle. And later in the war, as a matter ofprecaution, and because of the proximity of the enemy, breastworkswould have been thrown up. All this could have been done in a fewhours. Our flanks were so well protected that no troops were neededthere, and in case of attack, each division commander should have hadhis place in the front, to which to immediately march his command;while, the line being not more than three miles long at the veryoutside estimate, there were abundant forces to man it thoroughly, leaving a large force in the reserve to reinforce a point imperiled. 

Why was not this done? It is hard to find an answer. General Sherman'sdivision was at the extreme front. It was being organized. The enemywas not more than twenty-two miles away, and was known to beconcentrating from all the West. Yet this general, who afterwardsacquired such fame as a consummate master of the art of war, took noprecautions whatever, not even thoroughly scouting the ground in hisfront. His pickets could not have been out more than a mile. GeneralPrentiss' division was also in process of organization, and he, likeSherman, was in advance, and on Sherman's left. The complete absence ofthe ordinary precautions, always taken by military commanders since thebeginning of history, is inexplicable. The only reason I can conjecturefor it grows out of the character of General Grant and hisdistinguished subordinate, and their inexperience. They had had thenlittle practical knowledge of actual warfare. General Sherman, excepton one occasion, had never heard a hostile gun fired. They had to learntheir art, and the country and their army had to pay the cost of theirteaching. Happily, they were able to profit by every lesson, and soonhad no equals among our commanders. But because they have sincedeserved so well of their country, is no reason why history should besilent as to their mistakes. The Confederates would have made a greatmistake in attacking us at all in such a position, if we had beenprepared to receive them. But this want of preparation prevented usfrom taking advantage of the opportunity, and inflicting a crushingdefeat upon the South. By it the war was prolonged, and every villageand hamlet in the West had its house of mourning. 

Immediately in the right rear of General Sherman was camped the veterandivision of General McClernand. About two miles further back, and abouta mile from the river, was stationed the reserve, consisting of twodivisions, Hurlbut's and W. H. L. Wallace's, formerly C. F. Smith's. Across Owl Creek, and seven or eight miles off, was camped General LewWallace's division. It was so far away as not to be in easy supportingdistance. 

On April 1st, our division was marched to an open field, and therecarefully reviewed by General Grant. This was our first sight of thevictor of Donelson. Friday, the 4th of April, was a sloppy day, andjust before sundown we heard firing off towards Sherman's division. Wefell into line and started toward the front. After we had marched abouta mile, pitch darkness came on. Presently, a staff officer directed acounter-march back to camp, saying it was only a rebel reconnoisance. It was a nasty march back in the mud, dense woods, and thick darkness. 

All this day the Confederate army was struggling through the woods andmud, on its march from Corinth to attack us. It was the expectation ofGeneral Johnston and his subordinates to cover the intervening spacebetween the two armies in this one day and attack early Saturdaymorning; but the difficulties of the march was such, that he did notmake more than half the distance, and had to go into camp for thenight. Saturday was a reasonably pleasant day, but General Johnston'stroops had got so entangled in the forests, he did not feel justifiedin attacking until all his preparations were made, which took the wholeof Saturday. He then moved up to within a mile or two of Sherman andPrentiss, and went into camp _within sound of our drums_. 

The delay had been so great that Beauregard now advised a countermarchback to Corinth. He represented that our forces had surely beenappraised of their march, and it would be too late now to effect asurprise; that they would undoubtedly find us all prepared, andprobably behind breastworks and other obstructions. General Johnstonwas smarting under the criticisms of the campaign which resulted in theloss of Donelson. His courage and military instinct told him that nowwas the time to strike. He felt, too, that a bold stroke was necessaryto redeem the fortunes of the Confederacy and his own reputation. Hisresolution was to conquer or die; and he replied to Beauregard: "Weshall attack at daylight to-morrow. "

Here was an army of a little over 40, 000 men, as brave as evershouldered muskets, fighting on their own soil, and, as they believed, for homes and liberty, resting for the night at about two miles fromthe invading army, and all prepared to attack at dawn, and sweep theinvaders of their country back into the Tennessee river. Upon thefavoring breeze, the sound of our drums at evening parade came floatingto their ears. They heard the bugle note enjoying quiet and repose inthe camp of their unsuspecting foe. They, themselves, were crouching inthe thick woods and darkness, all prepared to spring on their prey. Nocamp-fire was lighted; no unnecessary sound was permitted; but silent, watchful, with mind and heart prepared for conflict, the Southern hostswaited for the morning. 

Such was the situation, so far as our enemies were concerned. But howwas it with the army fighting for the integrity and preservation of thenation? Let us begin with the commanding General. That day (Saturday)he dispatched General Halleck as follows: "The main force of the armyis at Corinth. * * * The number at Corinth and within supportingdistance of it cannot be far from 80, 000 men. " Later in the day hedispatched the news of the enemy's reconnoisance the night before, andadded: "I have scarcely the faintest idea of an attack (general one)being made upon us, but will be prepared should a thing take place. "

Grant had less than 50, 000 men fit for battle. He thinks the enemy atCorinth, twenty-two miles away, has 80, 000 men. He must know that theenemy knows Buell, with his army, will soon reach the Tennessee, andwhen united with his own will nearly double his effective strength;that now, and before Buell joins him, if ever, must the Confederatesstrike an effective blow. His pickets have been driven in the nightbefore, the enemy using a piece or two of artillery; yet he does notexpect an attack, and makes not the slightest preparation to receive orrepel one. He leaves General Lew Wallace with over 7, 000 good troops atCrump's Landing, out of easy supporting distance, Nelson's division andCrittenden's division of Buell's army at Savannah; and has no thoughtof moving them up that day to repel an overwhelming attack about to bemade on him. On Saturday he visits his army and Sherman, and then goesback to Savannah, unsuspicious of the presence of the enemy. 

How was it with General Sherman, who had the advance on the right, andwas probably more relied upon by Grant and Halleck than was Prentiss?In fact it is not at all improbable that Grant wholly relied upon thetwo division commanders at the front, particularly Sherman, to keep himposted as to the movements of the hostile army. General Shermanreported on Saturday that he thought there were about two regiments ofinfantry and a battery of artillery about six miles out. As a matter offact, the whole rebel army was not more than six miles out. Later inthe day he dispatches: "The enemy is saucy, but got the worst of ityesterday, and will not press our pickets far. I do not apprehendanything like an attack on our position. "

A tolerably extensive reading of campaigns and military historiesjustifies me in saying that such an exhibition of unsuspicious securityin the presence of a hostile army is without a parallel in the historyof warfare. 

How was it with our army? We knew the enemy to be at Corinth, but therehad been no intimation of advance; and no army could get over theintervening space in less than two days, of which, of course, it wasthe duty of our generals to have ample notice. Usually, before abattle, there seems to be something in the very air that warns thesoldier and officer of what is coming, and to nerve themselves for thestruggle; but most of us retired this Saturday night to our blankets inas perfect fancied security as ever enveloped an army. 

But this was not true of all. A sense of uneasiness pervaded a portionof the advance line. Possibly there had been too much noise in thewoods in front, possibly that occult sense, which tells us of theproximity of another, warned them of the near approach of a hostilearmy. Some of the officers noticed that the woods beyond the picketsseemed to be full of Rebel cavalry. General Prentiss was infected withthis uneasiness, and at daylight on Sunday morning sent out theTwenty-first Missouri to make an observation towards Corinth. 

This regiment, proceeding through the forest, ran plump upon theConfederate skirmish line, which it promptly attacked. Immediately theMissourians saw an army behind the skirmish line advancing upon them. They could hold their ground but for a moment. The enemy's advanceswept them back, and, like an avalanche, the Confederate army pouredinto the camps of Sherman's and Prentiss' divisions. 

At the first fire our men sprang to arms. By the time the enemy hadreached our camps many regiments had become partially formed, but theywere all unnerved by the shock. Some were captured by the enemy beforethey could get their clothes on. Some, without firing a shot, broke forthe river-landing, three miles away, and cowered beneath its banks. General Sherman and his staff mounted their horses, and as theygalloped past the Fifty-third Ohio, which was getting into line, one ofthe officers called out to him not to go any farther, for the rebelarmy was just beyond the rising ground. The general made use of someexpression about not getting frightened at a reconnoisance, and wentahead. As he reached the slight elevation he beheld the Confederatearmy sweeping down upon him. Their skirmish line fired at him, killinghis orderly. He realized at last that he was in the presence of ahostile army. From that moment he did everything that mortal man coulddo to retrieve his fatal mistake. Wounded twice, several horsessuccessively killed under him, chaos and defeat all around, yet hisclear intelligence and steady courage stamped him a born leader of men. The other generals and officers yielded to his superior force andobeyed his orders. He was everywhere, encouraging, threatening, organizing, and succeeded in establishing a tolerable line in the rearof his camps. 

General Prentiss' troops were more demoralized than Sherman's. Wholeregiments broke away, and were not reorganized until after the battle. A tide of fugitives set in toward the landing, carrying demoralizationand terror with them. 

Our camp was so far back that we heard nothing of this early uproar. The morning was a beautiful one, and after our early breakfast Istarted down the little creek, hunting for some first flowers ofspring. I had scarcely got out of sight of camp, when the firing towardthe front, though faintly heard, seemed too steady to be caused by thepernicious habit which prevailed of the pickets firing off their gunson returning from duty, preparatory to cleaning them. A sense ofapprehension took possession of me. Presently artillery was heard, andthen I turned toward camp, getting more alarmed at every step. When Ireached camp a startled look was on every countenance. The musketryfiring had become loud and general, and whole batteries of artillerywere joining in the dreadful chorus. The men rushed to their tents andseized their guns, but as yet no order to fall in was given. Nearer andnearer sounded the din of a tremendous conflict. Presently the longroll was heard from the regiments on our right. A staff officer camegalloping up, spoke a word to the Major in command, the order to fallin was shouted, the drummers began to beat the long roll, and it wastaken up by the regiments on our left. The men, with pale faces, wildeyes, compressed lips, quickly accoutered themselves for battle. Theshouts of the officers, the rolling of the drums, the hurrying to andfro of the men, the uproar of approaching but unexpected battle, alltogether produced sensations which cannot be described. Soon, teamswith shouting drivers came tearing along the road toward the landing. Crowds of fugitives and men slightly wounded went hurrying past in thesame direction. Uproar and turmoil were all around; but we, having gotinto line, stood quietly with scarcely a word spoken. Each man wasstruggling with himself and nerving himself for what bid fair to be adreadful conflict. What thoughts of home and kindred and all that makeslife dear come to one at such a moment. 

Presently a staff officer rode up, the command to march was given, andwith the movement came some relief to the mental and moral strain. Aswe passed in front of the Forty-first Illinois, a field officer of thatregiment, in a clear, ringing voice, was speaking to his men, andannounced that if any man left the ranks on pretense of caring for thewounded he should be shot on the spot; that the wounded must be lefttill the fight was over. His men cheered him, and we took up the cheer. Blood was beginning to flow through our veins again, and we could evencomment to one another upon the sneaks who remained in camp, onpretense of being sick. As we moved toward the front the fugitives andthe wounded increased in numbers. Poor wretches, horribly mutilated, would drop down, unable to go farther. Wagons full of wounded, fillingthe air with their groans, went hurrying by. As we approached the sceneof conflict, we moved off to the left of the line of the rear-wardgoing crowd, crossed a small field and halted in the open woods beyond. As we halted, we saw right in front of us, but about three hundred orfour hundred yards off, a dense line of Confederate infantry, quietlystanding in ranks. In our excitement, and without a word of command, weturned loose and with our smooth bore muskets opened fire upon them. After three or four rounds, the absurdity of firing at the enemy atthat distance with our guns dawned upon us, and we stopped. As thesmoke cleared up we saw the enemy still there, not having budged orfired a shot in return. But though our action was absurd, it was arelief to us to do something, and we were rapidly becoming toned up tothe point of steady endurance. 

As we gazed at the enemy so coolly standing there, an Ohio battery ofartillery came galloping up in our rear, and what followed I don'tbelieve was equalled by anything of the kind during the war. As theartillery came up we moved off by the right flank a few steps, to letit come in between us and the Illinois regiment next on our left. Wherewe were standing was in open, low-limbed oak timber. The line ofSouthern infantry was in tolerably plain view through the openings inthe woods, and were still standing quietly. Of course, we all turnedour heads away from them to look at the finely equipped battery, as itcame galloping from the rear to our left flank, its officers shoutingdirections to the riders where to stop their guns. It was the work ofbut an instant to bring every gun into position. Like a flash thegunners leaped from their seats and unlimbered the cannon. The finesix-horse teams began turning round with the caissons, charges werebeing rammed home, and the guns pointed toward the dense ranks of theenemy, when, from right in front, a dense puff of smoke, a tearing ofshot and shell through the trees, a roar from half a dozen cannon, hitherto unseen, and our brave battery was knocked into smithereens. Great limbs of trees, torn off by cannon shot, came down on horse andrider, crushing them to earth. Shot and shell struck cannon, upsettingthem; caissons exploded them. Not a shot was fired from our side. 

But how those astounded artillery men--those of them who could run atall--did scamper out of there. Like Mark Twain's dog, they may berunning yet. At least, it is certain that no attempt was ever made toreorganize that battery--it was literally wiped out then and there. 

This made us feel mightily uncomfortable--in fact, we had been feelingquite uncomfortable all the morning. It did not particularly add to thecheerfulness of the prospect, to reflect that our division was thereserve of the army, and should not be called into action, ordinarily, until towards the close of the battle; while here we were, early in theforenoon, face to face with the enemy, our battery of artillery gobbledup at one mouthful, and the rest of the army in great strait, certainly, and probably demoralized. 

One of the cannon shot had gone through our Colonel's horse, and therider had been carried off the field. Colonel Pugh, of the Forty-firstIllinois, then took command of the brigade, about-faced us, and marchedus back across the little field, and halted us just behind the fence, the enemy during this maneuver leaving us wholly undisturbed. 

The rails were thrown down and we lay flat upon the ground, whileanother battery came up and opened on the enemy, who had moved upalmost to the wreck of our first battery. 

Here, then, began a fierce artillery duel. Shot and shell went over usand crashing through the trees to the rear of us, and I suppose thatshot and shell went crashing through the trees above the enemy; but ifthey didn't suffer any more from shot and shell than we did, there wasa great waste of powder and iron that day. But how a fellow does hugthe ground under such circumstances! As a shell goes whistling over himhe flattens out, and presses himself into the earth, almost. Pity thesorrows of a big fat man under such a fire. 

Later in the war we should have dug holes for ourselves with bayonets. We must have lain there hugging the ground for more than two hours, with now and then an intermission, listening to the flight of dreadedmissiles above us; but, as nobody in our immediate neighborhood washurt, we at length voted the performance of the artillery to be, on thewhole, rather fine. During intermissions, while the scenes wereshifting, as it were, we began to feel a disposition to talk and jokeover the situation. 

The reason why we were not subjected to an infantry fire, was becausethe enemy's forces, tangled in the wooded country, and in places beatenback by the stubborn gallantry of our surprised but not demoralizedmen, needed to be reorganized. All the Southern accounts agree thattheir brigades and divisions had become mixed in apparently hopelessconfusion. The battlefield was so extensive that fighting was going onat some point all the time, so that at no time was there a completecessation of the roar of artillery or the rattle of musketry. 

Two or three times General Hurlbut came riding along our line; andonce, during a lull, General Grant and staff came slowly riding by, theGeneral with a cigar in his mouth, and apparently as cool andunconcerned as if inspection was the sole purpose of visiting us. TheGeneral's apparent indifference had, undoubtedly, a good influence onthe men. They saw him undisturbed, and felt assured that the worst wasover, and the attack had spent its force. This must have been soonafter he reached the field; for, upon hearing the roar of battle in themorning at Savannah he went aboard a steamer, came up the river eightor nine miles, and did not reach the scene of action much, if any, before 10 o'clock. By that time, Sherman, McClernand and Prentiss hadbeen driven more than a mile beyond their camps, and with such of theircommand as they could hold together had formed on the flanks of the tworeserve divisions of Hurlbut and W. H. L. Wallace, who had movedforward beyond their own camps to meet them. 

While General Johnston and his adjutants were reorganizing theircommand after their first great triumph, to complete the conquest sowell begun, Grant and his generals were attempting to organizeresistance out of defeat, to establish their lines, to connect thedivisions with each other, and improve the situation of the differentcommands by seizing the most favorable ground. Sherman and McClernand, with what remained of their divisions, were on the extreme right;W. H. L. Wallace, whose division had not yet come into action, on theirleft, and on the left center of our army; Prentiss on his left. Thencame Hurlbut; then a small force under Stuart, on the extreme left ofour line. 

Fortunately for us, General Johnston's plan was to attack our left. If, when he was ready to renew the battle, he had assailed our right, wherewere Sherman's and McClernand's divisions, who had already done almostas much as flesh and blood could stand, nothing would have stopped him, and by two o'clock we should have been where we were at dark--that is, huddled about the landing. Then there would have been nothing to do butto surrender. Happily, most happily, when he renewed the assaults uponour lines, it was upon those portions manned by reserve divisions, troops that had not been seriously engaged, and had had time to steadytheir nerves, and to select favorable positions. 

As for myself and comrades, we had become accustomed to the situationsomewhat. The lull in the fighting in our immediate vicinity, and thereports which reached us that matters were now progressing favorably onthe rest of the field, reassured us. We were becoming quite easy inmind. I had always made it a rule to keep a supply of sugar and somehard tack in my haversack, ready for an emergency. It stood me in goodstead just then, for I alone had something besides fighting for lunch. I nibbled my hard tack, and ate my sugar with comfort and satisfaction, for I don't believe three men of our regiment were hurt by thisartillery fire upon us, which had been kept up with more or less furyfor two or three hours. 

One of the little episodes of the battle happened about this time. Wenoticed that a Confederate, seated on one of the abandoned cannon Ihave mentioned, was leisurely taking an observation. He was out ofrange of our guns, but our First Lieutenant got a rifle from a man whohappened to have one, took deliberate aim, and Johnny Reb tumbled. 

But soon after noon the Confederate forces were ready to hurlthemselves on our lines. There had been more or less fighting on ourright all the time, but now Johnston had collected his troops andmassed them in front of the Union army's left. Language is inadequateto give an idea of the situation. Cannon and musketry roared andrattled, not in volleys, but in one continual din. Charge after chargewas made upon the Union lines, and every time repulsed. Byconcentrating the main body of his troops on our left, General Johnstonwas superior there to us in numbers, and there was no one upon whom wecould call for help. General Lew Wallace had not taken the precautionto learn the roads between his division at Crump's Landing and the mainbody, and he and his 7, 000 men were lost in the woods, instead of beingwhere they could support us in this our dire extremity. The left wingof our brigade was the Hornet's Nest, mentioned in the Southernaccounts of the battle. On the immediate right of my regiment wastimber with growth of underbrush, and the dreadful conflict set thewoods on fire, burning the dead and the wounded who could not crawlaway. At one point not burned over, I noticed, after the battle, astrip of low underbrush which had evidently been the scene of a mostdesperate contest. Large patches of brush had been cut off by bulletsat about as high as a man's waist, as if mowed with a scythe, and Icould not find in the whole thicket a bush which had not at some partof it been touched by a ball. Of course, human beings could not existin such a scene, save by closely hugging the ground, or screeningthemselves behind trees. 

Hour after hour passed. Time and again the Confederate hordes threwthemselves on our lines, and were repulsed; but our ranks were becomingdangerously thinned. If a few thousand troops could have been broughtfrom Lew Wallace's division to our sorely-tried left the battle wouldhave been won. His failure to reach us was fatal. 

Yet, during all this terrible ordeal through which our comrades on theimmediate right and the left of us were passing, we were leftundisturbed until about two o'clock. Then there came from the woods onthe other side of the field, to the edge of it, and then came trottingacross it, as fine looking a body of men as I ever expect to see underarms. They came with their guns at what soldiers call right shouldershift. Lying on the ground there, with the rails of the fence throwndown in front of us, we beheld them, as they started in beautiful line;then increasing their speed as they neared our side of the field, theycame on till they reached the range of our smooth bore guns, loadedwith buck and ball. Then we rose with a volley right in their faces. Ofcourse, the smoke then entirely obscured the vision, but with eager, bloodthirsty energy, we loaded and fired our muskets at the top of ourspeed, aiming low, until, from not noticing any return fire, the wordpassed along from man to man to stop firing. As the smoke rose so thatwe could see over the field, that splendid body of men presented to myeyes more the appearance of a wind-row of hay than anything else. Theyseemed to be piled up on each other in a long row across the field. Probably the obscurity caused by the smoke, as well as the slight slopeof the ground towards us, accounted for this piled up appearance, forit was something which could not possibly occur. But the slaughter hadbeen fearful. Here and there you could see a squad of men running offout of range; now and then a man lying down, probably wounded orstunned, would rise and try to run, soon to tumble from the shots wesent after him. After the action I went all over the field of battle, visiting every part of it; but in no place was there anything like thenumber of dead upon the same space of ground as here in this littlefield. Our old fashioned guns, loaded as they were, and at such closequarters, had done fearful execution. This is undoubtedly the samefield General Grant speaks of in the Century article, but he ismistaken when he speaks of the dead being from both sides. There wereno Union dead in that field. 

Our casualties were small. In our little set of college boys only one, was hurt; he receiving a wound in the leg, which caused its amputation. The bayonet of my gun was shot off, but possibly that was done by someman behind me, firing just as I threw the muzzle of my gun into hisway. I didn't notice it until, in loading my gun, I struck my handagainst the jagged end of the broken piece. 

The Confederates had all they wanted of charging across the field, andlet us alone. But just to our left General Johnston had personallyorganized and started a heavy assaulting column. Overwhelmed bynumbers, the Forty-first and Thirty-second Illinois gave way from theposition they had so tenaciously held, but one of their last shotsmortally wounded the Confederate general. The gallant Lieutenant-Colonelof the Forty-first, whom we had cheered as we moved out in the morning, was killed, and his regiment, broken and cut to pieces, did not renewthe fight. Making that break in our line, after four or five hours ofas hard fighting as ever occurred on this continent, was the turningpoint of the day. American had met American in fair, stand-up fight, and our side was beaten, because we could not reinforce the point whichwas assailed by the concentrated forces of the enemy. 

Of course, the giving way on our left necessitated our abandoning theside of the field from whence we had annihilated an assaulting column. We moved back a short distance in the woods, and a crowd of our enemiespromptly occupied the position we had left. Then began the first real, prolonged fighting experienced by our regiment that day. Our success incrushing the first attack had exhilarated us. We had tasted blood andwere thoroughly aroused. Screening ourselves behind every log and tree, all broken into squads, the enemy broken up likewise, we gave back shotfor shot and yell for yell. The very madness of bloodthirstinesspossessed us. To kill, to exterminate the beings in front of us was ourwhole desire. Such energy and force was too much for our enemies, andere long we saw squads of them rising from the ground and running away. Again there was no foe in our front. Ammunition was getting short, buthappily a wagon came up with cartridges, and we took advantage of thelull to fill our boxes. We had not yet lost many men and were full offight. 

This contest exploded all my notions derived from histories andpictures, of the way men stand up in the presence of the enemy. Unlessin making an assault or moving forward, both sides hugged the ground asclosely as they possibly could and still handle their guns. I doubt ifa human being could have existed three minutes, if standing erect inopen ground under such a fire as we here experienced. As for myself, atthe beginning I jumped behind a little sapling not more than six inchesin diameter, and instantly about six men ranged themselves behind me, one behind the other. I thought they would certainly shoot my ears off, and I would be in luck if the side of my head didn't go. The reports oftheir guns were deafening. A savage remonstrance was unheeded. I wasbehind a sapling and proposed to stay there. They were behind me andproposed to stay there. 

The sapling did me a good turn, small as it was. It caught some Rebelbullets, as I ascertained for a certainty afterwards. I fancied at thetime that I heard the spat of the bullets as they struck. 

Here my particular chum was wounded by a spent ball, and crawled offthe field. I can see him yet, writhing at my feet, grasping the leavesand sticks in the horrible pain which the blow from a spent ballinflicts. A bullet struck the top of the forehead of the wit of thecompany, plowing along the skull without breaking it. His dazedexpression, as he turned instinctively to crawl to the rear, was socomical as to cause a laugh even there. 

The lull caused by the death of General Johnston did not last long, andagain on our left flank great masses of the enemy appeared, and we hadto fall back two or three hundred yards. 

Then began another fight. But this time the odds were overwhelminglyagainst us. At it we went, but in front and quartering on the leftthick masses of the enemy slowly but steadily advanced upon us. Thistime it was a log I got behind, kneeling, loading and firing into thedense ranks of the enemy advancing right in front, eager to kill, kill!I lost thought of companions, until a ball struck me fair in the side, just under the arm, knocking me over. I felt it go clear through mybody, struggled on the ground with the effect of the blow for aninstant, recovered myself, sprang to my feet, saw I was alone, mycomrades already on the run, the enemy close in on the left as well asfront--saw it all at a glance, felt I was mortally wounded, and--tookto my heels. Run! such time was never made before; overhauled mycompanions in no time; passed them; began to wonder that a man shotthrough the body could run so fast, and to suspect that perhaps I wasnot mortally wounded after all; felt for the hole the ball had made, found it in the blouse and shirt, bad bruise on the ribs, nothingmore--spent ball; never relaxed my speed; saw everything around--see ityet. I see the enemy close in on the flank, pouring in their fire atshort range. I see our men running for their lives, men every instanttumbling forward limp on their faces, men falling wounded and rollingon the ground, the falling bullets raising little puffs of dust onapparently every foot of ground, a bullet through my hair, a bulletthrough my trousers. I hear the cruel _iz_, _iz_, of the minie ballseverywhere. Ahead I see artillery galloping for the landing, and crowdsof men running with almost equal speed, and all in the same direction. I even see the purple tinge given by the setting sun to the dust andsmoke of battle. I see unutterable defeat, the success of therebellion, a great catastrophe, a moral and physical cataclysm. 

No doubt, in less time than it takes to recall these impressions, weran out of this horrible gauntlet--a party who shall be nameless stillin the lead of the regiment. 

Before getting out of it we crossed our camp ground, and here one ofour college set, the captain of the company fell, with several holesthrough his body, while two others of our set were wounded. In thatshort race at least one-third of our little command were stricken down. 

Immediately behind us the Confederates closed in, and the brave GeneralPrentiss and the gallant remains of his command were cut off andsurrendered. As we passed out of range of the enemy's fire we mingledwith the masses of troops skurrying towards the landing, all semblanceof organization lost. It was a great crowd of beaten troops. Pell-mellwe rushed towards the landing. As we approached it we saw a row ofsiege guns, manned and ready for action, while a dense mass ofunorganized infantry were rallied to their support. No doubt they weremen from every regiment on the field, rallied by brave officers for thelast and final stand. 

We passed them--or, at least, I did. As I reached the top of the bluffI saw, marching up, in well dressed lines, the advance of GeneralNelson's division of Buell's army, then being ferried across the river. They moved up the bluff and took part in repulsing the last, ratherfeeble assault made at dark by a small portion of the enemy, though themain defense was made by brave men collected from every quarter of thefield, determined to fight to the last. 

As for myself, I was alone in the crowd. My regiment was thoroughlyscattered. I was considerably hurt and demoralized, and didn't take ahand in the last repulse of the enemy. Darkness came on, and then, forthe first time since morning, the horrid din of fire-arms ceased. Anexamination showed that the ball, though it had hit me fair on the rib, was so far spent that it only made a bad bruise and respirationpainful. A requisition on the sugar and hard tack followed, and then, as I happened to be near an old house filled with wounded, most of thenight was spent in carrying them water. 

Every fifteen minutes the horizon was lighted up by the flash of agreat gun from one of our gunboats, as it sent a shell over towards theConfederate bivouacs in the woods. General Lew Wallace's division atlast reached the battle field, and was placed by General Grant on theright, preparatory to renewing the fight in the morning. All night longthe fresh divisions of Buell's army were being ferried across theriver, and placed in position. A light rain came on, putting out thefires kindled by the battle. 

The next morning the contest was begun by Wallace's division of Buell'sarmy. The remnants of Grant's army that had any fight left in them, slowly collected together on the right. 

My own regiment, when I found its colors, had as many men together, probably, as any in Hurlbut's division, but there could not have beenmore than one hundred and fifty. It was the same, I suspect, with everyregiment that had been hotly engaged. The men were thoroughlyscattered. Soldiers of pluck joined us who could not find their owncommand, and no doubt some of ours joined other regiments. 

When our general was again about to lead our division to the front, Iwas only too glad to avail myself of permission to join a body of mento support a battery in reserve. Badly bruised, sore and worn out, Isat or lay on the ground near the guns, while Monday's battleprogressed, the sound of it getting farther and farther away. About twoo'clock we saw the cavalry moving to the front, and knew the enemy hadretreated. 

That night, as we collected on our old camp ground, what eagerinquiries were made! With what welcome did we greet each new arrival;how excitedly the events of the last two days were discussed! We foundthat from the fourteen in our tent, one was killed, one mortallywounded, and seven others more or less severely wounded, only fiveescaping unhurt. This proportion, of course, was very unusual. Theregiment itself, which had not lost many in the first two fights wemade, was still, on account of the disastrous retreat under a flankfire, one of the heaviest losers, in proportion to the numbers engaged, in the whole army. 

The feeling in the army after the battle was very bitter. All felt thateven a few hours' notice of the impending attack, spent in preparationto receive it, would have been ample to have enabled us to give theConfederates such a reception as Beauregard feared and expected, and tohave defeated them. It was long before General Grant regained theconfidence of the army and country that he lost that day. He andSherman here learned a lesson that they never forgot, but they learnedit at fearful cost to the country and to us. 

It has been many times claimed that Buell's opportune arrival Sundaynight saved Grant and his army from annihilation on Monday. This isprobably correct. Still, it is possible, that without this aid, thearrival on the ground of Lew Wallace's fresh and strong division, toaid the thousands of brave men determined to fight to the last, wouldhave resulted in the repulse of an enemy which had suffered so severelyon Sunday. 

But I have long been inclined to agree with these Southerners, whocontend, that if the gallant Johnston had not been killed so early inthe afternoon, our defeat would have been accomplished long enoughbefore dark, to have rendered our reinforcements useless. 

One word more, as to the numbers of the armies engaged on Sunday. Acareful comparison of the returns will show that at the beginning thetwo armies were about equally matched in numbers; but by the time ourstampeded men had got out of the way, and the two reserve divisionswere in line with the remnants of the three other divisions, thepreponderance was largely with the Confederates. They could choosetheir own point of attack, and we had no reserve with which tostrengthen a shattered line. 

The literature of the battle is quite extensive. The Count of Parisgives in his history the best preliminary description; but as a whole, and making reasonable allowances, the best account yet written iscontained in the life of Albert Sidney Johnston, by his son. Theaccount by General Force, contained in the Scribner series of"Campaigns of the Civil War, " is good. 

But no study of the battle can be complete without the aid of GeneralBuell's articles in the Century Magazine, and the maps of the field, which he has so carefully prepared. 

What were the results of this first great battle of the war? Itsinfluence upon the gigantic contest which was to be waged for threeyears longer was probably not great. It was too near a drawn battle. But if it was necessary to demonstrate to the world and to ourselvesthe courage of our people, that generations of peace and peacefulpursuits had not one whit lessened the force or the enthusiasm of therace that peopled this Western Continent, then here was demonstrationthe most positive. 

The people of the South for the first time realized the nature of theconflict they had provoked. Until this campaign, the great mass of theSoutherners could not be made to believe that the students and farmersand mechanics and merchants of the North loved their country and itsinstitutions more than they loved the gains of peace; nay, more thanthey loved their lives. They saw here an army of young men representingtheir kindred of the North, fighting, not for their own homes andfiresides, but for the perpetuity of the Nation, with a courage andpertinacity which showed that this generation was resolved to transmitwhat it had received from the fathers of the country. They saw thisarmy attacked at every disadvantage, rally at the call of a chiefworthy of it, and who was a type of its character and its loftymotives, and then bravely endure a storm unparalleled on thiscontinent. 

The thousands of youthful dead left on that bloody battlefielddemonstrated that we have a country and a race worthy to take the leadin the march of human advancement. 

WARREN OLNEY.