Project Gutenberg's From Fort Henry to Corinth, by Manning Ferguson Force
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Title: From Fort Henry to Corinth
Author: Manning Ferguson Force
Release Date: January 27, 2008 [EBook #24438]
Language: English
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FROM
FORT HENRY TO CORINTH
CAMPAIGNS OF THE CIVIL WAR.--II.
FROM
FORT HENRY TO CORINTH
BY
M.F. FORCE
LATE BRIGADIER-GENERAL AND BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL, U.S.V., COMMANDING
FIRST DIVISION, SEVENTEENTH CORPS.
NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Facsimile Reprint Edition from the original edition of 1881-1883 by The
Archive Society, 1992. Address all inquiries to:
_The Archive Society_ _130 Locust Street_ _Harrisburg, PA 17101_
PREFACE.
I have endeavored to prepare the following narrative from authentic
material, contemporaneous, or nearly contemporaneous, with the events
described.
The main source of information is the official reports of battles and
operations. These reports, both National and Confederate, will appear in
the series of volumes of Military Reports now in preparation under the
supervision of Colonel Scott, Chief of the War Records Office in the War
Department. Executive Document No. 66, printed by resolution of the
Senate at the Second Session of the Thirty-seventh Congress, contains a
number of separate reports of casualties, lists of killed, wounded, and
missing, which do not appear in the volumes of Military Reports as now
printed. Several battle reports are printed in volume IV., and in the
"Companion," or Appendix volume of Moore's Rebellion Record, which are
not contained in the volumes of Military Reports as now printed. The
reports of the Twentieth Ohio and the Fifty-third Ohio, of the battle of
Shiloh, have never been printed. Colonel Trabue's report of his brigade
in the battle of Shiloh has never been officially printed; but it is
given in the history of the Kentucky Brigade from Colonel Trabue's
retained copy, found by his widow among his papers.
The Reports of the Committee on the Conduct of the War contain original
matter in addition to what appears in reports of battles and operations.
The reports of the Adjutant-Generals of the different States, printed
during the war, often supplement the official reports on file in
Washington.
Some regimental histories, printed soon after the close of the war,
contain diaries and letters and narrate incidents which enable us in
some cases to fix dates, the place of camps, and positions in battle,
which could hardly otherwise be determined with precision. Newspaper
correspondents, while narrating what they personally saw, give
descriptions which impart animation to the sedate statements of official
reports.
Colonel William Preston Johnston's life of his father, General A.S.
Johnston, can be used in some respects as authority. He served first in
the Army of Northern Virginia, and was, most of the war, on the staff of
Jefferson Davis. He thus, after his father's death, became possessed of
a valuable collection of authentic official papers. When he was
preparing the biography, all papers of value in private hands in the
South were open to his use.
Letters and memoranda preserved by Colonel Charles Whittlesey, and some
of my own, have been of service.
I am under obligation to Colonel Scott for permission to freely read and
copy, in his office, the reports compiled under his direction. To
Ex-President Hayes for the loan of a set of the series of Military
Reports, both National and Confederate, so far as printed, though not
yet issued. To the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio for the
unrestricted use of its library. To Colonel Charles Whittlesey of
Cleveland, and Major E.C. Dawes, of Cincinnati, for the use of original
manuscripts as well as printed reports.
M.F. FORCE.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
PRELIMINARY, 1
CHAPTER II.
FORT HENRY, 24
CHAPTER III.
FORT DONELSON, 33
CHAPTER IV.
NEW MADRID AND ISLAND NUMBER TEN, 66
CHAPTER V.
THE GATHERING OF THE FORCES, 91
CHAPTER VI.
SHILOH--SUNDAY, 122
CHAPTER VII.
SHILOH--NIGHT, AND MONDAY, 160
CHAPTER VIII.
CORINTH, 183
LIST OF MAPS.
PAGE
WESTERN TENNESSEE, facing 1
FIELD OF OPERATIONS IN MISSOURI AND NORTHERN ARKANSAS, 3
THE LINE FROM COLUMBUS TO BOWLING GREEN, 25
FORT HENRY, 29
FORT DONELSON, 35
NEW MADRID AND ISLAND NUMBER TEN, 73
THE FIELD OF SHILOH, 125
THE APPROACH TO CORINTH, 185
[Illustration: Western Tennessee.]
FROM FORT HENRY TO CORINTH.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY.
Missouri did not join the Southern States in their secession from the
Union. A convention called to consider the question passed resolutions
opposed to the movement. But the legislature convened by Governor
Jackson gave him dictatorial power, authorized him especially to
organize the military power of the State, and put into his hands three
millions of dollars, diverted from the funds to which they had been
appropriated, to complete the armament. The governor divided the State
into nine military districts, appointed a brigadier-general to each, and
appointed Sterling Price major-general.
The convention reassembled in July, 1861, and, by action subject to
disapproval or affirmance of the popular vote, deposed the governor,
lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, and legislature, and appointed
a new executive. This action was approved by a vote of the people.
Jackson, assuming to be an ambulatory government as he chased about with
forces alternately advancing and fleeing, undertook, by his separate
act, to detach Missouri from the Union and annex it to the Confederacy.
This clash of action stimulated and intensified a real division of
feeling, which existed in every county. A sputtering warfare broke out
all over the State. Armed predatory parties, rebel and national, calling
themselves squadrons, battalions, regiments, springing up as if from the
ground, whirled into conflict and vanished. When a band of men without
uniform, wearing their ordinary dress and carrying their own arms,
dispersed over the country, the separate members could not be
distinguished from other farmers or villagers; and a train, being merely
a collection of country wagons, if scattered among the stables and
barn-yards of the adjoining territory, wholly disappeared. But all
through this eruptive discord flowed a continuous stream of more regular
contests, which constitute the connected beginning of the military
operations of the Mississippi Valley.
Under countenance of Governor Jackson's proclamation, General D.M. Frost
organized a force and established Camp Jackson, near St. Louis, the site
being now covered by a well-built portion of the city. Jackson had
refused to call out troops in response to President Lincoln's
requisition, but Frank P. Blair had promptly raised one regiment and
stimulated the formation of four others in St. Louis. On May 10, 1861,
Captain Nathaniel Lyon, of the regular army, who commanded at the
arsenal at St. Louis, and had there a garrison of several hundred
regulars, marched with Colonel Blair and the volunteers and a battery to
Camp Jackson, surrounded it, and demanded a surrender. Resistance was
useless. General Frost surrendered his men and stores, including twenty
cannon. St. Louis, and with it Missouri, was thus preserved. Lyon was
made brigadier-general of volunteers.
Jackson and Price left Jefferson City--Jackson stopping, on June 18th,
at Booneville, one rendezvous for his forces, while Price continued up
the river to Lexington, another rendezvous. General Lyon, leaving St.
Louis on June 13th with an expeditionary force on boats, reached
Booneville almost as soon as Jackson. The unorganized and partially
armed gathering of several thousand men made an impotent attempt at
resistance when Lyon landed, but was quickly routed. Jackson fled, with
his mounted men and such of the infantry as he could hold together, to
the southwest part of the State, gathering accretions of men as he
marched. Lyon set out in pursuit, and Price, abandoning Lexington,
hastened with the force assembled there to join Jackson. Colonel Franz
Sigel had proceeded from St. Louis to Rolla by rail, and marched thence
in pursuit of Jackson to strike him before he could be reinforced.
Sigel, with 1,500 men, encountered Jackson with more than double that
number, on July 5th, near Carthage, in Jasper County. Sigel's
superiority in artillery gave him an advantage in a desultory combat of
some hours. Jackson, greatly outnumbering him in cavalry, proceeded to
envelop his rear, and Sigel was forced to withdraw. Sigel retreated in
perfect order, and managed his artillery so well that the pursuing
cavalry were kept at a distance, while he marched with his train through
Carthage, and fifteen miles beyond, before halting. That night and next
morning Jackson was heavily reinforced by Price, who brought from the
south several thousand Arkansas and Texas troops, under General Ben.
McCulloch and General Pearce. Sigel continued his retreat to
Springfield, where he was joined by General Lyon on July 10th.
[Illustration: The Field of Operations in Missouri and Northern
Arkansas.]
Price and McCulloch being continually reinforced, largely with cavalry,
overran Southwestern Missouri. Lyon waited in vain for reinforcements,
and, having but little cavalry, kept closely to the vicinity of
Springfield. Learning that the enemy were marching upon him in two
strong columns, one from the south and one from the west, he moved out
from Springfield with all his force on August 1st, and early next
morning encountered at Dug Springs a portion of the column advancing
from the south under McCulloch. This detachment was shattered and
dispersed, and McCulloch recoiled and moved to the west, to join Price
commanding the other column. Price advanced slowly with the combined
force and went into camp on Wilson Creek, ten miles south of
Springfield, on August 7th.
Lyon's entire force was, upon the rolls, 5,868. This number included
sick, wounded, and detached on special duty. General Price turned over
his Missouri troops and relinquished command to McCulloch. According to
Price's official report, his Missourians engaged in the battle of the
10th were 5,221. According to the official report of McCulloch, his
entire effective force was 5,300 infantry, 15 pieces of artillery, 6,000
horsemen armed with flintlock muskets, rifles, and shotguns, and a
number of unarmed horsemen.
General Lyon, not having sufficient force to retreat across the open
country to supports, resolved to strike a sharp blow that would cripple
his opponent, and thus secure an unmolested retreat. He marched out from
Springfield at five o'clock P.M., on August 9th, leaving 250 men and one
gun as a guard. Colonel Sigel, with 1,200 men and a battery of six
pieces, moved to the left, to get into the rear of McCulloch's right
flank; Lyon, with 3,700 men, including two batteries, Totten's with six
guns, and Dubois with four, and also including two battalions of regular
infantry, inclined to the right so as to come upon the centre of the
enemy's front. The columns came in sight of McCulloch's camp-fires after
midnight, and rested in place till day. At six o'clock on the morning of
the 10th, attack was made almost simultaneously by the two columns at
the points designated. Sigel advanced to the attack with great
gallantry, but soon suffered a disastrous repulse; five of his six guns
were taken and his command scattered.
McCulloch's entire force, with artillery increased by the five pieces
taken from Sigel, turned upon Lyon's little command. Lyon's men were
well posted and fought with extraordinary steadiness. Infantry and
artillery face to face fired at each other, with occasional
intermissions, nearly six hours. General Lyon, after being twice
wounded, was killed. The opposing lines at times came almost in contact.
Each side at times recoiled. When the conflict reached the hottest, and
McCulloch pushed his men, about eleven o'clock, up almost to the muzzles
of the national line, Captain Granger rushed to the rear, brought up the
supports of Dubois' battery, eight companies in all, being portions of
the First Kansas, First Missouri, and the First Iowa, fell suddenly upon
McCulloch's right flank, and opened a fire that shot away a portion of
McCulloch's line. This cross-fire cleared that portion of the field;
McCulloch's whole line gave way and retired out of view. It was now for
the first time safe for Major Sturgis, who had assumed command on the
death of Lyon, to retreat. Sturgis withdrew in order and fell back to
Springfield unmolested. The entire national loss, according to the
official report, was 223 killed, 721 wounded, and 292 missing. The
missing were nearly all from Sigel's column. Two regiments in General
Lyon's column, the First Missouri and the First Kansas, lost together
153 killed and 395 wounded. General Price reported the loss of his
Missouri troops, 156 killed, 517 wounded, and 30 missing. General
McCulloch reported his entire loss as 265 killed, 800 wounded, and 30
missing. The death of General Lyon was a severe loss. He was zealous in
the national cause and enterprising in maintaining it; he was ready to
assume responsibility, and prompt in taking initiative; sagacious in
comprehending his antagonist, quick in decision, fertile in resource,
and was as cool as he was bold. On the night of the 10th, the army
stores in Springfield were put into the wagons, and next morning the
national force set out for Rolla, the end of the railroad, where it
arrived in good order on the 15th. Meanwhile, Price and McCulloch,
having some disagreement, withdrew to the Arkansas border.
General John C. Fremont was, July 9, 1861, assigned to the command of
the Western District, comprising the States of Illinois, Kentucky,
Missouri, and Kansas, and territories west, and arrived in St. Louis
from the East on July 25th. Before arriving he appointed
Brigadier-General John Pope to command the district of Northern
Missouri, being that part of Missouri north of the Missouri River. Pope
arrived at St. Charles, Mo., with three infantry regiments and part of
one cavalry regiment of Illinois volunteers, on July 17th, and assumed
command. On July 21st, General Pope published an order making all
property within five miles of a railway responsible for malicious injury
done to such railway. On July 31st he published another order, making
the property of each county responsible for damage done by, and the cost
of suppressing, predatory outbreaks in such county. For a month the
effect of these orders was to allay disturbance in the district, and
secure the administration of affairs by the ordinary machinery of civil
government; but in about a month the orders were set aside, and in their
place martial law was declared throughout the State.
General Fremont learned of the battle of Wilson Creek on August 13th,
and resolved at once to fortify St. Louis as his permanent base, and
also fortify and garrison Jefferson City, Rolla, Cape Girardeau, and
Ironton. Price marched leisurely up through the western border of the
State. Unorganized bands springing up in the country attacked
Booneville and Lexington, but were easily repulsed by the little
detachments guarding those places. Colonel Mulligan was sent to
Lexington with additional troops, making the entire force there 2,800
men and eight field-pieces, and with orders to remain until relieved or
reinforced.
On September 11th, Price arrived before Lexington. There is no authentic
report of his strength; indeed, a large part of his following was an
unorganized assemblage. He must have numbered 14,000 men at the
beginning of the siege; and reinforcements daily arriving swelled the
number to, at all events, more than 20,000. Colonel Mulligan took
position on a rising ground close to the river, east of the city,
forming a plateau with a surface of about fifteen acres, and fortified.
Judging by the despatches of General Fremont, he seems to have felt no
apprehension as to the fate of Mulligan, and made no serious effort to
relieve him. The force at Jefferson City remained there. The troops at
St. Louis were not moved. General Pope, who, under orders from General
Fremont, had advanced from Hannibal to St. Joseph along the line of the
railroad, driving off depredators, repairing the road, and stationing
permanent guards, heard on September 16th, at Palmyra on his return,
something of the condition of affairs at Lexington. He had sent his
troops then in the western part of the State toward the Missouri River
in pursuit of a depredating body of the enemy. He immediately despatched
an order to these troops to hasten to Lexington upon completing their
present business. They were not able, however, to arrive in time.
Price, having organized his command into five divisions, each commanded
by a general officer, did not push his siege vigorously till the 18th.
On that day, a force proceeding through the city of Lexington and under
cover of the river-bank, seized the ferry-boats, cut Mulligan off from
his water-supply, and carried a mansion close to Mulligan's works and
overlooking them. A sortie and a desperate struggle regained possession
of the house. Another assault and another desperate struggle finally
dispossessed the garrison of the house. Price closed in upon the
beleaguered works and firing became continuous and uninterrupted. On the
20th, Price, having a footing on the plateau, carried up numbers of
bales of hemp and used them as a movable entrenchment. By rolling these
forward, he pushed his line close to Mulligan's works. The besieged were
already suffering from want of water, and surrender could be no longer
postponed.
Fremont, hearing of the surrender on September 22d, began to bestir
himself to look after Price. He left St. Louis for Jefferson City on the
27th, and sent thither the regiments that had been kept at St. Louis.
Price on the same day moved out of Lexington and marched deliberately to
the southwest corner of the State. On September 24th, Fremont published
an order constructing an army for the field of five divisions, entitled
right wing, centre, left wing, advance, and reserve--under the command,
respectively, of Generals Pope, McKinstry, Hunter, Sigel, and Ashboth;
headquarters being respectively at Booneville, Syracuse, Versailles,
Georgetown, and Tipton. The regiments and batteries assigned to the
respective divisions were scattered all over the State, many of them
without wagons, mules, overcoats, cartridge-boxes, or rations. Orders
were issued to advance and concentrate at Springfield. Sigel arrived
there on the evening of October 27th, and Ashboth on the 30th. Fremont
was convinced that Price was on Wilson's Creek, ten or twelve miles from
Springfield. Despatches were sent urging McKinstry, Hunter, and Pope to
hasten. Pope, having marched seventy miles in two days, arrived on
November 1st, and McKinstry arrived close behind him.
On November 2d an order came from Washington relieving Fremont from
command of the department, and appointing Hunter to the command. Hunter
having not yet come up, Fremont held a council of war, exhibited his
plan of battle at Wilson Creek, and ordered advance and attack to be
made next morning. General Hunter arrived in the night and assumed
command. He sent a reconnoissance next day to Wilson Creek, and learned
that no enemy was there or had been there. It was soon ascertained that
Price was at Cassville, more than sixty miles off. The army being
without rations and imperfectly supplied with transportation, General
Hunter, acting upon his own judgment and also in accordance with the
wish of President Lincoln expressed in a letter to him, refrained from
any attempt to overtake Price, and withdrew his army back to the
railroads.
On November 9th, General Halleck was appointed commander of the new
Department of the Missouri, including that portion of Kentucky west of
the Cumberland River. One-half of the force which Fremont had assembled
at Springfield was stationed along the railway from Jefferson City to
Sedalia, its western terminus, and General Pope was put in command of
this force, as well as a district designated Central Missouri. General
Price advanced into Missouri as far as Osceola, on the southern bank of
the Osage River, from which point he sent parties in various directions,
and where he received detachments of recruits. On December 15th, Pope
moved out from Sedalia directly to the south, as if he were pushing for
Warsaw, and at the same time sent a cavalry force to the southwest, to
mask his movement from Price's command at and near Osceola. Next day a
forced march took him west to a position south of Warrensburg, and
between the two roads leading from Warrensburg to Osceola. The same
night he captured the pickets, and thereby learned the precise locality
of a body of 3,200 men, moving from Lexington south to join Price. A
flying column under Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, sent out the same night,
came upon the camp, drove out the command, kept up the pursuit all
night, and all the next day and night, pushing the fugitives away from
Price and utterly dispersing them over the country, and rejoined Pope on
the 18th with 150 prisoners, and sixteen wagons loaded with supplies
captured. At the same time Major Hubbard with his detachment pushed
south to the lines of one of Price's divisions, encamped opposite
Osceola, on the north shore of the Osage, and captured pickets and one
entire company of cavalry, with its tents and wagons. On the 18th, Pope
moved to the north, to intercept another body moving south to join
Price, and which he learned from his scouts would camp that night at the
mouth of Clear Creek, just beyond Warrensburg. His dispositions were so
made and carried out that the entire body was surrounded and captured,
comprising parts of two regiments of infantry and three companies of
cavalry--numbering 1,300 officers and men, with complete train and full
supplies. Pope's troops reoccupied their camps at Sedalia and Otterville
just one week after they marched out of them. Price broke up his camp at
Osceola in haste, and fell rapidly back to Springfield.
General Samuel R. Curtis arrived at Rolla on December 27th, to take
command of a force concentrating there and called the Army of the
Southwest. One division, under the command of Colonel Jefferson C.
Davis, detached from General Pope's district, added to three other
divisions commanded respectively by General Sigel, General Ashboth, and
Colonel E.A. Carr, made together 12,095 men and fifty pieces of
artillery, including four mountain howitzers. Marching out from Rolla on
January 23, 1862, with three divisions, he halted a week at Lebanon,
where he was joined by Colonel Davis, completing organization and
preparation. After some skirmishing with Price's outposts, Curtis
entered Springfield at daylight, February 15th, to find that Price had
abandoned it in the night. Curtis followed with forced marches, his
advance skirmishing every day with Price's rear-guard. In Arkansas,
Price was joined by McCulloch and they retired to Boston Mountains.
Curtis advanced as far as Fayetteville and then fell back to await
attack on ground of his own choice.
The position selected was where the main road, running north from
Fayetteville into Missouri, crosses Sugar Creek, and goes over a ridge
or rough plateau called Pea Ridge, and was near the Missouri line. For
easier subsistence the divisions were camped separately and some miles
apart. Davis' division was at Sugar Creek, preparing the position for
defence. Sigel, with his own and Ashboth's divisions, was at Cooper's
farm, about fourteen miles west; and Carr's division, with which General
Curtis had his headquarters, was twelve miles south on the main
Fayetteville road, at a place called Cross Hollows. Strong detachments
were sent in various directions, forty miles out, to gather in forage
and subsistence. The strength of the command was somewhat diminished by
the necessity of protecting the long line of communication with the base
of supplies by patrols as well as stationary guards, and the aggregate
present in Arkansas was 10,500 infantry and cavalry, and forty-nine
pieces of artillery.
To settle the continued dissension between Price and McCulloch, General
A.S. Johnston, the Confederate commander in the West, appointed General
Earl Van Dorn to command west of the Mississippi. Van Dorn assumed
command January 29, 1862, in northeastern Arkansas, and hastened on
February 22d to join McCulloch at Fayetteville, to which place Price was
then retreating before Curtis. Van Dorn says that he led 14,000 men into
action. All other accounts put his force at from thirty to forty
thousand. Perhaps he enumerated only the seasoned regiments, and took no
account of unorganized bands, or of the several thousand Indians under
Albert Pike.
At two o'clock P.M., March 5th, General Curtis received intelligence
that Van Dorn had begun his march. Orders were immediately sent to the
divisions and detachments to concentrate on Davis' division. Carr moved
at 6 P.M., and arrived at 2 A.M. Sigel deferred moving till two o'clock
A.M., and at Bentonville halted, himself with a regiment of infantry,
the Twelfth Missouri, Elbert's light battery, and five companies of
cavalry, till ten o'clock, two hours after the rear of his train had
passed through the place. By this time Van Dorn's advance guard had
arrived, and before Sigel could form had passed around to his front, at
the same time enveloping his flanks. By the skilful disposition of his
detachment, and the admirable conduct of the men, Sigel was able to
resume and continue his march, an unbroken skirmish, rising at times
into engagement, from half-past ten o'clock till half-past three, when
he was joined by reinforcements which General Curtis had hurried back to
him. The line was formed, facing to the south, on the crest of the
bluffs overlooking the Valley of Sugar Creek, Sigel being on the right,
next to him Ashboth, then Davis, and Carr being the left. The position
was entrenched, and the approaches were obstructed by felled timber. One
foraging party of 250 men and one gun did not return till after the
battle, so that Curtis' force engaged was just 10,250 men and
forty-eight guns.
Van Dorn did not assault that evening. By dawn next day it was
ascertained that he had made a great detour by the west, and was coming
up on the right and rear. Curtis faced his line to the rear and wheeled
to the left, so that his new line faced nearly west; the original right
flank, now the left, was scarcely moved, and Carr's division had become
the right. Colonel Osterhaus, with three regiments of infantry and two
batteries, was despatched from Sigel's division to aid a regiment of
cavalry and a flying battery that had been quickly sent to retard the
enemy's centre and give Carr's division time to deploy. Osterhaus met
the cavalry returning, and threw his detachment against the advancing
line. The picket posted at Elkhorn tavern, where Carr was to deploy, was
attacked and driven back, and Carr's division had to go into line under
fire. Osterhaus found himself opposed to the corps of McCulloch and
McIntosh, and was about being overwhelmed when Davis' division moved to
his support. Pea Ridge is in places covered with timber and brush, in
places intersected by deep ravines, and a portion of it was a tangle of
fallen timber, marking the path of a hurricane. Manoeuvring was not
easy, and detours were required in reinforcing one part of the line from
another. The contest on the field, where Davis and Osterhaus were
opposed to McCulloch and McIntosh, was fierce and determined until
McCulloch and McIntosh were killed. Their numerous, but partially
disciplined followers lost heart and direction, and before the close of
day gave way before the persistent and orderly attack, and finally broke
and left the field.
Carr's division was opposed to Price's corps, and Van Dorn gave his
personal attention to that part of the field. Gallantry and
determination could not prevail against gallantry and determination
backed by superior numbers. Bit by bit, first on one flank, then the
other, he receded. Curtis sent his body-guard, then the camp-guard to
reinforce him, and then a small reserve that had been guarding the road
to the rear. Carr had sent word he could not hold out much longer.
Curtis sent word to persevere, and went in person to the left, where
Sigel with his two divisions had not yet been under fire, and hurried
Ashboth over to Carr's relief. Carr had been gradually pushed back
nearly a mile; Van Dorn had been concentrating upon him, resolved to
crush him. Curtis, returning with Ashboth, met the Fourth Iowa marching
to the rear, in good order. Colonel Dodge explained that ammunition was
exhausted, and he was going for cartridges. "Then use your bayonets,"
was the reply, and the regiment faced again to the enemy and steadily
advanced. It was about five o'clock P.M. when Ashboth reached Carr's
line and immediately opened fire. The combat continued till dark set in.
As it was evident that Van Dorn was throwing his whole force upon the
position held by Carr, General Curtis took advantage of the cessation
during the night to re-form his line. Davis and Osterhaus were brought
to join Carr's left, and Sigel was ordered to form on the left of
Osterhaus. When the sun rose, Sigel was not yet in position, but Davis
and Carr began attack without waiting. General Curtis, riding to the
front of Carr's right, found in advance a rising ground which gave a
commanding position for a battery, posted the Dubuque battery there, and
moved forward the right to its support. Sigel, coming up with the
divisions of Osterhaus and Ashboth on Davis' left, first sent a battery
forward, which by its rapid fire repelled the enemy in its front, and
then with its deployed supports wheeled half to the right. Another
battery pushed forward repeated the manoeuvre with its supporting
infantry. The column thus deployed on the right into line, bending back
the enemy's right wing in the execution of the movement--each step in
the deployment gaining space for the next succeeding step. The line as
now formed, from the Dubuque battery on the right to Sigel's left,
formed a curve enclosing Van Dorn's army. Under this concentric fire Van
Dorn's entire force before noon was swept from the field to find refuge
in the deep and tortuous ravines in his rear. Pursuit was fruitless.
McCulloch's command, scattering in all directions, was irretrievably
dispersed. Van Dorn, with Price's corps and other troops, found outlet
by a ravine leading to the south, unobserved by the national troops,
went into camp ten miles off on the prairie, and sent in a flag of truce
to bury his dead. The national loss was 203 killed, 972 wounded, and 176
missing. Van Dorn reported his loss as 600 killed and wounded and 200
prisoners, but the dispersion of a large portion of his command
prevented full reports.
Van Dorn was now ordered to report at Corinth, where A.S. Johnston was
assembling his army. Most of the national forces remaining in Missouri
were sent to General Grant, to aid in his expeditions against Fort Henry
and Fort Donelson. General Curtis made a promenade across Arkansas,
halting at times, and came out on the Mississippi in July, 1862.
While Price kept Southwest Missouri in a state of alarm, Jefferson
Thompson, appointed by Governor Jackson brigadier-general and commander
of district, marauded over Southeastern Missouri, sometimes raiding far
enough to the north to strike and damage railways. On October 14, 1861,
by a rapid march he passed by Pilot Knob, which Colonel Carlin held with
1,500 men, struck the Iron Mountain Railroad at its crossing of Big
River, destroyed the bridge--the largest bridge on the road--and
immediately fell back to Fredericktown. The news reaching St. Louis on
the 15th, the Eighth Wisconsin infantry and Schofield's battery were
despatched thence to reinforce Colonel Carlin; and General Grant,
commanding at Cape Girardeau, sent Colonel Plummer, of the Eleventh
Missouri, with his own regiment, the Seventeenth and Twentieth Illinois,
a section of artillery and two companies of cavalry, in all 1,500 men,
to join in an attack upon Thompson. Meanwhile a party of cavalry was
sent out from Pilot Knob to Fredericktown, to occupy Thompson by
demonstrations and hold him there.
Colonel Plummer marched out from Cape Girardeau on the morning of the
18th, and sent a messenger to Colonel Carlin advising him of his
movement; the messenger fell into Thompson's hands. Thompson sent his
train to the south, and, moving a few miles below Fredericktown with his
force numbering 4,000 men, took a strong position and awaited attack.
Carlin with 3,000 men effected a junction with Plummer and his 1,500,
the combined force being under command of Colonel Plummer. Thompson was
attacked as soon as discovered. After a sharp fight of two hours
Thompson gave way, was driven from his position, retreated, and fell
into rout. He was pursued several miles that day, and the pursuing force
returned to Fredericktown for the night. Next day Colonel Plummer
followed in pursuit twenty-two miles without further result, returned to
Fredericktown the 23d, and on the 24th began his march back to Cape
Girardeau.
Colonel Plummer's loss was 6 killed and 60 wounded. He took 80
prisoners, 38 of them wounded; captured one iron twelve-pounder gun, a
number of small arms and horses, and buried 158 of Thompson's dead
before leaving Fredericktown. Thompson's following was demoralized by
this defeat, and Southeast Missouri after it enjoyed comparative quiet.
The State of Kentucky at first undertook to hold the position of armed
neutrality in the civil war. On September 4, 1861, Gen. Leonidas Polk,
moving up from Tennessee with a considerable force into Western
Kentucky, seized Hickman and Columbus on the Mississippi, and threatened
Paducah on the Ohio. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, appointed brigadier-general
of volunteers on August 7, 1861, to date from May 17th, assumed command
on September 1st, by order of General Fremont, of the District of
Southeast Missouri. This district included not only the southeastern
part of Missouri, but also Southern Illinois, and so much of Western
Kentucky and Tennessee as might fall into possession of the national
forces. General Grant arrived at Cairo on September 2d, established his
headquarters there on the 4th, and next day heard of the action of
General Polk. He immediately notified General Fremont, and also the
Legislature of Kentucky, then in session at Frankfort, of the fact.
Getting further information in the day, he telegraphed to General
Fremont he would go to Paducah unless orders to the contrary should be
received. He started in the night with two regiments and a battery, and
arrived at Paducah at half-past six next morning. General L. Tilghman
being in the city with his staff and a single company of recruits,
hurried away by rail, and Grant occupied the city without opposition.
The Legislature passed a resolution "that Kentucky expects the
Confederate or Tennessee troops to be withdrawn from her soil
unconditionally." Polk remained, and Kentucky as a State was ranged in
support of the government.
General Grant, leaving a sufficient garrison, returned at noon to Cairo
to find there permission from Fremont to take Paducah if he felt strong
enough, and also a reprimand for communicating directly with a
legislature. General C.F. Smith was put in command of Paducah next day
by Fremont, with orders to report directly to Fremont. A few weeks
later, Smith occupied and garrisoned Smithland at the mouth of the
Cumberland. Grant suggested the feasibility of capturing Columbus, and
on September 10th asked permission to make the attempt. No notice was
taken of the request. His command was, however, continually reinforced
by new regiments, and he found occupation in organizing and disciplining
them. General Polk meanwhile was busy fortifying Columbus, where the
river-bank rises to a high bluff, until the bluff was faced and crowned
with massive earthworks, armed with one hundred and forty-two pieces of
artillery, mostly thirty-two and sixty-four pounders. At the same time
heavy defensive works commanding the river were erected below at Island
No. Ten and New Madrid, and still farther below, but above Memphis, at
Fort Pillow.
On November 1st, General Fremont being on his expedition to Springfield,
his adjutant in charge of headquarters at St. Louis directed General
Grant to make demonstrations on both sides of the Mississippi at
Norfolk, Charleston, and Blandville, points a few miles north of
Columbus and Belmont. Next day he advised Grant that Jeff. Thompson was
at Indian Ford of the St. François River, twenty-five miles below
Greenville, with about three thousand men, and that Colonel Carlin had
started from Pilot Knob in pursuit, and directing Grant to send a force
to assist Carlin in driving Thompson into Arkansas. On the night of the
3d, Grant despatched Colonel Oglesby with 3,000 men from Commerce to
carry out this order. On the 5th, Grant was further advised by telegraph
that General Polk, who commanded at Columbus, was sending reinforcements
to Price, and that it was of vital importance that this movement should
be arrested. General Grant at once sent an additional regiment to
Oglesby, with directions to him to turn his course to the river in the
direction of New Madrid; requested General C. F. Smith to make a
demonstration from Paducah toward Columbus; and also sent parties from
Bird's Point and Fort Holt to move down both sides of the river, so as
to attract attention from Columbus.
On the evening of the 6th, General Grant started down the river on
transports with five regiments of infantry, the Twenty-second,
Twenty-seventh, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Illinois, and the Seventh
Iowa, Taylor's Chicago battery, and two companies of cavalry. The
Twenty-seventh, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Illinois were made into a
brigade commanded by General John A. McClernand; the Twenty-second
Illinois and the Seventh Iowa into a brigade under Colonel H. Dougherty,
of the Twenty-second Illinois. The entire force numbered 3,114 men.
General Grant, in his report, states the number at 2,850. As five
companies were kept at the landing when the force disembarked, the
number given by General Grant represents the number taken into action.
Two gunboats, under the command of Captain Walke of the navy, convoyed
the expedition. A feint was made of landing nine miles below Cairo, on
the Kentucky side, and the expedition lay there till daybreak. Badeau
says that General Grant received intelligence, at two o'clock in the
morning of the 7th, that General Polk was crossing troops from Columbus
to Belmont, with a view of cutting off Oglesby, and that he thereupon
determined to convert what had been intended as a mere demonstration
against Belmont into a real attack.
Belmont was the lofty name of a settlement of three houses squatted upon
the low river-flat opposite Columbus, and under easy range of its guns.
A regiment and a battery were encamped in a cleared field of seven
hundred acres on the river-bank, and the camp was surrounded on its
landward side by an abattis of felled timber. At six o'clock in the
morning the fleet moved down, and the troops debarked at half-past eight
on the Missouri shore, three miles above Columbus, and protected from
view by an intervening wooded point. About the same time General Polk
sent General Pillow across the river to Belmont with four regiments,
making the force there five regiments and a battery. Pillow estimated
the number of men at about twenty-five hundred.
General Grant marched his command through the timber and some cleared
fields, and formed in two lines facing the river--McClernand in front,
Dougherty in rear. A depression parallel to the river, making a
connected series of ponds or sloughs, had to be crossed in the advance
in line. These depressions were for the most part dry, but the
Twenty-seventh Illinois, the right of the front line, in passing around
a portion that was yet filled with water, made such distance to the
right that Colonel Dougherty's brigade moved forward, filled the
interval, and the attack was made in a single line.
The opposing skirmishers encountered in the timber. Pillow's line of
battle was in the open, facing the timber. The engagement was in the
simplest form: two forces equal in number encountered in parallel lines.
Most of the men on both sides were for the first time under fire, and
had yet had but scanty opportunity to become inured to or acquainted
with military discipline. The engagement was hotly contested--the
opposing lines, while for some time alternately advancing and receding,
were steady and unbroken. At length Pillow gave way. When his line was
once really broken it could not rally in the face of pursuit. The
national line pressing on, pushed Pillow back through the camp and over
the upper or secondary bank to the first or lower bottom in disorder.
The Second Tennessee, just arrived across the river, took position under
the secondary bank, for a while checked the pursuit, giving time for
the routed troops to make their way through the timber up the river, and
finally followed them in a more orderly retreat.
The national troops, having now undisturbed possession of the captured
camp, gave way to their exultation. General McClernand called for three
cheers, that were given with a will. The regiments broke ranks, and the
battery fired upon the massive works and heavy siege-guns crowning the
heights across the river. A plunging fire of great shells from the
fortifications, and the sight of boats loaded with troops leaving the
opposite shore, were impressive warnings that the invaders could not
safely tarry. General Grant directed the camp to be set on fire, and the
command to be assembled and to return. General Polk became convinced
that Columbus was not in danger of present attack, and determined to
reinforce Pillow promptly and effectively. The Eleventh Louisiana and
Fifteenth Tennessee arrived first, and attack was made upon both flanks
of the hastily formed retreating column, encumbered as it was with
spoils. The Seventh Iowa and Twenty-second Illinois, the regiments
mainly attacked, replied with vigor, though thrown into some confusion.
Pillow halted his men to re-form, and drew them off to await the arrival
of reinforcements on the way, under General Polk in person.
The command embarked. The battery took on board two guns and a wagon
captured and brought off in place of two caissons and a wagon left
behind, and also brought off twenty horses and one mule captured. When
all who were in sight were on board, General Grant, supposing the five
companies who had been left to guard the landing were still on post,
rode out to look for one of the parties that had been sent to bring in
the wounded, and which had not returned. Instead of the guard, which had
gone on board without orders, supposing its duty was done, he saw
approaching a hostile line of battle. He rode back, his horse slid down
the river-bank on its haunches, and trotted on board a transport over a
plank thrust out for him. General Polk had come over with General
Cheatham, bringing two more regiments and a battalion. The entire force
formed in line, approached the river-bank, and opened fire. The
gunboats, as well as the infantry on the transports, returned the fire.
Each side was confident that its fire caused great slaughter; but, in
fact, little damage was done. The fleet, some distance up-stream,
overtook and received on board the Twenty-seventh Illinois, which had
become separated from the column, and, instead of returning with it,
returned by the road over which the advance was made. The national loss
was: in McClernand's brigade, 30 killed, 130 wounded, and 54 missing; in
Dougherty's brigade, 49 killed, 154 wounded, and 63 missing; in Taylor's
battery, 5 wounded. There were no casualties in the cavalry. The
aggregate loss was 79 killed, 289 wounded, and 117 missing; making, in
all, 485. Most of the wounded were left behind and taken prisoners. A
number of the missing made their way to Cairo. The Seventh Iowa suffered
most severely. Among the 26 killed and 80 wounded were the
lieutenant-colonel killed, and the colonel and major wounded. Colonel
Dougherty, of the Twenty-second Illinois, commanding the second brigade,
was wounded and taken prisoner. The Confederate loss was 105 killed, 419
wounded, and 117 missing; in all, 641. Of this aggregate, 562 were from
the five regiments originally engaged. Besides the loss in men and the
destruction of the camp, forty-five horses were killed.
CHAPTER II.
FORT HENRY.
General A.S. Johnston, on September 17, 1861, sent General S.B. Buckner,
who had left Kentucky and entered the Confederate service, to seize and
occupy Bowling Green, in Kentucky, with a force of 4,000 men. Bowling
Green is at the crossing of the Big Barren River by the Louisville and
Nashville road. A little to the south the Memphis and Ohio branches off
from the Louisville and Nashville. Bowling Green was therefore a gateway
through which all approach to the south from Louisville by rail must
pass. There was no access by rail from the Ohio River to the south, east
of Bowling Green. The road from Paducah led nowhere. The railroads to
the north from Mississippi ended, not on the Ohio, but at Columbus, on
the Mississippi. Defensive earthworks had already been begun at Fort
Donelson, on the left Bank of the Cumberland, Fort Henry, on the right
bank of the Tennessee, twelve miles west of Fort Donelson, and at
Columbus, on the Mississippi. General Johnston, with the aid of his
engineers, Lieutenant Dixon and Major J.F. Gilmer, afterward General and
Chief Engineer of the Confederate army, adopted these sites as places to
be strongly fortified. The line from Columbus to Bowling Green became
the line chosen to bar access from the North to the South, and to serve
as a base for invasion of the North.
The idea of breaking this line by an expedition up the Tennessee and
Cumberland Rivers seems to have presented itself to many. Colonel
Charles Whittlesy, of the Twentieth Ohio, a graduate of West Point and
formerly in the army, while acting as Chief Engineer on the staff of
General O.M. Mitchell in Cincinnati, wrote to General Halleck, November
20, 1861, suggesting a great movement by land and water up the
Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, on the ground that this was the most
feasible route into Tennessee, and would necessitate the evacuation of
Columbus and the retreat of Buckner from Bowling Green. In December,
1861, General Sherman, conversing with General Halleck, in St. Louis,
suggested that the proper place to break the line was the centre, to
which Halleck assented, pointing on the map to the Tennessee River, and
saying that is the true line of operations. On January 3, 1862, General
D.C. Buell, in a letter to General Halleck, proposed a combined attack
on the centre and flanks of General Johnston's line, and added: "The
attack on the centre should be made by two gunboat expeditions, with, I
should say, 20,000 men on the two rivers." General Halleck, writing to
General McClellan, January 20, 1862, said a movement down the
Mississippi was premature; that a more feasible plan was to move up the
Cumberland and Tennessee, making Nashville the objective point, which
movement would threaten Columbus and force the abandonment of Bowling
Green, adding "but the plan should not be attempted without a large
force--not less than 60,000 men." General McClellan, however, thought
such a movement should be postponed for the present. He wrote on January
6th, to General Buell, Commander of the Department of the Ohio, which
department included all of Kentucky east of the Cumberland River: "My
own general plans for the prosecution of the war make the speedy
occupation of East Tennessee and its lines of railway matters of
absolute necessity. Bowling Green and Nashville are in that connection
of very secondary importance at the present moment." General Grant wrote
no reasoned speculations about it, but throughout January pressed
Halleck for permission to make the attempt.
[Illustration: The Line from Columbus to Bowling Green.]
On January 6, 1862, Grant wrote to General Halleck for permission to
visit St. Louis. On the same day General Halleck, in pursuance of orders
received from General McClellan, who was then in Washington in supreme
command of the United States forces, directed General Grant to make a
demonstration on Mayfield, in the direction of Murray. He was directed
to "make a great fuss about moving all your force toward Nashville," and
let it be understood that twenty or thirty thousand men are expected
from Missouri. He was further directed to give this out to the
newspapers, and not let his own men or even his staff know the contrary.
At the same time he was advised that the real object was to prevent
reinforcements being sent to Buckner, and charged not to advance far
enough to expose his flank or rear to an attack from Columbus, and by
all means to avoid a serious engagement. On the 10th, Halleck
telegraphed to delay; but Grant was already gone, with McClernand and
6,000 men from Cairo and Bird's Point, and had sent General C.F. Smith
from Paducah with two brigades. The troops were out more than a week.
The weather was cold, with rain and snow. The excursion was good
practice in campaigning for the new volunteers, and detained
reinforcements at Columbus while General George H. Thomas fought and won
the battle of Mill Springs, in Kentucky.
General Grant, on his return to Cairo, wrote again on January 20th for
permission to visit St. Louis. Receiving General Smith's report on the
22d, in which Smith said that the capture of Fort Henry was
feasible--that two guns would make short work of it, he at once
forwarded the report to St. Louis, and on the same day obtained the
permission sought. When he began to unfold the object of his visit, to
obtain permission to capture Henry and Donelson, Halleck silenced him so
quickly and sharply that he said no more, and returned to Cairo
believing his commander thought him guilty of proposing a military
blunder. But, persisting still, he telegraphed on the 28th that, if
permitted, he would take Fort Henry and establish and hold a camp there.
Next day he wrote to the same effect in detail. On the 28th, Commodore
A.H. Foote, flag-officer of the gunboat fleet, wrote to General Halleck
that he concurred with General Grant, and asking if they had Halleck's
authority to move when ready. On January 30th, General Halleck
telegraphed to Grant to get ready, and made an order directing him to
proceed. The order was received on February 1st, and next day General
Grant started up the Tennessee with 17,000 men on transports, convoyed
by Commodore Foote with seven gunboats.
The sites of Forts Henry and Donelson were chosen, and the work of
fortifying them begun, by the State of Tennessee, when Kentucky was
still holding itself neutral. Fort Donelson, immediately below the town
of Dover, was a good position, and was near the Kentucky line. The site
chosen for Fort Henry commanded a straight stretch of the river for some
miles, and was near the State line and near Donelson. But it was low
ground, commanded by higher ground on both sides of the river, and was
washed by high water. Under the supervision of General A.S. Johnston's
engineers, the work had become a well-traced, solidly constructed
fortification of earth, with five bastions mounting twelve guns, facing
the river, and five guns bearing upon the land. Infantry intrenchments
were thrown up on the nearest high land, extending to the river both
above and below the main work, and commanding the road to Fort Donelson.
A work named Fort Heiman was begun on the bluff on the opposite side of
the river, but was incomplete.
General McClernand, commanding the advance, landed eight miles below the
fort. General Grant made a reconnoissance in one of the gunboats to draw
the fire of the fort and ascertain the range of its guns. Having
accomplished this, he re-embarked the landed troops, and debarked on
February 4th, at Bailey's Ferry, three miles below the fort and just out
of range of its fire. The river overflowed its banks, much of the
country was under water; a heavy rain fell. The entire command did not
get ashore till in the night of the 5th. In the night, General C.F.
Smith was sent across the river to take Fort Heiman, but it was
evacuated while Grant was landing his force at Bailey's Ferry.
McClernand was ordered to move out at eleven o'clock in the morning of
the 6th, and take position on the roads to Fort Donelson and Dover.
[Illustration: Fort Henry.]
General Tilghman had telegraphed for reinforcements, and had about
thirty-four hundred men with him, but only one company of artillerists.
At midnight of the 5th he telegraphed to General A.S. Johnston that
Grant was intrenching at Bailey's Ferry. But, on the morning of the 6th,
Tilghman gave up the idea of using his infantry in the defence, ordered
Colonel Heiman to move the command to Fort Donelson, while he remained
with the company of artillerists to engage the fleet and the land force,
if it should appear, with the heavy armament of the fort, and thus
retard pursuit.
At eleven o'clock in the morning of the 6th, General Grant moved with
his command, and at the same time Commodore Foote steamed up the river
with his fleet in two divisions. The first was of ironclads, the
Cincinnati, flag-ship, the Carondelet, and the St. Louis, each carrying
thirteen guns, and the Essex, carrying nine guns. The second division of
three wooden boats, under command of Lieutenant Phelps, followed half a
mile astern. At a quarter before twelve o'clock the first division
opened fire with their bow-guns at a distance of seventeen hundred
yards, and continued firing while slowly advancing to a distance of six
hundred yards from the fort. Here the four boats took position abreast,
and fired with rapidity. Lieutenant Phelps' division sent shells falling
within the work. The little garrison replied with spirit. Fifty-nine
shots from their guns struck the fleet, but most of them rebounded
without doing harm. One shot exploded the boiler of the Essex, scalding
twenty-eight officers and seamen, including Commander Porter. One seaman
was killed and nine wounded on the flag-ship, and one was killed by a
ball on the Essex. In the fort, the twenty-four pound rifled gun
exploded, disabling every man at the piece; a shell from the fleet,
exploding at the mouth of one of the thirty-two pounders, ruined the
gun, and killed or wounded all the men serving it. A premature
explosion at a forty-two pounder killed three men and wounded others. A
priming-wire accidentally spiked the ten-inch columbiad. Five men were
killed, eleven wounded, and five missing. Four guns were disabled. The
men were discouraged. General Tilghman took personal charge of one of
the guns and worked it, but he could no longer inspirit his men. Colonel
Gilmer, Chief Engineer of the Department, and a few others, not willing
to be included in the surrender, left the fort and proceeded to Fort
Donelson on foot. At five minutes before two o'clock General Tilghman
lowered his flag, and sent his adjutant by boat to report to the
flag-officer of the fleet. Twelve officers and sixty-six men in the
fort, and sixteen men in the hospital-boat, surrendered. Flag-officer
Foote, in his report, says the hospital-boat contained sixty invalids.
All the camp-equipage and stores of the force that retreated to Fort
Donelson were included in the surrender; the troops, having no wagons,
had left everything behind.
At eleven o'clock, General McClernand moved out with his division,
followed by the third brigade of General C.F. Smith's division.
McClernand had two brigades, the first commanded by Colonel R.J.
Oglesby, the second by Colonel W.H.L. Wallace. With each brigade were
two batteries--Schwartz and Dresser with the first brigade, Taylor and
McAlister with the second. The order to McClernand was to take position
on the road from Fort Henry to Fort Donelson and Dover, prevent all
reinforcements to Fort Henry or escape from it, and be in readiness to
charge and take Fort Henry by storm promptly on the receipt of orders.
The road was everywhere miry, owing to the wet season, and crossed
ridges and wet hollows. McClernand reports that the distance by road,
from the camp to the fort, was eight miles. The troops, pulling through
the mud, cheered the bombardment by the fleet when it opened. At three
o'clock McClernand learned that the enemy were evacuating the fort, and
ordered his cavalry to advance if the report was found to be true.
Captain Stewart, of McClernand's staff, came upon the rear of the
retiring force just as they were leaving the outer line of the
earthworks. Colonel Dickey, of the Fourth Illinois cavalry, coming up,
pursued the retreating column three miles, capturing 38 prisoners, six
pieces of artillery, and a caisson. The head of the infantry column
entered the fort at half-past three o'clock.
Commodore Foote turned over the prisoners and captured property to
General Grant, sent Lieutenant Phelps with the wooden gunboats on an
expedition up the Tennessee, and returned the same evening to Cairo with
two gunboats. Lieutenant-Commander Phelps proceeded up the river to
Florence, at the foot of the Muscle Shoals, in the State of Alabama. An
account of this expedition and its brilliant success belongs to the
naval history of the war.
CHAPTER III.
FORT DONELSON.
The capture of Fort Henry was important, but it would be of restricted
use unless Fort Donelson should also be taken. At this point the
Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers are only twelve miles apart. The little
town of Dover stood upon a bluff on the left bank of the Cumberland.
Immediately above it, two small brooks empty into the river, making a
valley or bottom overflowed by every high water. Immediately below the
town is Indian Creek. One branch of it, rising close by the head of the
upper one of the two brooks, flowing outwardly from the river toward the
west, then bending to the north and northeast, makes almost the circuit
of the town, about half a mile from it, before emptying into the creek.
Several small brooks, flowing from the north into Indian Creek, make
deep ravines, which leave a series of ridges, very irregular in outline,
but generally parallel to the river. About half a mile below the mouth
of Indian Creek, Hickman Creek, flowing eastwardly, empties into the
river at right angles with it. Small branches running into Hickman Creek
almost interlock with those emptying into Indian Creek, whereby the
series of ridges parallel to the river are made to extend continuously
from the valley of one creek to the valley of the other.
Fort Donelson, a bastioned earthwork, was erected on the river-bluff,
between the two creeks, its elevation being one hundred feet above the
water. A bend in the river gives the fort command over it as far as its
armament could carry. On the slope of the ridge facing down stream, two
water-batteries were excavated. The lower battery and larger one, was so
excavated as to leave traverses between the guns. A ten-inch columbiad
and nine thirty-two pound guns constituted the armament of the lower
battery; a rifled piece, carrying a conical ball of one hundred and
twenty-eight pounds, with two thirty-two pound carronades, the armament
of the upper. These water-batteries were, according to Colonel J.D.
Webster, General Grant's chief of staff, thirty feet above the
water-level at the time of the attack. Colonel Gilmer, the engineer who
constructed them, reported them as being fifty feet above the
water-level; but it does not appear at what stage of the water. As the
narrow channel of the river allowed an attacking party to present only a
narrow front, the batteries required but little horizontal range for
their guns, and the embrasures were accordingly made quite narrow. Eight
additional guns were in the fort.
Colonel Gilmer, going from Fort Henry to Fort Donelson, immediately
began the tracing and construction of works for infantry defence. The
river protected the east face of the position, and the valley of Hickman
Creek, filled with back-water from the river, sufficiently guarded the
north. The line traced was two miles and a half long, following the
recessions and salients. The right of the line, occupying a ridge
extending from creek to creek, was nearly parallel with the river, and
distant from it fourteen hundred yards in an air-line. It was somewhat
convex, projecting to the front about its centre, at the point where
Porter's battery was afterward posted. The left, facing to the south and
southwest, beginning just above Dover, on the point of a ridge
extending nearly to the river between the two small brooks, continued
out from the river along this ridge to its western extremity, and thence
across the valley of the small curved stream described as encircling
Dover and emptying into Indian Creek, to a V-shaped eminence in the fork
between this small stream and Indian Creek. This salient termination
was on the continuation of the line of the right or the west face of the
infantry works. This point was assigned to Maney's battery and Heiman's
brigade. The line of infantry defence was what came to be called, during
the war, rifle-pit--a trench with the earth thrown up on the outer side.
Batteries were constructed at nine points in the line, and armed with
the guns of eight field batteries.
[Illustration: The Line from Columbus to Bowling Green.]
The valley of Indian Creek made a break in the line; there was an
interval at the creek between the portion occupied by Heiman's line and
the work on the opposite slope, afterward the extreme left of General
Buckner's command. The entire line on both faces, except the portion
crossing the small valley or ravine to Heiman's left, followed the face
of ridges from fifty to eighty feet high, faced by valleys or ravines
filled with forest and underbrush. The trees were cut about breast-high,
and the tops bent over outward, forming a rude abattis extremely
difficult to pass through. The back-water filling the valley of Hickman
Creek was an advantage to the defenders of Donelson, in so far as it
served as a protection to one face of the position, and diminished the
distance to be guarded and fortified. It was quite as great an advantage
to the besiegers as it was to the besieged. They were by it relieved
from a longer, being an exterior, line. Their transports and supplies
could be landed and hauled out in security. Moreover, the back-water
extending up Indian Creek also, within the defensive lines, cut the
position in two, and made communication between the two parts
inconvenient.
Immediately upon the capture of Fort Henry, work was begun on this line
of infantry defence. The garrison, increased by the force from Fort
Henry, numbered about six thousand effective men, under the command of
Brigadier-General Bushrod R. Johnson. General Pillow, ordered by
General A.S. Johnston, arrived on February 9th from Clarksville with
2,000 men. He was immediately followed by General Clarke, who had been
stationed at Hopkinsville with 2,000 more; and Generals Floyd and
Buckner, who were at Russellville with 8,000 more, followed. General
Johnston began to set them all in motion by telegram from Bowling Green,
before he received news of the surrender of Fort Henry. General Floyd
was so averse to going to Donelson that he continued to remonstrate.
General Buckner, whose division had arrived, proposed on the night of
the 11th to take it back to General Floyd, his commanding officer at
Clarksville; but Pillow, who was senior to Buckner, ordered him to
remain, and repaired himself to Clarksville. Under the combined
influence of Pillow's persuasion and General Johnston's orders, Floyd
finally made up his mind to go, and arrived at Donelson with the last of
his command in the night of the 12th. Meanwhile, Major-General Polk had
sent 1,860 men from Columbus. On the night of February 12th, Donelson
was defended by about 20,000 men. The heavy guns in the water batteries
were manned mostly by details from light batteries and artillery drilled
a short time before the national force appeared, by two artillery
officers, under the supervision of Colonel Milton A. Haynes, Chief of
the Tennessee Corps of Artillery.
General Grant, in reporting to General Halleck, on February 6th, the
surrender of Fort Henry, added: "I shall take and destroy Fort Donelson
on the 8th, and return to Fort Henry." It was soon clear that he could
not haul wagons over the road, and he proposed to go without wagons and
double-team his artillery. The water continued rising. For two miles
inland from Fort Henry the road was for the greater part under water. On
the 8th he telegraphed: "I contemplated taking Fort Donelson to-day with
infantry and cavalry alone, but all my troops may be kept busily
engaged in saving what we now have from the rapidly rising water." The
cavalry, however, fording the overflow, went to the front of Donelson on
the 7th, skirmished with the pickets, and felt the outposts.
General Halleck went earnestly to work gathering and forwarding troops
and supplies. Seasoned troops from Missouri, and regiments from the
depots in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio--so freshly formed that they had
hardly changed their civil garb for soldier's uniform before they were
hurried to the front to take their first military lessons in the school
of bivouac and battle--were alike gathered up. General Halleck
telegraphed Grant to use every effort to transform Fort Henry into a
work strong on its landward side, and by all means to destroy the
railroad bridge across the Cumberland at Clarksville, above Fort
Donelson. Grant was urging Commodore Foote to send boats up the
Cumberland to co-operate in an attack on Donelson.
On February 11th, Foote sailed from Cairo with his fleet. On the same
day Grant sent six regiments, which had arrived at Fort Henry on
transports, down the river on the boats from which they had not landed,
to follow the fleet up the Cumberland. He also on the same day moved the
greater part of his force out several miles from Fort Henry on to solid
ground. On the morning of the 12th, leaving General L. Wallace and 2,500
men at Fort Henry, he moved by two roads, diverging at Fort Henry, but
coming together again at Dover, with 15,000 men and eight field
batteries. The force was organized in two divisions; the first commanded
by General McClernand, the second by General C.F. Smith. McClernand had
three brigades. The first, commanded by Colonel R.J. Oglesby, comprised
the Eighth, Eighteenth, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first
Illinois, the batteries of Schwartz and Dresser, and four companies of
cavalry. The second, commanded by Colonel W.H.L. Wallace, consisted of
the Eleventh, Twentieth, Forty-fifth, and Forty-eighth Illinois, Colonel
Dickey's Fourth Illinois Cavalry, and Taylor's and McAllister's
batteries. The third, commanded by Colonel W.R. Morrison, comprised the
Seventeenth and Forty-ninth Illinois. Smith's first brigade, commanded
by Colonel John McArthur, was composed of the Ninth, Twelfth, and
Forty-first Illinois. The second brigade was left at Fort Henry. The
third, Colonel John Cook, contained the Fifty-second Indiana, Seventh
and Fiftieth Illinois, Thirteenth Missouri, and Twelfth Iowa; and the
fourth, Colonel John G. Lauman, contained the Twenty-fifth and
Fifty-sixth Indiana, and the Second, Seventh, and Fourteenth Iowa. Major
Cavender's battalion of Missouri artillery was attached to the division.
Some of Major Cavender's guns were twenty-pounders. Three pieces in
McAllister's battery were twenty-four pound howitzers.
McClernand's division, preceded by the Fourth Illinois cavalry, marched
in advance on both roads. No opposition was encountered before reaching
the pickets in front of Donelson. The advance came in sight of the fort
about noon. McArthur's brigade, forming the rear of the column, halted
about three miles from the fort at 6 P.M., and moved into position at
half-past ten. It was observed by Colonel W.H. L. Wallace, whose brigade
was at the head of the column on the telegraph or direct road between
Forts Henry and Donelson, that the enemy's camps were on the other side
of the creek, which, on examination, was found to be impassable. He
moved up the creek and joined Colonel Oglesby, whose brigade was the
advance on the Ridge road, in a wooded hollow, screened from view from
the works by an intervening ridge.
The moment that deployment was begun, Oglesby's brigade, which was the
farther to the right, was briskly attacked by cavalry, who, after a
sharp skirmish, retired. McClernand's division was assigned to the
right, C.F. Smith's to the left. The day was spent feeling through the
thick woods and along deep ravines, and high, narrow winding ridges. At
times a distant glimpse was caught, through some opening, of the gleam
of tents crowning a height; at times, a regiment tearing its way through
blinding undergrowth was startled and cut by the sudden discharge from a
battery almost overhead, which it had come upon unawares. The advancing
skirmish-line was in constant desultory conflict with the posted
picket-line. Batteries, occasionally, where an opening through the
timber permitted, took a temporary position and engaged the hostile
batteries. The afternoon passed in thus developing the fire of the line
of works, feeling towards a position and acquiring an idea of the
formation of the ground. Smith's division, by night, was in line in
front of Buckner, and McClernand's right had crossed Indian Creek and
reached the Wynn's Creek road. The column had marched without
transportation. The men had nothing but what they carried in knapsack
and haversack. Shelter-tents had not yet come into use. The danger of
drawing the enemy's fire prevented the lighting of camp-fires. The army
bivouacked in line of battle. The besieged resumed at night their task,
which had been interrupted by the afternoon skirmishing, of completing
and strengthening their works.
Next morning, Thursday the 13th, arrived, and the fleet had not come.
Fifteen thousand men, without supplies, confronted 20,000 well
intrenched. A party was sent to destroy the railroad bridge over the
Tennessee, above Fort Henry, the trestle approach to which had been
partly destroyed by Lieutenant-Commander Phelps, to prevent effectually
reinforcements reaching Donelson from Columbus. Order was sent to
General Lewis Wallace, who had been left with a brigade in command at
Fort Henry, to join the besieging force. The two divisions on the ground
prosecuted the work of feeling for position and probing the enemy.
Colonel Lauman's brigade, of C.F. Smith's division, bivouacked the night
of the 12th, about a mile from the intrenchments. On the 13th he moved
over the intervening ridges till he came in view of the portion of the
works held by Colonel Hanson, constituting the right of General
Buckner's line. A deep hollow filled with timber filled the space
between Lauman and the works before him. On the farther slope, crowned
by the works, the slashed timber made an extensive abattis. Colonel
Veatch, with the Twenty-fifth Indiana, advanced across the ravine or
hollow, and forced his way partly up the slope. He remained with his
command two hours exposed to a fire to which, from their position, they
could make no effectual reply, and were recalled. The Seventh and
Fourteenth Iowa moved up to the left of the position reached by Colonel
Veatch, and a detachment of sharpshooters was posted so as to reach with
their fire the men in the trenches and divert their fire. At night
Lauman withdrew his command to the place of the previous night's
bivouac. Colonel Cook's brigade advanced, the morning of the 13th, on
the right of Lauman's. The left of his line came also in front of
Hanson's works. The valley was here filled with such an "immensity of
abattis" that he did not feel justified in ordering an attempt to cross
it, but kept up through the day a desultory fire of skirmishers and
sharpshooters over it. The demonstration made by Lauman and Cook
appeared so threatening that General Buckner sent the Eighteenth
Tennessee to reinforce Hanson. The Seventh Illinois, which constituted
the right of Cook's advance moving through the timber where a ridge
leads to a battery at a salient in General Buckner's line, suddenly
found itself under fire and retired. Colonel Cook formed his line with
the other four regiments upon a ridge overlooking the enemy's
intrenchments, about six hundred yards from them, separated from them by
a valley dense with timber, mostly cut so as to form abattis, and
remained in this position for the night.
McClernand continued pressing all day to his right, following the course
of the ridge along which the Wynn's Ferry road passes. By night his
right nearly or quite reached the point where the Wynn's Ferry road
issued from the intrenchments. His artillery was very active; the
companies acting at times separately, at times uniting and concentrating
their fire on some well-served battery, they silenced temporarily
several batteries, and in the afternoon shelled some camps. A determined
assault was made on the position held by Maney's battery, supported by
Colonel Heiman with the Tenth, Forty-eighth, and Fifty-third Tennessee,
and the Twenty-seventh Alabama. This position was, at the same time, the
most salient and the most elevated in the entire line of intrenchment.
It was so traced that both faces were swept by artillery and infantry
fire from portions of the works to the right and the left. Colonel
Morrison was directed with his brigade, the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth
Illinois, to assault this position. Colonel Haynie, of the Forty-eighth
Illinois, senior to Morrison, was ordered to join him and take the
command. Morrison, on the right, assaulted the left face of the work;
the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth assaulted the right. Crossing the
valley, they began the ascent, encountered the tangled abattis, and
while striving to tear their way through it, under a plunging fire from
the battery and the infantry above them, they were assailed by artillery
and infantry from a long extent of line beyond. They recoiled from this
toil and this double fire. The Forty-fifth Illinois was sent to
reinforce Morrison. The four regiments started again, forced their way
still farther up the abattis, and were again repelled. Undaunted, they
rushed up the hill-side the third time. Part of the command pierced
through the abattis and reached the rifle-pits. The summit of the
rifle-pits was a blaze of musketry. Maney's guns hurled shrapnel into
their faces. To Morrison's right and to Haynie's left, the long line of
rifle-pits was a line of musketry, and from projecting points the
batteries sent their fire. Morrison was wounded. His men could not climb
over the intrenchment. The regiments recalled, fell back in order out of
fire. The dead leaves on the hill-side were inflamed in some way, in
this close contest, and when artillery and musketry had ceased, helpless
wounded lying on the hill-side were burned to death. Colonel Heiman's
men, leaping over their works, were able to save some. General Buckner
reported his loss in the assault on Hanson's position as thirty-nine
killed and wounded. Ten killed and thirty wounded were reported as
Heiman's loss, most of them in Maney's battery. Nearly every regiment in
the entire line of the intrenchments suffered some casualties from the
National artillery. The national loss was more severe. The pertinacity
of the attack through the day prevented the besieged from suspecting the
inferiority in numbers of the attacking force.
The Carondelet, a thirteen-gun ironclad, arrived in the morning of the
13th, and fired at the water-batteries at long-range. One shot struck a
thirty-two-pound gun, disabling it, and killed Captain Dixon, of the
engineers, who had assisted Colonel Gilmer in the construction of both
Henry and Donelson. A shot from the one hundred and twenty-eight-pound
gun in the upper battery, entering a porthole, damaged the machinery of
the Carondelet, and she drew out of range.
The fleet, together with transports bringing reinforcements and
supplies, arrived toward evening. McClernand had moved so far around to
the right as to leave a wide gap between his left and Smith's division.
McArthur's brigade, of Smith's division, was moved to the right. Near
midnight, upon the request of General McClernand, McArthur detached two
regiments and moved them farther to the right, to within a quarter of a
mile of McClernand's left. Severe wind set in with the night. Snow fell
and the ground froze. Fires could not be lighted by either army. Some of
McClernand's regiments, having thrown away their blankets on going into
action, sat up all night.
General Lewis Wallace arrived from Fort Henry about noon, Friday, the
14th, and was placed in command of a division of troops just arrived on
the transports, styled Third Division. The First Brigade, commanded by
Colonel Charles Cruft, consisted of the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth
Kentucky, and the Thirty-first and Forty-fourth Indiana. The Third
Brigade, commanded by Colonel John M. Thayer, comprised the Fifty-eighth
and Seventy-sixth Ohio, and the First Nebraska. The Second Brigade was
not organized; but in the course of Saturday, the Forty-sixth,
Fifty-seventh, and Fifty-eighth Illinois and Twentieth Ohio, reported
separately, and were assigned to duty. General Wallace moved into
position on the right of General C.F. Smith, so as to hold the narrow
ridge or spur which faced the right of Buckner's line, and was separated
from McClernand by the valley of Indian Creek.
The day was quiet along the National lines, and was spent in defining
and adjusting the commands in position. Skirmishers exchanged occasional
shots, and artillerists from time to time tried the range of their
guns. McClernand moved his right still nearer to the river, Oglesby's
brigade reaching nearly to the extreme left of the Confederate works,
and to the head of the back-water up the valley of the small brooks
above Dover; the Eighth, Eighteenth, and Twenty-ninth Illinois were
respectively posted across the three roads, which, leaving the main road
along the ridge, called Wynn's Ferry road, crossed the hollow and
through the enemy's intrenchments into Dover. The cavalry reconnoitered
around the enemy's left, to the muddy and overflowed bottom extending
back from the river immediately above Dover.
According to the report of General Buckner it was decided, in a council
of general officers held that morning, to cut a way for the garrison out
through the enclosing force at once, before delay would make it
impracticable; that General Pillow was to lead, and Buckner to cover the
retreat of the army if the sortie proved successful. Buckner made the
necessary preparations, but early in the afternoon the order was
countermanded by General Floyd, at the instance of General Pillow, who,
after drawing out his troops for the attack, thought it too late for the
attempt. Though this is not mentioned in the reports of General Floyd,
General Pillow, or Colonel Gilmer, Colonel Baldwin in his report says
that General Buckner formed his division in open ground to the left and
rear of the intrenchments, for the purpose, apparently, of attacking the
National right, Colonel Baldwin's command being the head of the column;
that the column marched out by a road about two hundred yards from the
left of the intrenchments, and approached the right of the National line
by a course nearly perpendicular to it; but, after advancing a quarter
of a mile, General Pillow said it was too late in the day to accomplish
anything, and the troops returned to their quarters. Major Brown,
commanding the Twentieth Mississippi, reports substantially the same,
and adds they were under fire as soon as they began the advance, and one
of his men was shot before they advanced one hundred yards.
About three o'clock in the afternoon Flag Officer Foote moved his fleet
up the river to attack the fort. The flag-ship St. Louis and three other
ironclads, the Carondelet, Louisville, and Pittsburg, each armed with
thirteen guns, advanced, followed by the wooden gunboats Tyler and
Conestoga. The water-battery attacked was a mere trench twenty feet
wide, sunk in the hill-side. The excavated earth thrown up outside the
ditch made a rampart twelve feet through at the summit. Carefully laid
sand-bags added to the height of the rampart, and left narrow spaces for
embrasures; narrow, but sufficient there, where the channel of the
river, straight and narrow, required the fleet to advance in a straight
line and with a narrow front. Such a work, at an elevation of thirty
feet above the water, was almost unassailable.
The gunboats opened fire when a mile and a half from the fort, and
continued advancing slowly and firing rapidly till the ironclads were
within four hundred yards of the battery. The boats could use only their
bow-guns, three on each boat. After a severe action of an hour and a
half, a solid shot entering the pilot-house of the flag-ship, carried
away the wheel, and the tiller-ropes of the Louisville were disabled by
a shot. The relieving-tackles being no longer able to steer or control
these boats in the rapid current, they became wholly unmanageable, and
drifted down the river. The other two boats were also damaged, and the
whole fleet withdrew. There were fifty-four, officers and men, killed
and wounded on the fleet--Commodore Foote being one of the wounded. The
flag-ship alone was struck fifty-nine times. One rifled gun on the
Carondelet burst during the action. The terrible pounding by the heavy
navy guns seems to have inflicted no injury upon the earthworks, their
armament, or the men.
Transports arrived in the course of the day, bringing additional
reinforcements. General McArthur was ordered at 5 P.M. to occupy ground
on the extreme right of the National line, to act as a reserve to
General Oglesby. He reached the assigned position in the dark, about 7
P.M., and "encamped for the night, without instructions and without
adequate knowledge of the nature of the ground in front and on the
right." The troops, without shelter and without fires, suffered another
night of cold and wind and snow and sleet, after a day without food.
In the night, General Floyd, in council with General Pillow, General
Buckner, and Colonel Gilmer, determined to make a sortie in the morning,
and, if practicable, cut a way out, and retreat by the Wynn's Ferry road
to Charlotte. Pillow was to begin with an attack on McClernand's right,
assisted by the cavalry. When he should succeed in pushing back the
right, Buckner was to issue from the works and strike the division near
its centre. When the whole of the division should be rolled back onto
Lewis Wallace, leaving a cleared way out into the country over the road,
Pillow's division was to lead, and Buckner to hold the National forces
back and afterward serve as rear-guard on the retreat to Charlotte. The
brigade commanders were sent for and received instructions. No
instructions were given to them, nor was anything said in the council,
as to what supplies the troops should carry, and some regiments took
neither knapsacks nor rations. Before dawn, Saturday, the 15th, Pillow's
division began assembling, as on the previous day, on open ground in
rear of the extreme left of the intrenchments. Colonel Baldwin, who was
posted with two of his regiments, the Twenty-sixth Tennessee and
Twenty-sixth Mississippi, in Pillow's portion of the intrenchments,
while the rest of his brigade was west of Indian Creek, under Buckner,
held the advance, the Twentieth Mississippi being added to his command,
giving him a temporary brigade of three regiments. Colonel Heiman, with
his brigade and Maney's battery, strengthened by the Forty-second
Tennessee, were to remain in position and thence aid the attack while it
was going on. The Thirtieth Tennessee was to occupy the trenches vacated
by Buckner, while the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Tennessee were to act as
garrison to the main work--the fort.
Commodore Foote wrote to General Grant desiring an interview with him,
and asking, as he was disabled by wounds, to be excused from going to
see Grant, requested that the interview be held on the flag-ship. The
Twentieth Ohio, which had arrived on transports the evening before and
was ordered to report to General Lewis Wallace the day before, while
marching after breakfast from the boats to the fort, met General Grant
with some of his staff riding down the river road to where the boats
lay. The sally had been made and the attack begun; but there was nothing
in the sound that came through several miles of intervening forest to
indicate anything more serious than McClernand's previous assaults.
Baldwin's brigade, leaving the intrenchments at 6 A.M., marched by the
right flank out a narrow and obstructed byroad, crossed the valley in
front of the works, and, while ascending the slope beyond, encountered
what they supposed to be a line of pickets. But Oglesby's hungry men had
slept little that cold night, and by simply rising to their feet were in
line of battle. Baldwin's brigade, in attempting to deploy, was thrown
into confusion, repeatedly rallied, and was thrown into disorder and
pushed back before its line was established. Colonel Baldwin, in his
report, says that deployment forward into line would have brought his
men into such an exposed situation that he threw his regiment first into
column of company, then deployed on the right into line, and admits that
practising tactics with new troops under fire is a different thing from
practice on the drill-ground. The movement that Colonel Baldwin
attempted with his leading regiment, the Twenty-sixth Mississippi, is
the same that General Sigel accomplished at Pea Ridge with such
brilliant effect, where he had by artillery fire to drive back the
enemy's line to gain room for each successive deployment.
The firing sufficiently notified General McArthur where he was, and,
without waiting for orders, he formed his brigade into line on Oglesby's
right. Pillow's division, continually filing out from the intrenchments,
continually extended his line to his left. McArthur, to gain distance to
his right, widened the intervals between his regiments, refused his
right, and prolonged it by a skirmish line. Oglesby brought into action
Schwartz's battery, then commanded by Lieutenant Gumbart, and the
batteries in position in the besieged intrenchments joined in the
combat. A tenacious fight, face to face, ensued--so stationary that its
termination seemed to be a mere question of endurance and ammunition.
General Pillow moved the Twentieth Mississippi by wheeling its left to
the front. In this position the regiment suffered so severely that it
withdrew and took shelter behind a rising ground. A depression was found
by which General B.R. Johnson's brigade could find comparative
protection while moving to their left and gaining distance to their
front. General McArthur found his right flank turned and his ammunition
nearly exhausted, and withdrew his brigade to a new position several
hundred yards to his rear. Oglesby moved the Eighteenth Illinois to the
right, to partially fill the vacated line, and brought up the Thirtieth
Illinois from its position in reserve to take the place left by the
Eighteenth. Colonel Lawler, of the Eighteenth, was wounded early in the
engagement. Captain Brush, who had succeeded to the command, was wounded
while carrying out this movement. The ammunition of the Eighteenth being
now nearly gone, it retired in good order to replenish, leaving 44 of
its number dead, and 170 wounded on the ground where it had stood.
McClernand, when he found his command heavily pressed, sent to Lewis
Wallace, the adjoining division commander, for aid. Wallace sent to
Grant's headquarters for instructions, but the General was away on the
flag-ship, and his staff did not take the responsibility of acting in
his place. Wallace, having been ordered to act on the defensive,
declined to move without first receiving an order. When McArthur fell
back, Oglesby's right became enveloped, McClernand repeated his request,
and Wallace, seeing the affair was serious, took the responsibility, and
ordered Cruft's brigade to advance. The Twenty-fifth Kentucky, on coming
up, by some mistake fired into the Eighth and Twenty-ninth Illinois.
These regiments and the Thirtieth Illinois broke and retired. The Eighth
had lost 55 killed and 188 wounded; the Twenty-ninth, 25 killed and 60
wounded; the Thirtieth, 19 killed and 71 wounded. The wounded had been
taken off to a building in the rear, which was turned into a hospital.
Cruft maintained his position stoutly, receiving and making charges, and
firing steadily from line. His men found the same difficulty that is
mentioned in reports of other commanders, of distinguishing the enemy
except when close at hand, or in motion. Their uniform, of the same
color with the dead leaves of dense scrub-oak, uniforms and foliage at a
short distance were undistinguishable. McArthur drew his brigade back
out of the contest, halted, and obtained ammunition and rations. His
men, who had fasted thirty-six hours, had one good meal before they
moved toward night to the extreme left, in support of the troops there
engaged. Cruft's brigade, being isolated, finally retired to the right
and rear, and took position near the hospital.
When the rest of Oglesby's brigade retreated, the Thirty-first Illinois,
Colonel John A. Logan, the left of the brigade and connecting with the
right of Colonel W.H.L. Wallace's brigade, wheeled so as to have its
line at right angles with the line of the enemy's intrenchments; for, as
McArthur's and Oglesby's commands crumbled away, Pillow's division,
rolling up McClernand's, were now advancing in a course parallel to the
front of their intrenchments. The Thirty-first held its ground; but
yielding was only a question of time. As Pillow's division in deploying
continually increased its front, Colonel Baldwin's brigade was
continually pressed to his right and came in front of W.H.L. Wallace's
brigade. McCausland's brigade, consisting of the Thirty-sixth and
Fiftieth Virginia, formed on Baldwin's right and in front of W.H.L.
Wallace, Their assault was aided by the batteries in position in the
intrenchments, and Wallace's batteries alternately replied to the
artillery and played upon the line of infantry. Wallace held his line,
and Pillow sent to Buckner to advance. Buckner held his command within
the intrenchments massed, waiting for his opportunity. He sent three
regiments, Third Tennessee, Eighteenth Tennessee, and Fourteenth
Mississippi, across the intervening hollow. They attacked with spirit;
but, confused by the missiles flying overhead, broken by pushing through
the snow-covered boughs, and galled by the hot fire they encountered,
they quickly fell back in disorder, and, according to General Buckner,
communicated their depression to the rest of his command.
Toward noon, as McClernand's right was rolled up and began to crumble,
Buckner, who had cheered his men, now led his division farther to his
right, near to Heiman's position in the intrenchments; there he
approached under cover till near Wallace's line. Three batteries
supported his charge--Maney's, Porter's, and Graves', these three
batteries concentrating their fire on Wallace's artillery. Forrest
brought his cavalry forward. Wallace's brigade, with Taylor's and
McAllister's batteries, and Logan's regiment, with boxes nearly empty,
withstood the combined attack. McAllister fired his last round of
ammunition. Taylor had fired seventeen hundred rounds of ammunition, an
average of two hundred and eighty-three rounds to the piece. The
infantry fired their last cartridge. The batteries of Maney, Graves, and
Porter poured in their fire; the divisions of Pillow and Buckner
aided--some regiments at a halt firing, but Buckner's advancing.
Forrest's cavalry hovered on the outskirts. Wallace gave the command to
fall back. McAllister had not horses left to haul off his three
howitzers, and had to leave two. The order did not reach the Eleventh
Illinois. The rest of the command fell back in regular order, and the
Eleventh and Thirty-first continued fighting. Colonel Logan, of the
Thirty-first, was wounded; the lieutenant-colonel was killed. Thirty
others were killed. The ranks were thinned by the wounded who had fallen
and been carried off the field. Ammunition was gone. Logan told
Lieutenant-Colonel Ransom, of the Eleventh Illinois, who, having had his
wound dressed, had returned to his regiment, that the Thirty-first must
leave, and suggested that the Eleventh should take the position left by
the Thirty-first. The Thirty-first marched steadily from the field, and
the Eleventh, alone now, faced to the rear, wheeled to the left, and
continued the fight. But, assailed on both flanks as well as in front,
and finally charged by the cavalry, it was broken, and fell back in
disorder. The brigade fell back half a mile.
Fugitives from the front passed by General Lewis Wallace, who was
conversing with Captain Rawlins, General Grant's assistant
adjutant-general. Among them a mounted officer galloped down the road,
shouting, "We are cut to pieces." General Wallace at once ordered
Colonel Thayer's brigade to the front. Marching by the flank, they soon
met portions of Oglesby's and Colonel Wallace's brigades retiring from
the field. They all stated they were out of ammunition. Thayer's brigade
passed on at a double-quick. Position was taken; a battery, Company A,
Chicago Light Artillery, commanded by Captain Wood, was posted across
the road; to its right, the First Nebraska and Fifty-eighth Illinois; to
the left, the Fifty-eighth Ohio and a company of the Thirty-second
Illinois. The Seventy-sixth Ohio and Forty-sixth and Fifty-seventh
Illinois were posted in reserve. As soon as this line was formed,
interposed between the enemy and the retiring regiments, they halted and
waited for ammunition. The line was scarcely formed before a force,
coming up the road and through the forest, made a fierce attack. The
assault was vigorous. The line remained steady, and, with fire
deliberate and well aimed, quickly drove off the assailants. That closed
the attack made by the sortie. Colonel Cruft's brigade, the position of
which was not then known to General Wallace, was off at the right, near
enough to see the repulsed force retire in the direction of the works.
Cruft's brigade was brought into alignment with Thayer's, and Wallace
held the ground with his division.
McClernand's division was swept from the ground which it had occupied.
The desired road for retreat was open to the besieged. Buckner was in
the position assigned to him, and halting, awaited his artillery and
reserves from the intrenchments. General Pillow, who now found himself
within the intrenchments at the salient, held by Colonel Heiman,
directed the artillery to remain, and sent reiterated orders to Buckner
to return and resume his position within the works. He was in the act of
returning when he met General Floyd, who seemed surprised at the
movement. After some conversation, in which both agreed that the
original plan should be carried out, Floyd directed Buckner to remain
till he could see Pillow. After consulting with Pillow, Floyd sent
orders to Buckner to retire within the lines, and to repair as rapidly
as possible to his former position on the extreme right, which was in
danger of attack. By order of General B.R. Johnson, Colonel Drake's
brigade and the Twentieth Mississippi remained on the field.
General Grant, at his interview on the flag-ship, was advised of the
serious injury to the fleet, and informed that Commodore Foote, leaving
his two ironclads least injured to protect the transports at the
landing, would proceed to Cairo with the other two, repair them, hasten
the completion of the Benton and mortar-boats, and return to the
prosecution of the siege. General Grant, upon this, made up his mind to
intrench, and with reinforcements complete the investment of the enemy's
works. Reaching the lines about one o'clock on his return, he learned
the state of affairs, ordered General C.F. Smith to prepare to storm the
works in his front, repaired to the right, inspected the condition of
the troops, and gave orders to be ready to attack when General Smith
should make his assault.
The Fifty-second Indiana had been detached from Colonel Cook's brigade
to watch a gap in the intrenchments, near the extreme right of the
besieged line. At two o'clock General Smith ordered the assault by
Lauman's brigade; the Fifty-second Indiana was temporarily attached to
the brigade. The assaulting force was formed in column of battalions of
five companies each. The Second Iowa was in advance, with General Smith
in its centre, and followed in order by the Fifty-second Indiana,
Twenty-fifth Indiana, Seventh Iowa, and Fourteenth Iowa. Birge's
sharpshooters, deployed on each flank, opened a skirmishing fire. The
column advanced silently, without firing, crushed down the abattis,
covered the hill-side with battalions, heedless of the fire from the
garrison, pressed on to the works, leaped over, formed in line, and
drove the defending regiment to further shelter.
Just at this time General Buckner was gaining this, the extreme right of
the line of intrenchments, with Hanson's regiment, which had left it in
the morning for the sortie. Hanson pushed his men forward, but the works
were occupied. The Thirtieth Tennessee, which had been holding that
portion of the works during the day, fell back to another ridge or spur,
between the captured work and the main fort. Lauman's brigade pushed on
to assault that position. Hanson's regiment, the Third, Eighteenth, and
Forty-first Tennessee and Fourteenth Mississippi, came to the aid of the
Thirtieth; portions of Porter's and Graves' batteries were brought up.
The Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Tennessee, the garrison of the fort,
hastened out in support. General Smith sent for Cook's brigade and
artillery. Lieutenant-Colonel McPherson sent up two ten-pound Parrott
guns. Buckner held the inner ridge, to which his men had retired, and
intrenched it in the night. Smith held the works he had gained, an
elevation as high as any within the line. His battery established
there, enfiladed part of the line still held, and took in reverse nearly
the whole of the intrenchments. In the charge, the column, including
Birge's sharpshooters, but excluding the Fifty-second Indiana, lost 61
killed and 321 wounded; of these, the Second Iowa lost 41 killed and 157
wounded. General Smith, though sixty years old, spent the night without
shelter, on the captured ridge.
General Grant, having set in motion C.F. Smith's attack, rode to the
right and ordered the troops there to take the offensive and regain the
ground that had been lost. General Lewis Wallace moved with a brigade
commanded by Colonel Morgan L. Smith, and made of the Eighth Missouri
and Eleventh Indiana, in advance. These two regiments belonged to
Smith's division, and marched from Fort Henry to Donelson with Wallace.
Colonel M.L. Smith, in his report, calls this command the Fifth Brigade,
Third Division. The regimental commanders in their reports style it,
Fifth Brigade, General C.F. Smith's division. Following was Cruft's
brigade. General Wallace says, in his report: "As a support, two Ohio
regiments, under Colonel Ross, were moved up and well advanced on the
left flank of the assailing force, but held in reserve." Colonel Ross,
of the Seventeenth Illinois, arriving at the front that morning and
reporting for duty, was at once assigned to the command of the brigade
composed of the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth Illinois, and, as ordered by
General McClernand, moved with General Wallace in support and reserve,
till recalled about dark by McClernand. An Ohio regiment, the Twentieth,
Colonel Whittlesey, did go out in support and reserve, but it was not
under Colonel Ross, and it remained close to the enemy's works all
night.
The column approached the ridge held by Drake's brigade and the
Twentieth Mississippi. M.L. Smith's brigade came in front, where the
slope was bare; Cruft had to push up through bushes. General Wallace
speaks with admiration of the advance by Smith. He advanced his line and
ordered it to lie down, and to continue firing while lying down. As soon
as the fire of the enemy on the summit slackened, the regiments rose,
dashed up the hill, and lay down again before the fire from the hill-top
could be made effective. In a short time, with rapid bounds, the summit
was gained. Cruft's brigade pushed up through the bushes. Drake fell
back within the intrenchments. Wallace stationed his picket-line close
to the enemy's works. The retiring Confederate force took with them six
captured pieces of artillery, several thousand small arms, and between
two and three hundred prisoners; but returned to their trenches weary,
disappointed, disheartened.
In the night General Floyd and General Buckner met with General Pillow
and his staff, at General Pillow's headquarters, to consider the
situation. After some recrimination between Pillow and Buckner whether
the intention and plan had been to commence the retreat directly from
the battlefield, or first to cut a way out and then return to the works,
equip for a march and retreat by night, it was agreed to evacuate that
night and march out by the ground which had been gained. Pillow ordered
the chief quartermaster and the chief commissary to burn the stores at
half-past five in the morning. Precaution was taken, however, before
actually preparing for the movement, to send out scouts to see if the
way were still clear. The scouts returned with report that the National
forces had reoccupied the ground. This being doubted, other scouts were
sent out, who brought the same report in more positive terms. Pillow
proposed to cut a way out. Buckner said that was now impossible, and
Floyd acquiesced. Pillow at last assented to this, but proposed to hold
the fort at least one day longer and take the chances of getting out.
Buckner said that was impossible; a lodgement had been made in the key
of his position; assault would certainly follow as soon as it was light,
and he could not withstand it. It was remarked that no alternative was
left but to surrender. General Floyd said he would never surrender--he
would die first. Pillow said substantially the same. Buckner said, if he
were in command, he would surrender and share the fate of the garrison.
Floyd inquired of Buckner, "If the command should devolve on you, would
you permit me to take out my brigade?" To which Buckner replied, "Yes,
if you leave before the terms of capitulation are agreed on." Forrest
asked, "Gentlemen, have I leave to cut my way out?" Pillow answered,
"Yes, sir, cut your way out," and asked, "Is there anything wrong in my
leaving?" Floyd replied, "Every person must judge for himself of that?"
Whereupon General Pillow said, "Then I shall leave this place." General
Floyd turned to General Pillow and told him, "General Pillow, I turn the
command over, sir." General Pillow said, "And I pass it." General
Buckner said, "And I assume it," and countermanded the order for the
destruction of the commissary and quartermaster stores, and ordered
white flags to be prepared and a bugler to report to him.
At eleven o'clock that night Floyd telegraphed to General A.S. Johnston
a glorious victory. Four hours later, at the close of the council or
conference, he telegraphed: "We are completely invested by an army many
times our numbers. I regret to say the unanimous opinion of the officers
seems to be that we cannot maintain ourselves against these forces."
Colonel Forrest reported that upon examination he found that deep mud
and water made an escape by land, between the investing force and the
river, impracticable for infantry. Forrest marched out with all the
cavalry but Gantt's Tennessee battalion and two companies of Helm's
Kentucky cavalry, taking with him the horses of Porter's battery and
about two hundred men of various commands. There was not a steamboat at
the landing; General Floyd had sent all up the river with wounded and
prisoners. Not a skiff or yawl could be found. A little flatboat or scow
was got by some means from the other side of the river, and on this
General Pillow crossed the river with his staff and Colonel Gilmer. Two
steamboats returned at daybreak, one of them bringing "about four
hundred raw troops." The four hundred raw troops were dumped on shore,
and Floyd took possession of the boats. Floyd's brigade, consisting of
four Virginia regiments and the Twentieth Mississippi, had been divided
during the siege. The four Virginia regiments were organized into two
brigades, and the Twentieth Mississippi attached to another command. Two
Virginia regiments were ferried across the river, and the Twentieth
Mississippi, understanding that they were to be taken on board with
Floyd, stood on guard and kept off the growing crowd of clamorous
soldiers while the other two Virginia regiments embarked. The rope was
cut and Floyd steamed up the river, leaving the Twentieth Mississippi
and his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Breckenridge Drake, behind. It was said
afterward that word was received from General Buckner that the boat must
leave at once, or it would not be allowed to leave.
Soon after daybreak, Sunday the 16th, the men of Lauman's brigade heard
the notes of a bugle advancing from the fort. It announced an officer,
who bore to General Grant a letter from General Buckner, proposing the
appointment of commissioners to agree upon terms of capitulation, and
also proposing an armistice until noon. General Grant replied,
acknowledging the receipt of the letter, and adding: "No terms except an
unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move
immediately upon your works." Buckner replied: "The distribution of the
forces under my command, incident to an unexpected change of commanders,
and the overwhelming force under your command, compel me,
notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Confederate arms yesterday,
to accept the ungenerous and unchivalrous terms which you propose."
White flags were displayed along the works; the National troops marched
in, and General Grant at once made the following order: "All prisoners
taken at the surrender of Fort Donelson will be collected as rapidly as
practicable near the village of Dover, under their respective company
and regimental commanders, or in such manner as may be deemed best by
Brigadier-General S.B. Buckner, and will receive two days' rations
preparatory to embarking for Cairo. Prisoners are to be allowed their
clothing, blankets, and such private property as may be carried about
the person, and commissioned officers will be allowed their side-arms."
There is disagreement as to the number of guns captured. There were
thirteen in the water-batteries and eight in the fort. Besides, there
were eight artillery companies, whose field-pieces were disposed in nine
positions along the line of intrenchments. Six of these companies were
those of Maney, Porter, Graves, Green, Guy, Jackson. The other two are
called Ross and Murray in the account in the Nashville _Patriot_, and
called Parker and French on the pen-sketch of the works showing the
position of the light batteries, found among the Confederate records.
The number of pieces in these batteries is not given. Badeau gives the
number of guns surrendered at sixty-five, and no reason is seen why that
is not correct.
There is no means of determining with any precision the number of the
garrison. General Grant, on the day of the surrender, reported the
number of prisoners taken as twelve to fifteen thousand. Badeau says the
number captured was 14,623; and that rations were issued at Cairo to
that number of prisoners taken at Fort Donelson. According to a report
or estimate made by Major Johnson, of the first Mississippi, and found
among his papers in Mississippi in 1864, the number "engaged" was
15,246, and the number surrendered 11,738. General Floyd gives no
estimate. General Pillow, in his brief to the Secretary of War of the
Confederacy, defending himself from charges, gives thirteen thousand as
about the number engaged in the defence; while General Buckner, in a
report made after he was exchanged, says the aggregate of the army
within the works was never greater than twelve thousand. An estimate
published in the Nashville _Patriot_ soon after the surrender makes the
number engaged 13,829.
Major Brown's estimate was evidently the most deliberate and careful,
yet it is not free from error. It is not accurate in the number of
casualties. The regimental reports made after the surrender are not
numerous, but they present some means of testing Major Brown's estimate.
According to that estimate, the Eighth Kentucky lost 19 killed and 41
wounded; according to the official report of Colonel Simonton,
commanding the brigade, the loss of the Eighth Kentucky was 27 killed
and 72 wounded. According to Major Brown's estimate, two of the Virginia
regiments lost none killed or wounded, and the aggregate of the loss of
the four regiments was 13 killed and 113 wounded; according to the
brigade reports, every regiment lost both killed and wounded, the
aggregate being 41 killed and 166 wounded. Major Brown's estimate omits
the Kentucky cavalry battalion of three companies. It names also only
seven artillery companies, while the Nashville _Patriot's_ account and
the memorandum on the manuscript plan of the intrenchments name eight.
This estimate is also incomplete. It gives only the number engaged
belonging to regiments and companies, and thereby excludes brigade and
division commanders, and their staff and enlisted men at their
headquarters; it also excludes the "four hundred raw troops" (the
reports give them no other designation) who arrived too late to be
engaged, but in time to be surrendered; and the estimate being only of
those engaged, excludes sick, special duty men, and all except the
muskets and sabres present for duty in the works. Such an estimate of
"effective" or "engaged" is no basis for a statement of the number
surrendered. The morning report of Colonel Bailey's regiment, the
Forty-ninth Tennessee, for January 14th, was 680 effectives out of an
aggregate of 777. His last morning report before the surrender was 393
effectives out of an aggregate of 773. Major Brown's estimate gives this
regiment 372 engaged. Colonel Bailey's morning report of those present
with him on the way from Donelson to Cairo, which included none from
hospitals, was, officers and men, 490.
There is no report of trustworthy accuracy, giving either the aggregate
or the effective strength. Ten thousand five hundred prisoners were put
into the charge of Colonel Whittlesey, of the Twentieth Ohio; of which
number he sent north, guarded by his own regiment, about six thousand
three hundred; another, but much smaller body, was put into the hands of
Colonel Sweeney. Besides these, were the wounded and sick in hospital,
in camp, and some left on the field. Colonel Whittlesey, at the time,
estimated the entire number taken charge of, including sick and wounded,
at 13,000. General Floyd said that the boats which carried across and
up the river his four Virginia regiments, took at the same time about as
many other troops; and he says he took up the river with him 986,
officers and men, of the four Virginia regiments. Pillow reported, on
March 14th, that several thousand infantry had got out in one way or
other, many of whom were at that time with him at Decatur, Ala., and the
rest under orders to rendezvous there. They continued slipping out after
the surrender. General B.R. Johnson, on the Tuesday after the surrender,
not having reported or been enrolled as a prisoner, walked with a
fellow-officer out of the intrenchments at mid-day, and, not being
challenged, continued beyond the National camps and escaped. The
accounts of the escape by boat with Floyd, on horse with Forrest, and by
parties slipping out by day and by night through the forest and
undergrowth and the devious ravines, fairly show that 5,000 must have
escaped. There was scarcely a regiment or battery, if, indeed, there was
a single regiment or battery, from which some did not escape. Eleven
hundred and thirty-four wounded were sent up the river by boat the
evening before the surrender, and General Pillow estimated the killed at
over four hundred and fifty. This accounts for an aggregate of over
nineteen thousand five hundred, sufficiently near the estimate of
nineteen thousand six hundred--the number in the place during the siege,
and the additional four hundred, who arrived only in time to be
surrendered.
General Floyd surmised the killed and wounded to be fifteen hundred.
Pillow estimated them at two thousand. The National loss was, in
McClernand's division, 1,445 killed and wounded, and 74 missing; in C.F.
Smith's division, 306 killed, 1,045 wounded, and 167 missing; and in
Lewis Wallace's division, 39 killed, 248 wounded, and 5 missing--making
an aggregate of 3,329 killed, wounded, and missing. General Grant sat
down before the place Wednesday the 12th, at noon, with 15,000 men, and
with that number closed in upon the works and made vigorous assaults
next day. Reinforcements began to arrive at the landing Thursday
evening, and when the place surrendered his army had grown by
reinforcements to twenty-seven thousand. Grant had no artillery but the
eight field-batteries which he brought over from Fort Henry to Donelson.
These were not fixed in position and protected by earthworks, but were
moved from place to place and used as batteries in the field.
The defensive line from Columbus to Bowling Green, broken by the capture
of Fort Henry, was now shattered. General A.S. Johnston evacuated
Bowling Green on February 14th, and on the 17th and 18th moved with the
main body of his troops from Nashville to Murfreesboro. The rear-guard
left Nashville on the night of the 23d, and the advance of Buell's army
appeared next morning on the opposite bank of the river. Columbus was
evacuated shortly after. The National authority was re-established over
the whole of Kentucky, the State of Tennessee was opened to the advance
of both army and fleet, and the Mississippi was cleared down to Island
Number Ten.
General Halleck telegraphed on February 17th, the day after the
surrender, to General McClellan: "Make Buell, Grant, and Pope
major-generals of volunteers, and give me command in the West. I ask
this in return for Donelson and Henry." Next day, the 18th, he
telegraphed to General Hunter, commanding the Department of Kansas,
thanking him for his aid in sending troops; and to Grant, ordering him
not to let the gunboats go up higher than Clarksville, whence they must
return to Cairo immediately upon the destruction of the bridge and
railroad. On the 19th he telegraphed to Washington: "Smith, by his
coolness and bravery at Fort Donelson, when the battle was against us,
turned the tide and carried the enemy's outworks. Make him a
major-general. You cannot get a better one. Honor him for this victory,
and the whole country will applaud." On the 20th he telegraphed to
McClellan, "I must have command of the armies in the West. Hesitation
and delay are losing us the golden opportunity." Upon the receipt in
Washington of the news of the surrender of Fort Donelson, the President
at once appointed Grant major-general, and the Senate immediately
confirmed the appointment. Buell and Pope shortly after received the
same promotion. Later, in March, C.F. Smith, McClernand, and Lewis
Wallace were confirmed to the same rank. On March 11th, General Halleck
was assigned to the command of the Department of the Mississippi,
embracing all the troops west of a line drawn north and south
indefinitely through Knoxville, Tenn., and east of the western boundary
of Arkansas and Missouri. On February 15th, Grant had been assigned to
the command of the Military District of Tennessee, the limits of which
were not defined, and General W.T. Sherman succeeded to the command of
the District of Cairo.
CHAPTER IV.
NEW MADRID AND ISLAND NUMBER TEN.
A division belonging to General Pope's command in Missouri went with
General Curtis to Pea Ridge and Arkansas. A considerable portion of what
was left was sent up the Tennessee and Cumberland to General Grant. On
February 14, 1862, General Pope was summoned to St. Louis by General
Halleck, and on the 18th General Halleck pointed out to him the
situation at New Madrid and Island No. Ten, and directed him to organize
and command a force for their reduction. On the 19th Pope left for Cairo
to defend it from an attack then apprehended from Columbus. This
apprehension being found to be groundless, he proceeded by steamboat,
with a guard of 140 men, thirty miles up the river, and began at once to
organize his expedition.
Major-General Polk, commanding at Columbus, having received instructions
from the Confederate War Department, through General Beauregard, to
evacuate Columbus and select a defensive position below, adopted that
embracing Madrid Bend on the Tennessee shore, New Madrid on the Missouri
shore, and Island No. Ten between them. The bluffs on the Missouri shore
terminate abruptly at Commerce. Thence to Helena, Arkansas, the west
bank of the Mississippi is everywhere low and flat, and in many places
on the river, and to much greater extent a few miles back from the
river, is a swamp. From Columbus to Fort Pillow, the Tennessee shore is
of the same character. The river flowing almost due south for some miles
to Madrid Bend, curves there to the west of north to New Madrid, and
there making another bend, sweeps to the southeast and then nearly east,
till, reaching Tiptonville, a point nearly due south of Madrid Bend, it
turns again to the south. Island No. Ten begins at Madrid Bend and looks
up the straight stretch of the river. From Island No. Eight, about four
miles above Island No. Ten, the distance across the land to New Madrid
is six miles, while by river it is fifteen. The distance overland from
Island No. Ten to Tiptonville is five miles, while by water it is
twenty-seven. Commencing at Hickman, between Madrid Bend and Columbus, a
great swamp, which for a part of its extent is a sheet of water called
Reelfoot Lake, extends along the left bank of the Mississippi, and
discharges its waters into the Mississippi forty miles below
Tiptonville, leaving between it and the river the peninsula which lies
immediately below Island No. Ten, and opposite New Madrid. Immediately
below Tiptonville the swamp for many miles extends entirely to the
river. The peninsula is, therefore, substantially an island, having the
Mississippi on three sides, and Reelfoot Lake, with its enveloping
swamp, on the other. A good road led from the Tennessee shore, opposite
Island No. Ten, along the west border of the swamp and the lake to
Tiptonville. The only means of supply, therefore, for the forces on
Island No. Ten and this peninsula, were by the river. If the river were
blockaded at New Madrid, supplies must be landed at Tiptonville and
conveyed across the neck of the peninsula by the road. From this
peninsula there was no communication with the interior except by a small
flatboat which plied across Reelfoot Lake, more than a mile across, by a
channel cut through the cypress-trees which cover the lake. Supplies
and reinforcements could not, therefore, be brought to any considerable
extent by the land side; nor could escape, except by small parties, be
made in that direction. A mile below Tiptonville begin the great swamps
on both sides of the Mississippi. If batteries could be planted on the
lowest dry ground, opposite and below Tiptonville, so as to command the
river and effectually intercept navigation, the garrison of Island No.
Ten and its supports would be cut off from reinforcements and from
escape.
General Polk began the evacuation of Columbus on February 25th. One
hundred and forty pieces of artillery were mounted in the works. All
these, except two thirty-two pounders and several carronades, which were
spiked and left, were taken to Island No. Ten and the works in
connection with it. Brigadier-General McCown with his division went down
the river to Island No. Ten, on February 27th, and General Stewart, with
a brigade, followed to New Madrid on March 1st. The rest of the infantry
marched under General Cheatham, by land, March 1st to Union City. Next
day General Polk, having sent off the bulk of the great stores
accumulated at this place, destroyed the remainder and moved away with
his staff and the cavalry. The force that went from Columbus to Island
No. Ten included General Trudeau's command of ten companies of heavy
artillery and the Southern Guards who acted as heavy artillery. The
light batteries were brigaded with the infantry.
Some progress had been made in throwing up batteries on the island and
at the bend. Sappers and miners were at once set to work, aided by the
companies of heavy artillery and details from the infantry. By March
12th, four batteries, scarcely above the water-level, were completed on
the island and armed with twenty-three guns, and five batteries on the
main-land, armed with twenty-four guns. Battery No. 1, on the main-land,
called the Redan, armed with six guns, was three thousand yards in an
air-line above the point of the island. A line of infantry
intrenchments, _en crémaillère_, extended from the Redan to the water of
a bayou which connects with Reelfoot Lake. A floating battery, anchored
near the lower end of the island, added ten guns to its defence. Later,
a fifth battery was erected on the island, and the number of guns in
battery on the island and on the main-land, at the bend, was increased
to fifty-four, exclusive of the floating battery. On the Missouri shore
a bastioned redoubt, called Fort Thompson, with fourteen guns, stood
below the town, and an earthwork with seven guns, called Fort Bankhead,
just above the town. Infantry intrenchments extended these forts, and a
field-battery of six pieces was added to the armament of the upper fort.
Commodore Hollins, of the Confederate navy, aided the land-forces with
eight gunboats. General McCown, making an inspecting visit to the
position on February 25th, found there Colonel Gantt, of Arkansas, with
the Eleventh and Twelfth Arkansas, and two artillery companies, acting
as garrison to Fort Thompson, and at once, before returning to Columbus,
ordered Colonel L.M. Walker, with two regiments from Fort Pillow, to
guard the defences just above New Madrid.
General Pope having landed at Commerce with 140 men, regiments and
batteries rapidly arrived from Cairo, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. With
the assistance of able and experienced officers, Generals Schuyler
Hamilton, Stanley, Palmer, and Granger, the troops were brigaded,
divisions formed, and the command organized. Colonel Plummer being
promoted to brigadier-general after the arrival before New Madrid, the
organization was modified. As finally organized, it comprised five small
infantry divisions. First, commanded by General D.S. Stanley,
comprising First Brigade, Colonel John Groesbeck, Twenty-seventh and
Thirty-ninth Ohio; and Second Brigade, Colonel J.L.K. Smith, Forty-third
and Sixty-third Ohio. Second Division, General Schuyler Hamilton,
comprising First Brigade, Colonel W.H. Worthington, Fifth Iowa and
Fifty-ninth Indiana; and Second Brigade, Colonel N. Perczell,
Twenty-sixth Missouri Infantry and Sands' Eleventh Ohio Battery. Third
Division, General J.N. Palmer, comprising First Brigade, Colonel J.R.
Slack, Thirty-fourth and Forty-seventh Indiana; and Second Brigade,
Colonel G.N. Fitch, Forty-third and Forty-sixth Indiana Infantry,
Seventh Illinois Cavalry, and Company G, First Missouri Light Artillery.
Fourth Division, comprising First Brigade, Colonel J.D. Morgan, Tenth
and Sixteenth Illinois; and Second Brigade, Colonel G.W. Cumming,
Twenty-sixth and Fifty-first Illinois, First Illinois Cavalry, and a
battalion of Yate's sharpshooters. Fifth Division, General J.B. Plummer,
comprising First Brigade, Colonel John Bryner, Forty-seventh Illinois
and Eighth Wisconsin; and Second Brigade, Colonel J.M. Loomis,
Twenty-second Illinois, Eleventh Missouri Infantry, and Company M, First
Missouri Light Artillery. Besides these was a cavalry division,
commanded by General Gordon Granger, comprising the Second and Third
Michigan Cavalry; also an artillery division, commanded by Major W.L.
Lothrop, comprising the following batteries: Second Iowa, Third
Michigan, Company F, Second United States Artillery, Houghtaling's
Ottawa Light Artillery, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Batteries of the First
Wisconsin Artillery, and De Golyer's battery, afterward Company H, of
the First Michigan Artillery. In addition to these was a command under
Colonel J.W. Bissel, called the Engineer's Regiment of the West,
comprising the Fifteenth Wisconsin and Twenty-second Missouri Infantry,
the Second Iowa Cavalry, a company of the Fourth United States Cavalry,
a company of the First United States Infantry, and battalion of the
Second Illinois Cavalry. The army commander, the division commanders,
and other officers, nearly a dozen in all, were graduates of West Point.
The men of this army had, therefore, better opportunity than most others
to learn quickly something of the business of military life, and acquire
habits of military discipline.
The road from Commerce to New Madrid was, for the most part, a
dilapidated corduroy, tumbling about a broken causeway through a swamp.
M. Jeff. Thompson, "Brigadier-General of the Missouri State Guard,"
designed to hold a "very important session of the Missouri Legislature,"
at New Madrid, on March 3d--a session which was to last, however, but
one day. When General Pope moved out from Commerce, on February 28th,
Schuyler Hamilton in front, Thompson undertook to oppose the advance
with a detachment of his irregular command and three light pieces of
rifled artillery. The Seventh Illinois Cavalry charged, captured the
three guns, took two officers and several enlisted men prisoners, and
chased Thompson and the rest of his band sixteen miles, almost to the
outskirts of New Madrid. Dragging through the mud by short marches,
Hamilton's division reached New Madrid on the morning of March 3d.
Deploying, with the Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio in front as
skirmishers, Hamilton marched upon the town, pushed the enemy's pickets
back into the intrenchments, developed the line of intrenchment, drew
the fire of its armament--twenty-four, thirty-two, and sixty-four
pounders and field-pieces. The gunboats of Commodore Hollins' fleet took
part in the engagement. The water in the river was so high that it
lifted the guns on the boats above the banks. The reconnoissance
developed the fact that the intrenchments could be carried by assault,
but could not be held so long as the gunboats could lay the muzzles of
their heavy guns upon the river-bank and sweep the whole interior.
The reconnoissance made by General Hamilton showed the necessity of
having siege-guns. The troops were put into camp about two miles back
from the river; urgent request was sent to Cairo for heavy artillery,
and parties were pushed forward every day to harass the garrison and
keep them occupied. Colonel Plummer (soon after brigadier-general and
commanding a division of his own) was detached from Hamilton's division
and sent with the Eleventh Missouri, Twenty-sixth and Forty-seventh
Illinois Infantry, four guns of the First Missouri Light Artillery, and
one company of engineer troops, together with two companies of cavalry,
to act as outpost toward the interior--to Point Pleasant. The object was
to attempt by field-pieces to stop the passage of transport steamboats
up and down the river. Colonel Plummer, leaving camp at noon, March 5th,
proceeding by a circuitous road to avoid passing along the river-bank,
halted for the night in bivouac, without fires, within three or four
miles of the town. A gunboat prevented his cavalry and artillery from
occupying the town next day, but was driven away by the fire of the
infantry. The infantry and engineers prosecuted the work of digging
rifle-pits, and in the night places were sunk for the field-pieces by
excavating near the edge of the bank. By morning of March 7th the four
guns were in position, planted apart, with lines of rifle-pits
connecting them. When discovered, the gunboats immediately began a
furious assault. Plummer's artillery wasted no ammunition in useless
fire upon the iron-plated boats, and his guns were so shielded by their
position in sunken batteries, back from the edge of the bank, that the
fire of the gunboats passed harmless overhead. The deliberate fire of
sharpshooters from the rifle-pits, however, searching every opened
porthole, pilot-house, and every exposed point, was so annoying that the
fleet withdrew. Every day the gunboats opened upon the position, either
in stationary attack or while passing up and down the river. But, to
avoid the harassing fire from the rifle-pits, they kept, after the first
few attacks, near the opposite shore of the river. The steamboats used
as transports did not venture to pass up or down the river in face of
Plummer's batteries, and the enemy was restricted to the landing at
Tiptonville and boats below for all communication.
[Illustration: New Madrid and Island Number Ten.]
On the 6th, General Pope telegraphed that Colonel Plummer had not yet
been able to effect his lodgement at Point Pleasant, but that the
sharpshooters were trying to drive the artillerymen of the gunboats from
their pieces. Next day, the 7th, General Halleck telegraphed to Pope:
"After securing the roads so as to prevent the enemy's advance north,
you will withdraw your remaining forces to Sikeston, and thence to
Bird's Point or Commerce for embarkation. They will proceed up the
Tennessee to reinforce General C. F. Smith. Good luck." On the same day,
the 7th, General Pope reported by telegraph Plummer's success in
establishing himself, and nothing more was heard about abandoning the
expedition.
General Pope had asked for rifled thirty-twos. General Cullum, Halleck's
chief of staff, who was stationed at Cairo and had immediate charge and
supervision of sending reinforcements and supplies to the armies in
Halleck's department, not finding rifled thirty-twos, obtained three
twenty-four-pounders and one eight-inch howitzer. Colonel Bissell, of
the engineer regiment, who was in Cairo waiting for them, received these
four pieces on March 11th. They were shipped across the river to Bird's
Point, and sent by rail to Sikeston. At Sikeston a detachment from the
company of regular artillery, with horses, as well as the regiment of
engineers, were waiting. The pieces were quickly unshipped and mounted
on carriages. The engineers had such success in repairing the road, and
the artillery in conducting the pieces, that all arrived in good order
about sunset of the 12th.
Major Lathrop, commanding the artillery, had, on the 11th, reconnoitered
the ground and selected a position about eight hundred yards in front of
Fort Thompson, for batteries to contain the siege-guns. On Colonel
Bissell's arrival, he went again to the front and pointed out the
position selected. About dusk, two companies of the Thirty-ninth Ohio,
deployed as skirmishers, drove back the enemy's pickets toward the
works. At nine o'clock P.M., Colonel Bissell and Major Lathrop arrived
on the ground with Colonel Morgan, who had with him the Tenth and six
companies of the Sixteenth Illinois. The Tenth Illinois, advancing in
open order, pushed the enemy's pickets still farther back and close to
their works. The six companies of the Sixteenth followed with picks and
spades. Two companies of the Tenth, deployed as skirmishers, were pushed
forward, covering the front and flanks of the party, with orders not to
fire even if fired upon. The remaining eight companies of the Tenth
Illinois joined the Sixteenth as a working party. The lines of two
batteries for two guns each, and lines of infantry intrenchments, had
now been traced. The fourteen companies worked with such zeal that the
works were completed by three o'clock A.M. Captain Mower, of the First
United States Infantry, who, with Companies A and H of his regiment, had
been put in command of the siege-artillery, put the four pieces in
position; Colonel Morgan, recalling his pickets, posted his command in
the trenches. General Stanley moved out with his division in support,
and, at daylight, Mower opened fire upon Fort Thompson.
The force in Forts Thompson and Bankhead numbered about three thousand
effectives, according to General A.P. Stewart, who had general command
of both; thirty-five hundred, according to General Gantt, who commanded
at Fort Thompson, and had been promoted after being assigned to the
command. The fire from Captain Mower's guns was the first notice General
Gantt or his men had of the erection of the batteries. Fort Thompson
replied with all its guns. Fort Bankhead joined with its heavy ordnance
and field-battery. Commodore Hollins brought his fleet close in shore
and aided the bombardment. Captain Mower, by direction of General Pope,
paid little heed to the forts, but directed most of his fire to the
boats. The forts on either side were little injured. One twenty-four
pounder in Mower's battery, and one thirty-two in Fort Thompson, were
disabled. The gunboats were struck, but not seriously injured.
In the evening, General McCown visited Commodore Hollins on his
flag-ship, and, after a conference, sent for General Stewart. Commodore
Hollins stated that he had been positively assured that heavy artillery
could not be brought over the wet and swampy country, and he was not
prepared to encounter it. General McCown said it was evident to him that
Pope intended, by regular approaches, to cut off Fort Thompson. He told
A.P. Stewart that reinforcements could not be expected within ten days.
Stewart said he could not hold out three days. All agreed, then, that
the forts must be evacuated, and immediately.
About ten o'clock P.M. a gunboat and two transports reported to Colonel
Walker at Fort Bankhead, and General Stewart proceeded with two gunboats
to Fort Thompson.
According to Colonel Walker's report, the evacuation and embarkation at
his post was orderly, though impeded by a heavy rain-storm, and
restricted by the very insufficient transportation afforded by the
boats. He was unable to carry off any of the heavy guns, but succeeded
in shipping the guns of Bankhead's field-battery, leaving their limbers
and caissons behind. General Gantt's report represents a like state of
affairs at Fort Thompson. But, according to General Stewart's report,
his directions were imperfectly carried out. One twenty-four pounder was
pulled off its platform into the swamp in its rear, where it sank so
deep in the mud that it was impossible to move it. No attempt was made
to remove more. The storm began at eleven o'clock. "The rain was
unusually violent, and the night became so dark that it was difficult to
see, except by the flashes of lightning. The men became sullen and
indifferent--indisposed to work. I spent some time in collecting
together such of them as were idle and urged them to carry off the boxes
of ammunition from the magazine, and pass them aboard the boat. At
length I learned from Captain Stewart that all the guns had been spiked,
that rat-tail files had been sent up for the purpose from one of the
gunboats, with orders to spike the guns. I replied that no such orders
had been given by me, that the spiking of the guns should have been the
last thing done." "Soon after this an artillery officer informed me that
Gantt's regiment was going aboard the boats, that Captain Carter was
hurrying them, telling them he intended to save his boats, and would
leave them to shift for themselves if the enemy fired." "I directed the
artillery officers, before the boats left, to make an effort to get
their tents on board. They subsequently reported that they could not get
many of the men together in the darkness and rain, nor induce the few
whom they did collect to do anything at it." General Stewart ordered
the pickets who had been sent out to cover the movement to be recalled,
and the tents and quarters to be searched. Thirteen men, however, were
left. One of the gunboats took in tow a wharf-boat at the landing, which
was used as a hospital and contained several hundred sick. Between three
and four o'clock in the morning the boats pulled out and left.
Morgan's brigade, after constructing the works in the night of the 12th,
remained in the trenches till relieved early in the morning of the 14th.
At two o'clock A.M. of the 14th, General Hamilton advanced with his
division to relieve General Stanley in support, and with Slack's brigade
of Palmer's division to relieve Morgan's brigade in the trenches. "The
darkness was palpable, the rain poured down in torrents, the men were
obliged to wade through pools knee-deep. Silence having been strictly
enjoined, the division, hoping to have the honor of leading in the
assault on the enemy's works, moved steadily forward with cheerful
alacrity; those assigned to that duty taking post in the rifle-pits half
full of water, without a murmur." A heavy fog obscured the dawn. About
six o'clock two deserters reported that the fort had been hastily
abandoned in the night, after a portion of the guns had been spiked.
Captain Mower and Lieutenant Fletcher, commanding the two companies in
charge of the siege-guns, were dispatched into the fort to hoist the
American flag. Two field-batteries, besides the heavy artillery, great
quantities of ammunition for small arms as well as for the artillery,
tents, stores of all sorts, the wagons, horses, and mules of the troops
at Fort Thompson, were found. The wagons and animals at Fort Bankhead
had been sent across the river a few days before. General Beauregard,
whose command included these defences, ordered an inquiry into the facts
of the evacuation of New Madrid. The inspecting officer reported
substantially in accordance with the report of General A.P. Stewart.
Immediately the evacuation was confirmed, Hamilton's division was moved
into the works and their guns were turned toward the river. Without
delay, batteries were at night sunk at points along the river just back
of the river-bank, and the captured siege-guns, hauled laboriously by
hand down the the strip of more solid ground between the river and
swamp, were placed in position in them. The lowest battery was below
Point Pleasant, and opposite and a little below Tiptonville. This
extended General Pope's line seventeen miles along the river. The lowest
battery commanded the lowest solid ground on the Tennessee shore--all
below was swamp. This battery, if maintained, cut off the enemy alike
from retreat, and from reinforcements and supplies. When the morning of
the 15th disclosed the muzzles of the heavy guns peering over the
river-bank as over a parapet, five gunboats moved up within three
hundred yards, and with furious cannonade strove to destroy them. In an
hour and a half one gunboat was sunk, others damaged, gunners on them
shot from the rifle-pits on shore, and the fleet retired.
On March 15th, Commodore Foote moved with his fleet of gunboats and
mortar-boats to the neighborhood of Island No. 10, and next day engaged
the batteries on the island and the main-land, at long range, to
ascertain their position and armament. Next day five gunboats and four
mortar-boats moved down to within two thousand yards of the upper
battery or redan, and opened fire. The batteries on main-land and island
replied. One hundred pieces of heavy ordnance rent the quivering air
with their thunder. The rampart of the redan had been constructed
twenty-four feet thick, but the high water beating against it had washed
it, and, by percolation, softened it. The heavy shot from the gunboats
passed though it. Thirteen-inch shells exploding in the ground made
caverns in the soil. Water stood on the ground within, and the
artillerists waded in mud and water. The conflict lasted till evening.
The staff of the signal-flag used in the redan was shattered by a shot;
but the officer, Lieutenant Jones, picking up the flag, and using his
arm as a staff, continued signalling. The rampart of the redan was torn
and ridged, and one sixty-four gun was dismounted and another injured,
an officer killed, and seven enlisted men wounded. On the island a one
hundred and twenty-eight pound gun burst. In the fleet a gun burst on
the Pittsburg, killing and wounding fourteen men.
The fleet and batteries exchanged fire with greater or less severity
every day. On the 21st, another large gun, called the Belmont, burst on
the island. In the course of these engagements the redan was finally
knocked to pieces and ceased to reply; and, on April 1st, an expedition
from the fleet landed, drove off a detachment of the First Alabama which
was guarding it, and spiked its guns. The work of erecting new batteries
and mounting guns, as well as repairing damages, was continued as long
as the island was occupied.
On the night of March 17th, General McCown left for Fort Pillow with the
Eleventh, Twelfth, and Colonel Kennedy's Louisiana, Fourth, Fifth, and
Thirty-first Tennessee, Bankhead's and six guns of Captain R.C.
Stewart's batteries, and Neely's and Haywood's cavalry, leaving at
Madrid Bend the First Alabama, Eleventh and Twelfth Arkansas, and
Terry's Arkansas Battalion, three Tennessee regiments, commanded
respectively by Colonels Brown, Clark, and Henderson, Colonel Baker's
regiment of twelve companies called the Tennessee, Alabama, and
Mississippi regiment, five guns of Captain Stewart's field-battery, and
Captain Hudson's and Captain Wheeler's cavalry. Besides these were the
companies of heavy artillery, and what other troops, on the island and
below, the reports do not show. Most, if not all of the troops taken to
Fort Pillow by General McCown, proceeded to Corinth and joined the force
which General A. S. Johnston was gathering there. General McCown on his
return arrived below Tiptonville on March 20th, and established his
headquarters at Madrid Bend next day.
General Pope had now established his army and batteries on the right
bank of the river, so as to prevent the escape of the enemy until the
river should fall. To capture them he must cross the river. General
Halleck telegraphed to him on March 16th to construct a road, if
possible, through the swamp above the bayou, which comes into the river
just above New Madrid, to a point on the Missouri shore opposite Island
No. Ten, and transfer thither enough of his force to erect batteries and
aid the fleet in the bombardment of the island. Pope despatched Colonel
Bissell to examine the country with this view, directing him at the same
time, if he found it impracticable to build the road, to ascertain if it
were possible to dig a canal across the peninsula, from some point above
the island to New Madrid. The idea of the canal was suggested to General
Pope by General Schuyler Hamilton, an officer whose gentle refinement
veiled his absolute resolution and endurance till they were called into
practice by danger and privation.
Colonel Bissell found no place where a road could be constructed; but,
by following up the bayou (called John's Bayou in the Confederate
reports, called Wilson's Bayou on the map made by the United States
engineers) which comes into the river immediately above New Madrid, he
traced it into the swamp and found that, in connection with depressions
and sloughs, a continuous, though tortuous water-way could be gained at
that high stage of water, from a point in the river between Islands
Eight and Nine and the river at New Madrid. The length of this channel
was twelve miles. Part of it had to be excavated to get sufficient
depth; for six miles it passed through a thick forest of large trees.
General Pope immediately sent to Cairo for four light-draught steamers,
and tools, implements, and supplies needed to cut a navigable way.
Colonel Bissell was at once ordered to set his entire command at work,
and to call upon the land force on the fleet for aid if needed. For six
miles Bissell had to cut through the forest a channel fifty feet wide
and four and a half feet deep. Sawing through the trunks of large trees
four and a half feet under the surface of the cold water was a work of
extreme toil and great exposure. The trees when felled had to be
disentangled, cut up, and thrust among the standing trees. Overhanging
boughs of trees, growing outside the channel, had to be lopped off.
Shallow places were excavated. The whole had to be done from the decks
of the little working-boats, or by men standing in the water. The men
were urged to incessant labor; yet they toiled with such ardor that
urging was not needed. General Halleck telegraphed to Pope, Friday,
March 21st, that he would not hamper him with any minute instructions,
but would leave him to accomplish the object according to his own
judgment, and added: "Buell will be with Grant and Smith by Monday." In
nineteen days, April 4th, the way was open and clear; and on the 5th,
steamers and barges were brought through near to the lower mouth, but
not near enough to be in view from the river.
The Confederate officers on the island were aware of the attempt to
secure this cut-off across the peninsula. Captain Gray, engineer, in a
report or memorandum, dated March 29th, spoke of "the canal being cut by
the enemy," and of heavy guns planted to be used against any boat that
might issue from the bayou, as well as batteries erected along the
shore, from about a mile and a half below New Madrid down to
Tiptonville. But General McCown, when turning over the command to
General W.W. Mackall, who relieved him on March 31st, said to him that
the National troops were endeavoring to cut a canal across the
peninsula, but they would fail, and that Mackall would find the position
safe until the river fell, but no longer.
The task which General Pope had proposed to himself--to cross a wide,
deep, rapid river, in the face of an enemy holding the farther shore in
force, was sufficiently arduous at first. Now that Captain Gray's
industry had lined the river-shore with batteries armed with
twenty-four, thirty-two, and sixty-four pound guns, and eight-inch
howitzers and columbiads, sufficient to blow out of the water any
unarmed steamer that should venture to cross, the task was impracticable
with his present resources. He applied to Commodore Foote, and urgently
repeated the application, for two gunboats, or even one, to be sent down
the river some dark night to engage these batteries below New Madrid.
But the Commodore was not willing to risk his boats in a voyage along
the front of miles of batteries, and declined. On March 28th Halleck
telegraphed: "I have telegraphed to Commodore Foote to give you all the
aid in his power. You have a difficult problem to solve. I will not
embarrass you with instructions. I leave you to act as your judgment may
deem best."
Pope set to work to make floating-batteries, to be manned by his troops.
Each battery consisted of three heavy barges, lashed together and bolted
with iron. The middle barge was bulkheaded all around, so as to have
four feet of thickness of solid timber at both the ends and the sides.
Three heavy guns were mounted on it and protected by traverses of
sand-bags. It also carried eighty sharpshooters. The barges outside of
it had a first layer, in the bottom, of empty water-tight barrels,
securely lashed, then layers of dry cotton-wood rails and cotton-bales
packed close. These were floored over at the top to keep everything in
place, so that a shot penetrating the outer barges would have to pass
through twenty feet of rails and cotton before reaching the middle one,
which carried the men and guns. The outer barges, thus bulkheaded with
water-tight barrels and buoyant cotton-bales, could not sink. These
barges, when all was ready, were to be towed by steamers to a point
directly opposite New Madrid. This could be done safely, as the shore at
the point and for a mile and a half below was swamp, and the nearest
battery was necessarily below the swamp. When near the opposite shore
the floating-batteries were to be cut loose from the steamers and
allowed to float down-stream to the point selected for the landing of
the troops. As soon as they arrived within short range they were to drop
anchor and open fire.
Meanwhile Commander Henry Walke had volunteered to take his boat, the
Carondelet; and, on March 30th, Flag-officer Foote gave him permission
to make the attempt on the first dark night. The morning of April 4th
was a busy time on the Carondelet. The deck was covered with heavy
planks, surplus chains were coiled over the most vulnerable parts of the
boat, an eleven-inch hawser was wound around the pilot-house as high as
the windows; barriers of cordwood were built about the boilers. After
sunset, the atmosphere became hazy and the sky overcast. Guns were run
back, ports closed, and the sailors armed to resist boarders. Directions
were given to sink the boat if it became liable to fall into the enemy's
hands. At dusk, twenty sharpshooters from the Forty-second Illinois came
aboard to be ready to aid the crew in resisting boarders. After dark, a
coal-barge laden with baled hay was fastened to the port side of the
boat.
At ten o'clock the moon had gone down and a storm was gathering. The
Carondelet cast loose and steamed slowly down the river. The machinery
was adjusted so as to permit the steam to escape through the
wheel-house, and avoid the noise of puffing through the pipes. The boat
glided noiseless and invisible through the darkness. Scarcely had it
advanced half a mile when the soot in the chimneys caught fire, a blaze
shot up five feet above the smoke-stack. The flue-caps were opened, the
blaze subsided, and all was yet silent along the shore. The soot in the
smoke-stacks not being moistened by the steam, which was now escaping
through the wheel-house, became very inflammable. Just as the Carondelet
was passing by the upper battery--the redan--the treacherous flame again
leaped from the chimneys, revealing and proclaiming the mission of the
boat. Sentries on the parapets on shore fired, guards turned out,
rockets darted skyward; the heavy guns opened fire; and the brooding
storm broke forth, the lightning and thunder above drowning the flashes
and war below. The lightning revealed the position of the gunboat, but
it also disclosed the outline of the shore, enabling the pilots to steer
with certainty. The boat was pushed near to the Tennessee shore and to
the island, and put to its greatest speed. Impeded by the barge in tow,
its greatest speed was slow progress, and for half an hour the gunners
in the batteries watched the black night to see the hurrying Carondelet
shot for an instant out of the darkness at every lightning flash. Beyond
the batteries lay the floating battery, carrying nine guns, which had
been driven from its moorings the day before by the heavy fire of the
fleet. A light on the floating battery marked its position. A few shots
left it, but it evinced no eagerness to join in conflict. The
Carondelet, unharmed, untouched, fired the agreed signal, and fleet and
army knew at midnight the passage was a success.
On the morning of the sixth, Commander Walke, taking on board General
Granger, Colonel Smith, of the Forty-third Ohio, and Captain L.H.
Marshall, of General Pope's staff, steamed down the river under a heavy
fire from the batteries that lined the Tennessee shore, ascertained the
position of the batteries, and, on the return silenced the batteries
opposite Point Pleasant. Captain Marshall landed with a party and spiked
the guns. In the night of the 6th, Commodore Foote, in compliance with
General Pope's earnest request, sent the gunboat Pittsburg down to New
Madrid, where it arrived, like the Carondelet, untouched.
At the break of day of the 7th, in a heavy rain, Captain Williams, of
the First United States Infantry, opened with his thirty-two pounders
upon the batteries opposite him at Watson's Landing, where General Pope
proposed to land his troops. Commander Walke, with the two gunboats,
silenced the batteries along the shore. Three sixty-four pound guns,
standing half a mile apart, were spiked. A battery of two sixty-four
pound howitzers and one sixty-four pound gun maintained a contest till
two of the pieces were dismounted and the other disabled. The four
steamers came out of the bayou and took on board Paine's division. At
noon, Commander Walke signalled that all the batteries to Watson's
Landing were silenced and the way was clear. A spy in the employment of
General Pope, who had been taken from the Tennessee shore by Commander
Walke and forwarded by him to General Pope, brought the news that the
forces about Madrid Bend were in full retreat to Tiptonville. Paine's
division, sailing by just at that time, was signalled to stop, and the
news was communicated, with orders to land and push in pursuit to
Tiptonville with all dispatch. Colonel Morgan's brigade moved in
advance, followed by Colonel Cumming's brigade and Houghtaling's
battery. Abandoned camps and artillery were passed; prisoners were
gathered up. A detachment of cavalry fled as the column came in sight.
About nine miles from the landing, General Mackall was found well
posted, with infantry, artillery, and cavalry. The leading regiment
deployed in line, and General Mackall retired. Twice again he halted in
line as if to make a stand, and retreated as the National troops
approached. At night Morgan's brigade halted at Tiptonville, and found
shelter from the rain in an abandoned camp. The pickets of the brigade
gathered in 359 prisoners in the night. Cumming's brigade, being ordered
to explore the road coming from the north into the one over which they
were moving, came upon the river shore opposite the island, and learned
from a few prisoners taken there that but few troops were left on the
island. Finding no boats or other means of getting over to the island,
Cumming returned to the south, and marched till he came near the
camp-fires of the enemy, and then went into bivouac and advised General
Paine of his position. General Mackall found himself hemmed in to the
south and east by swamp, and to the north and west by Paine's division.
Two hours after midnight his adjutant-general took to General Paine
General Mackall's unconditional surrender.
Stanley's division followed Paine's, and was followed by Hamilton's.
These were overtaken by night and went into bivouac about half way
between the crossing and Tiptonville, and learned of the surrender next
morning while on the way to join Paine. Colonel Elliott, of the Second
Iowa Cavalry, sent with two of his companies by General Pope at dawn of
the 8th from Watson's up the river-bank, captured two hundred prisoners,
deck-hands and laborers as well as soldiers, the wharf-boat and
steamers, great quantities of ordnance and other stores, and standing
camps. Turning these over to Colonel Buford, who commanded the land
forces on the fleet, and who came over to shore from the island on a
steamer, he joined the forces at Tiptonville.
Lieutenant-Colonel Cook, commanding the Twelfth Arkansas, was appointed
commandant of the island by General Mackall on the morning of the 7th.
Lieutenant-Colonel Cook received, simultaneously with the order,
information of Mackall's retreat, and General Pope's landing and
pursuit. In the evening he abandoned the island with his regiment, and
turned over the command of the island to Captain Humes, of the
artillery. Before daylight of the 8th, Commodore Foote was visited by
two officers from the island, who tendered a surrender of it and all on
it. A gunboat was sent to ascertain the state of affairs. Having learned
three hours later of the crossing of the river by Pope, the flight of
General Mackall, and the evacuation of the shore-batteries, he sent
Colonel Buford, with a force of two gunboats, to receive possession of
the island. Seventeen officers and three hundred and sixty-eight
privates surrendered to him, besides the two hundred sick and employees
turned over to him by Colonel Elliott. Lieutenant-Colonel Cook found his
way through the swamp, on the night of the 7th, to the ferry across
Reelfoot Lake. In the course of the night he was joined by about four
hundred fugitives, mostly belonging to his own regiment, many of them
just from the hospital. Hungry, and cold, and drenched with rain, they
stood in the water waiting till they could be carried over the lake,
through the cypress trees, in two small flatboats and on some
extemporized rafts. It was noon of the 9th before the forlorn band were
all over, and, without knapsacks or blankets, many without arms, began
their weary march for Memphis.
All the troops but Cumming's brigade returned to their camps on the
Missouri shore on the 8th. Colonel Cumming, having charge of the
prisoners, returned on the evening of the 9th. General Pope, in his
final detailed report giving the result of all the operations, states:
"Three generals, two hundred and seventy-three field and company
officers, six thousand seven hundred privates, one hundred and
twenty-three pieces of heavy artillery, thirty-five pieces of field
artillery, all of the very best character and of the latest patterns,
seven thousand stand of small arms, tents for twelve thousand men,
several wharf-boat loads of provisions, an immense quantity of
ammunition of all kinds, many hundred horses and mules, with wagons and
harness, etc., are among the spoils." The capture embraced, besides, six
steamboats--two of them sunk--the gunboat Grampus, carrying two guns,
sunk; and the floating battery, carrying nine guns, which the crew had
ineffectually attempted to scuttle before abandoning it. Two of the
generals captured were brigadier-generals, Mackall and Gantt; the third
was perhaps L.M. Walker. When Major-General McCown was relieved on March
31st by Mackall, McCown and Brigadier-General Trudeau left.
Brigadier-General A.P. Stewart had left previously and reported for duty
at Corinth. Colonels Walker and Gantt were promoted brigadier-generals
after the siege began. General Walker appears, from his report of April
9th, dated St. Francis County, Arkansas, to have left on account of
ill-health some time before the surrender. The prisoners embraced,
including those on the island surrendered to the navy, seven regiments
and one battalion of infantry, one of the regiments having twelve
companies--eleven companies of heavy and one of light artillery, two
companies of cavalry, the officers and crews of the floating battery and
the steamboats, and laborers and employees.
The Mississippi was now open to Fort Pillow. General Halleck telegraphed
to General Pope: "I congratulate you and your command on your splendid
achievement. It exceeds in boldness and brilliancy all other operations
of the war. It will be memorable in military history, and will be
admired by future generations." On April 12th, General Pope and his
entire command embarked on transports and steamed down the river, in
company with the gunboat fleet. The force arrived in front of Fort
Pillow on the 14th. In a few days, before reconnoitring was completed,
Pope was ordered to report with his whole command, except two regiments
to be left with the gunboats, to General Halleck at Pittsburg Landing.
CHAPTER V.
THE GATHERING OF THE FORCES.
After the surrender of Fort Donelson, the force confronting Halleck was
the command of General Beauregard, stationed at Columbus, Island Number
Ten, at Forts Pillow and Randolph, at Memphis, and at convenient points
on the railroads in Mississippi. The next objective point that presented
itself was Memphis, and, as preliminary, the fortified points on the
river above it. But Memphis had large railway connections. The direct
road to Nashville was cut at its crossing over the Tennessee River, but
at Humboldt it intersected the Mobile and Ohio, which joined Columbus
with Mobile. The Memphis and Charleston, running nearly due east to
Chattanooga, also intersected the Mobile and Ohio at Corinth. The
Mississippi and Tennessee, in connection with the New Orleans, Jackson
and Great Northern, gave a route nearly due south to New Orleans, and
this intersected at Jackson, Mississippi, another road running east, and
which needed only a connecting link between Selma and Montgomery,
Alabama, to make it also a through route to the Atlantic States. To
destroy the junction at Humboldt would cut off railway connection with
Columbus. To destroy the junction at Corinth would cut off connection
with the east. A little eastwardly of Corinth, near Eastport, was a
considerable railroad bridge over Bear Creek. General Halleck's first
step, therefore, was to break these railway connections, and as General
A.S. Johnston was falling back southwardly, it became doubly important
to sever these connections for the purpose of preventing a conjunction
of the forces under Johnston and Beauregard. Lieutenant-Commander Phelps
had gone up to Florence, at the foot of Muscle Shoals, immediately after
the surrender of Fort Henry, without difficulty. An expedition up the
Tennessee, to send out strong, light parties, suggested itself as the
natural means of accomplishing the first step. General Halleck proposed
to accomplish this by his lieutenants before taking the field in person.
Halleck was sedate, deliberate, cautious. He had written a book on
strategy and logistics, and his attention appeared sometimes to be
distracted from the actual conditions under which the present military
operations were to be conducted by his retrospective reference to the
rules which he had announced. Grant, under his extremely quiet demeanor,
was full of restless activity. His purpose seemed to be to strike and
overcome the enemy without waiting; to use whatever seemed the best
means at hand; ready at all times to change for better means if they
could be found; but never to cease striking. Halleck was worried by
being jogged to new enterprises, but heartily supported them when once
begun. C.F. Smith had a brusque manner, but a warm heart. He was direct
and honest as a child. He seemed impetuous, but his outburst was a rush
of controlled power. He was a thorough soldier, an enthusiast in his
profession, the soul of honor, the type of discipline. His commanding
officer was to him embodied law; it would have been impossible for him
to conceive that his duty and subordination could in any way be affected
by the fact that his pupil in the Military Academy had become his
commander.
General Grant, being commander of the Military District of Western
Tennessee, with limits undefined, sent General C.F. Smith from Fort
Donelson, fifty miles up the river to Clarksville, to take possession of
the place and the railway bridge over the river there. General Grant
wrote to General Cullum, advising him of this movement and proposing the
capture of Nashville, but adding he was ready for any move the General
Commanding might direct. On the 24th he wrote to General Cullum, General
Halleck's chief of staff, that he had sent four regiments to
Clarksville, and would send no more till he heard from General Halleck.
Next day he wrote that the head of Buell's column had reached Nashville,
and he would go there on the receipt of the next mail, unless it should
contain some orders preventing him. He went to Nashville on the 27th,
and returned to Fort Donelson next day. In his absence there was, among
some of the troops about Fort Donelson, fresh from civil life and
restive under the inactivity and restraint of a winter camp, some
disorder and insubordination. There was, moreover, some marauding in
which officers participated. General Grant, on his return, published
orders repressing such practices, arrested the guilty parties and sent
the arrested officers to St. Louis to report to General Halleck.
On March 1st General Halleck sent to General Grant, from St. Louis, an
order directing the course of immediate operations: "Transports will be
sent to you as soon as possible to move your column up the Tennessee
River. The main object of this expedition will be to destroy the
railroad bridge over Bear Creek, near Eastport, Miss., and also the
connections at Corinth, Jackson, and Humboldt. It is thought best that
these objects should be attempted in the order named. Strong detachments
of cavalry and light artillery, supported by infantry, may, by rapid
movements, reach these points from the river without very serious
opposition. Avoid any general engagement with strong forces. It will be
better to retreat than to risk a general battle. This should be strongly
impressed upon the officers sent with the expedition from the river.
General C.F. Smith, or some very discreet officer, should be selected
for such commands. Having accomplished these objects, or such of them as
may be practicable, you will return to Danville and move on Paris....
Competent officers should be left to command the garrisons of Forts
Henry and Donelson in your absence...." General Grant received the order
on March 2d, and repaired at once to Fort Henry. On the 4th the forces
at Fort Donelson marched across to the Tennessee, where they were
speedily joined by Sherman's division and other reinforcements coming by
boat up the river.
On March 2d General Halleck, having received an anonymous letter
reflecting on General Grant, telegraphed to General McClellan, the
General-in-Chief, at Washington: "I have had no communication with
General Grant for more than a week. He left his command without my
authority, and went to Nashville. His army seems to be as much
demoralized by the victory of Fort Donelson as was that of the Potomac
by the defeat of Bull Run. It is hard to censure a successful general
immediately after a victory, but I think he richly deserves it. I can
get no reports, no returns, no information of any kind from him.
Satisfied with his victory, he sits down and enjoys it without any
regard to the future. I am worn out and tired by this neglect and
inefficiency. C.F. Smith is almost the only officer equal to the
emergency." Next day McClellan answered by telegraph: "The future
success of our cause demands that proceedings such as General Grant's
should at once be checked. Generals must observe discipline as well as
private soldiers. Do not hesitate to arrest him at once if the good of
the service requires it, and place C.F. Smith in command. You are at
liberty to regard this as a positive order, if it will smooth your way."
On the 4th General Halleck telegraphed to Grant: "You will place
Major-General C.F. Smith in command of expedition, and remain yourself
at Fort Henry. Why do you not obey my orders to report strength and
position of your command?" Grant replied next day: "Troops will be sent
under command of Major-General Smith, as directed. I had prepared a
different plan, intending General Smith to command the forces which
should go to Paris and Humboldt, while I would command the expedition
upon Eastport, Corinth, and Jackson in person.... I am not aware of ever
having disobeyed any order from your headquarters--certainly never
intended such a thing. I have reported almost daily the condition of my
command, and reported every position occupied...." An interchange of
telegrams of substantially the same tenor, General Halleck's gradually
losing their asperity, lasted a week longer. On March 10th, the day
before the President, by War Order No. 3, relieved General McClellan
from the supreme command of the armies, General L. Thomas,
Adjutant-General of the Army, wrote to General Halleck: "It has been
reported that, soon after the battle of Fort Donelson, Brigadier-General
Grant left his command without leave. By direction of the President, the
Secretary of War directs you to ascertain and report whether General
Grant left his command at any time without proper authority, and if so,
for how long; whether he has made to you proper reports and returns of
his forces; whether he has committed any acts which were unauthorized or
not in accordance with military subordination or propriety, and if so,
what?" On the 13th Halleck telegraphed to Grant, who had asked to be
relieved if his course was not satisfactory, or until he could be set
right: "You cannot be relieved from your command. There is no good
reason for it. I am certain that all which the authorities at Washington
ask is, that you enforce discipline and punish the disorderly....
Instead of relieving you, I wish you, as soon as your new army is in the
field, to assume the immediate command and lead it on to new victories."
To this Grant replied next day: "After your letter enclosing copy of an
anonymous letter upon which severe censure was based, I felt as though
it would be impossible for me to serve longer without a court of
inquiry. Your telegram of yesterday, however, places such a different
phase upon my position that I will again assume command, and give every
effort to the success of our cause. Under the worst circumstances I
would do the same." On the 15th General Halleck replied to the
Adjutant-General of the Army, fully exonerating General Grant. General
C.F. Smith felt keenly the injustice done to Grant, and gladly
relinquished command of the expedition when Grant assumed it.
Meanwhile the army with its stores had been gathering on a fleet of
boats between Fort Henry and the railroad bridge. To the three divisions
of Fort Donelson, First, Second, and Third, commanded by C.F. Smith,
McClernand, and Lewis Wallace, were added a fourth, commanded by
Brigadier-General S.A. Hurlbut, and a fifth by Brigadier-General W. T.
Sherman. While C.F. Smith commanded the expedition, his division was
commanded by W.H.L. Wallace, who had been promoted to brigadier-general.
The steamer Golden State, with one-half of the Fortieth Illinois,
reached Savannah, on the right bank of the river, on March 5th. The
Forty-sixth Ohio arrived the next day. Behind these was the fleet of
more than eighty steamboats, carrying the five divisions and convoyed by
three gunboats, a vast procession extending miles along the winding
river, each boat with its pillar of smoke by day, and of fire by night.
The fleet began arriving at Savannah on the 11th, and lined both shores
of the river. Lewis Wallace's division sent a party to the railroad west
of the river, striking it at Purdy, tearing up a portion, but doing no
permanent injury, and returned. On the 14th, General Smith sent
Sherman's division up the river to strike the railroad near Eastport.
Rain fell in torrents, roads melted into mud, and small streams rose
with dangerous rapidity. The expedition, arrested by an unfordable
torrent, returned just in time to reach the landing by wading through
water waist-deep. The boats left in the night of the 15th, and stopped
at Pittsburg Landing, on the west bank of the river, about nine miles
above Savannah. Hurlbut's division was already on boats at this landing,
having been ordered thither by General C.F. Smith on the evening of the
14th.
The first step in the programme laid down in General Halleck's order of
March 1st, the destruction of the railroad near Eastport, had failed,
and events had now required a material change in the programme. General
Buell on March 3d telegraphed to Halleck: "What can I do to aid your
operations against Columbus?" Halleck, replying next day that Columbus
was evacuated and destroyed, added: "Why not come to the Tennessee and
operate with me to cut Johnston's line with Memphis, Randolph, and New
Madrid.... Estimated strength of enemy at New Madrid, Randolph and
Memphis is fifty thousand. It is of vital importance to separate them
from Johnston's army. Come over to Savannah or Florence, and we can do
it. We can then operate on Decatur or Memphis, or both, as may appear
best." Buell rejoined on the 5th: "The thing I think of vital importance
is that you seize and hold the bridge at Florence in force." On the 6th
Halleck telegraphed: "News down the Tennessee that Beauregard has
twenty thousand men at Corinth, and is rapidly fortifying it. Smith will
probably not be strong enough to attack it. It is a great misfortune to
lose that point. I shall reinforce Smith as rapidly as possible. If you
can send a division by water around into the Tennessee, it would require
only a small amount of transportation to do it." To this Buell
telegraphed on the 9th, insisting on his suggestions made on the 5th.
Halleck dispatched on the 10th: "My forces are moving up the Tennessee
River as rapidly as we can obtain transportation. Florence was the point
originally designated, but, on account of the enemy's forces at Corinth
and Humboldt, it is deemed best to land at Savannah and establish a
depot. The transportation will serve as ferries. The selection is left
to C.F. Smith, who commands the advance.... You do not say whether we
are to expect any reinforcements from Nashville." On the same day Buell
telegraphed: "... The establishment of your force on this side of the
river, as high up as possible, is evidently judicious.... I can join you
almost, if not quite as soon, by water, in better condition and with
greater security to your operations and mine. I believe you cannot be
too promptly nor too strongly established on the Tennessee. I shall
advance in a very few days, as soon as our transportation is ready." On
the 11th the President issued War Order No. 3. "Major-General McClellan,
having personally taken the field at the head of the Army of the
Potomac, until otherwise ordered, he is relieved from the command of the
other military departments, he retaining command of the Department of
the Potomac.
"Ordered further, that the two departments now under the respective
commands of Generals Halleck and Hunter, together with so much of that,
under General Buell, as lies west of a north and south line indefinitely
drawn through Knoxville, Tennessee, be consolidated and designated the
Department of the Mississippi; and that, until otherwise ordered,
Major-General Halleck have command of said department." Immediately upon
the receipt of this order, General Halleck ordered Buell to march his
army to Savannah. The forces of the Confederacy were gathering at
Corinth; the forces of Halleck and Buell were massing at Savannah.
Instead of a hurried dash by a flying column, to tear up a section of
railway as ancillary to a real movement elsewhere, the programme now
contemplated a struggle by armies for the retention or for the
destruction of a strategic point deemed almost vital to the Confederacy.
About the close of February, General Beauregard sent a field-battery,
supported by two regiments of infantry, to occupy the river-bluff at
Pittsburg Landing, twenty-three miles northwest from Corinth, and nine
miles above Savannah. Lieutenant-Commander Gwin, who was stationed at
Savannah with two gunboats, the Tyler and the Lexington, proceeded to
Pittsburg Landing, on March 1st, and, after a brisk skirmish, silenced
the battery and drove it and its supports away. General C.F. Smith, in
pursuance of the authority given him by General Halleck, selected this
as the point of assembly of the army.
Lick Creek, above the landing, and Snake Creek, below it, empty into the
river about three miles apart, the landing being nearer the mouth of
Snake Creek. Lick Creek, rising in a swamp, flows eleven miles nearly
northeast to the river. Snake Creek flows nearly east to the river. Owl
Creek flows nearly parallel to Lick Creek, at a distance from it varying
from three to five miles, and empties into Snake Creek something more
than a mile from its mouth. The land enclosed between these creeks and
the river is a rolling plateau from eighty to a hundred feet above the
river-level. The riverfront of this plateau is cut by sundry sloughs
and ravines, which were at that time overflowed by back-water. One of
these deep ravines, running back at right angles to the river, is
immediately above the bluff at the landing. About a mile back from the
river, and about a mile above the landing, is a swell in the ground, not
marked enough to be called a ridge. From this higher ground extend the
head ravines of Oak Creek,[1] a rivulet or brook flowing to the west,
passing within a few hundred yards of Shiloh Church, and then turning to
the northwest and flowing into Owl Creek. In the reports of Sherman's
division this rivulet is treated as the main branch of Owl Creek, and
called by that name. From the same rising ground, ravines, wet only
after a rain, extend east and southeast to Lick Creek. From the same
position extend the head ravines of Brier Creek,[1] a deep ravine with
little water, which flows almost due north and empties into Snake Creek
a little below the mouth of Owl Creek. The three principal creeks, Lick,
Snake, and Owl, flow through swampy valleys, bordered by abrupt bluffs.
Oak Creek, from the neighborhood of Shiloh Church to its mouth, flows
through a miry bottom bordered by banks of less height. The land was for
the most part covered with timber, partly with dense undergrowth; in
places were perhaps a dozen open fields containing about eighty acres
each. A road, lying far enough back from the river to avoid the sloughs,
led from the landing to Hamburg Landing, about six miles above. Another
road from the landing crossed Brier Creek and Snake Creek just above
their junction, and continued down the river to Crump's Landing. The
road to Corinth forked near the landing, one branch of it passing by
Shiloh Church, the other keeping nearer to the river, but both
reuniting five or six miles out. The position selected thus, gave ample
room to camp an army, was absolutely protected on the sides of the
river, Snake Creek, and Owl Creek, while from its south face a ridge
gave open way to Corinth. The open way to Corinth was also an open way
from Corinth to the landing. This accessible front could easily have
been turned into a strong defence, by taking advantage of the rolling
ground, felling timber, and throwing up slight earthworks. But the army
had many things yet to learn, and the use of field fortification was one
of them.
[Footnote 1: The names Oak Creek and Brier Creek are obtained from
Colonel Charles Whittlesey, who made a study of the field every day for
two weeks succeeding the battle.]
In pursuance of General C.F. Smith's instructions to occupy the landing
strongly, General Sherman ordered General Hurlbut to disembark his
division and encamp it at right angles to the road about a mile out. The
Corinth road designated was the one lying nearer to the river. About
half a mile beyond the position selected for the camp the road forks,
one being the Corinth road running southwest, the other running nearly
due west, passed about four hundred yards north of Shiloh Church,
crossed Oak Creek and Owl Creek immediately above their junction, and
continued to Purdy. General Hurlbut the same day issued a field order in
minute detail, and the First and Second Brigades being all of the
division at hand, marched to the prescribed point, Burrows' battery
being posted at the road; the First Brigade at right angles with the
road, with its left at the battery; the Third Brigade at right angles
with the road, its right at Burrows' battery, and Mann's battery at its
left. The Second Brigade, commanded by Colonel Veatch, subsequently
arriving, camped to the rear and partially to the right of the First
Brigade, so as almost to interlock with the camp of General C.F. Smith's
division.
On the 18th, Sherman's division of four brigades landed, and moved out
a few days later to permanent camp. The Second Brigade, sent to watch
some fords of Lick Creek, was posted in the fork of a cross-road running
to Purdy from the Hamburg road. The Fourth Brigade, commanded by Colonel
Buckland, camped with its left near Shiloh Church, and its color-line
nearly at right angles with the Corinth road. The First Brigade,
commanded by Colonel McDowell, went into camp to the right of Buckland,
and was separated from him by a lateral ravine running into Oak Creek;
the camp was pitched between the Purdy road and the bluff-banks of Oak
Creek. The Third Brigade, commanded by Colonel Hildebrand, was posted to
the left of Shiloh Church, its right being near the church. Precision in
camping was not exacted, and the left regiment of Colonel Hildebrand's
Brigade, the Fifty-third Ohio, in order to enclose a fine spring of
water within the brigade, pitched its camp about two hundred yards to
the left and front of its next regiment (the Fifty-seventh Ohio), and
was separated from the rest of the brigade by this distance and by a
stream with swampy borders which emptied into Oak Creek. General
Sherman's headquarters were to the rear of Shiloh Church. His batteries,
Taylor's and Waterhouse's, together with his cavalry, were camped in
rear of the infantry.
General Grant arrived at Savannah on the 17th and assumed command,
reported to General Halleck, and on the same day ordered General C.F.
Smith's division to Pittsburg Landing. His division, the Second,
encamped, not in a line, but in convenient localities on the plateau
between Brier Creek and the river. McClernand with the First Division
was sent a few days later, and selecting the most level ground, laid out
the most regular camp. His front crossed the Corinth road about
two-thirds of a mile in rear of Shiloh Church, the road intersecting his
line near his left flank; the direction of his line was to the
northwest, reaching toward the bluffs of the valley of Snake Creek.
General Prentiss reported to General Grant for assignment to duty, and
about March 25th, six new regiments, not yet assigned, reported to him
and were by him put into two brigades constituting the Sixth Division.
These brigades were subsequently increased by regiments assigned to him
as late as April 5th and 6th. The Fifth Ohio Battery, Captain
Hickenlooper, arriving on April 5th, was assigned to the Sixth Division,
and went into camp. Prentiss' camp faced to the south. It is not easy
now to identify precisely its position. It appears incidentally, from
reports of the battle of April 6th, that a ravine ran along the rear of
the right of the division camp, and another ravine in front of the left.
The left regiment (the Sixteenth Wisconsin) of the right brigade
(Peabody's) lay on the lower or most southern branch of the Corinth
road; the left flank of the division was in sight of Stuart's brigade;
there was a considerable gap between its right flank and Sherman's
division. The divisions were not camped with a view to defence against
an apprehended attack; but they did fulfil General Halleck's
instructions to General C.F. Smith, to select a depot with a view to the
march on to Corinth. Sherman's division lay across one road to Corinth,
with McClernand's in its rear; Prentiss' division lay across the other
road to Corinth, with Hurlbut in his rear, and C.F. Smith was camped so
as to follow either. The divisions did not march to the selected ground
and pitch camp in a forenoon; but, partly from the rain and mud, partly
want of practice, some of the divisions were several days unloading from
the boats, hauling in the great trains then allowed to regiments
(twenty-seven wagons and two ambulances to a regiment in some cases,)
laying out the ground, and putting up tents. General Sherman, before
settling down in his camp, made a reconnoissance out to Monterey,
nearly half way to Corinth, and dislodged a detachment of hostile
cavalry camped there. Every division and many of the brigades found a
separate drill-ground in some neighboring field, and constant drilling
was preparing the command for the march to Corinth.
Major-General C.F. Smith received an injury to his leg by jumping into a
yawl early in March. This injury, seeming trivial at first, resulted in
his death on April 25th. It became so aggravated by the end of March
that he was obliged to move from Pittsburg Landing to Savannah, leaving
Brigadier-General W.H.L. Wallace in command of his division, and
Major-General McClernand, senior officer present, at Pittsburg. General
Grant--who went up from Savannah every day to visit the camps, and was
requested by General McClernand, by letter on March 27th, to move his
headquarters to Pittsburg Landing--was about to transfer his
headquarters thither on April 4th, when he received a letter from
General Buell saying he would arrive next day at Savannah, and
requesting an interview. The transfer of headquarters was accordingly
postponed till after the interview.
General L. Wallace's division disembarked at Crump's Landing on the same
side of the river with Pittsburg Landing, and a little above Savannah.
His First Brigade went into camp near the river; the Second at Stony
Lonesome, about two miles out on the road to Purdy; the Third Brigade
immediately beyond Adamsville, on the same road. The Third Brigade went
into camp on the inner slope of a sharp ridge, and cut down the timber
on the exterior slope, to aid the holding of the position in case of an
attack in front.
While Grant's army was sailing up the river and getting settled at
Pittsburg, General Buell with five divisions of his army was marching
from Nashville to Savannah. Immediately on receiving General Halleck's
order to march, he sent out his cavalry to secure the bridges on his
route, in which they succeeded, except in the cases of the important
bridge over Duck Creek at Columbia, and an unimportant bridge a few
miles north of that. On the 15th, the Fourth Division, commanded by
Brigadier-General A. McD. McCook, moved out, and at intervals, up to
March 20th, it was followed in order by the Fifth, Brigadier-General
T.L. Crittenden, Sixth, Brigadier-General T.J. Wood, and First,
Brigadier-General George H. Thomas--37,000 men in all. Having no
pontoons, General Buell built a bridge over Duck Creek. This would have
caused little delay later in the war; but to fresh troops, who yet had
to learn the business of military service, it was a formidable task, and
was not completed till the 29th. While waiting for the completion of the
bridge, General Buell's command learned that General Grant's army was on
the west bank of the Tennessee. General Nelson at once asked permission
to ford the stream and push rapidly on to Savannah. Permission being
obtained, the division, with Ammen's brigade--the Twenty-fourth Ohio,
Sixth Ohio, and Thirty-sixth Indiana in front--began their march early
on the morning of the 29th, the men stripped of their pantaloons,
carrying their cartridge-boxes on their necks; the ammunition-boxes of
the artillery taken from the limbers and carried over on scows, and
tents packed in the bottom of the wagon-beds, to lift ammunition and
stores above water.
The bridge was finished and the march resumed the same day. Nelson
having secured the advance, his eagerness gave an impetus to the entire
column. The divisions were ordered to camp at night six miles apart,
making a column thirty miles long. But this prevented the clogging of
the march on the wet and soft roads, the alternate crowding up and
lengthening out of the column, the weary waiting of the crowded rear for
the obstructed front to move, nights spent on the road, and late
bivouacs reached toward morning. It made Buell's advance slow, but it
prevented the new troops from being worn out, and brought them in good
condition onto the field. General Buell intended to take at Waynesboro
the road to Hamburg Landing, instead of the direct road to Savannah, and
put his army there into a separate camp. General Nelson, however, moving
faster than was expected, drew the divisions behind him through
Waynesboro, on the road to Savannah, before General Buell issued the
order, and so unconsciously defeated the intention. Nelson's brigade
reached Savannah during April 5th, Crittenden's division camped that
night a few miles distant, and General Buell himself reached Savannah or
its outskirts some time in the evening.
General A.S. Johnston was encamped with his army at Edgefield, opposite
Nashville, on February 15th. A despatch from General Pillow that evening
announced a great victory won by the garrison of Fort Donelson. Just
before daybreak of the 16th another despatch was received, that Buckner
would capitulate at daylight. Immediately staff and orderlies were
aroused, and the troops put in motion across the river to Nashville. The
morning papers were filled with the "victory, glorious and complete,"
and the city was ringing with joy. In the forenoon the news spread of
the surrender of Donelson. The people were struck with dismay, the city
was in panic, the populace was delirious with excitement. A wild mob
surrounded Johnston's headquarters and demanded to know whether their
generals intended to fight or not.
Johnston immediately began the abandonment of Nashville. First were
sent off the fifteen hundred sick brought on from Bowling Green,
together with the tenants of the hospitals at Nashville. The railway was
then taxed to its utmost to carry away the stores of most value. It was
evident that all the stores could not be taken away, and pillage of
commissary stores and quartermaster stores by citizens was permitted. A
regiment of infantry and a battalion of cavalry were put on guard and
patrolled the streets to reduce the riotous to order. Johnston moved out
with his command on February 18th, leaving Floyd and Forrest with a
force in Nashville to preserve order, remove the public stores, and to
destroy what could not be removed.
Popular excitement always demands a victim, and the outcry was almost
universal that Johnston should be relieved from command. But, to a
deputation that went to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy,
with this request, he replied: "I know Johnston well. If he is not a
general, we had better give up the war, for we have no general."
Johnston found the Tennessee, running from Alabama and Mississippi up to
the Ohio, in the possession of the National fleets and armies. The force
under his immediate command was therefore separated from the force under
Beauregard that was guarding the Mississippi. Unless they should join,
they would be beaten in detail. To join involved the surrender either of
Central Tennessee or of the Mississippi. Johnston resolved to give up
Central Tennessee until he could regain it, and hold on to the
Mississippi. But to hold the Mississippi required continued possession
of the railroads, and such points especially as Corinth and Humboldt.
Corinth, both from its essential importance and its exposure to attack
by reason of its nearness to the river, was the point for concentration.
Johnston moved from Nashville to Murfreesboro, not on the direct route
to Corinth, to conceal his purpose. At Murfreesboro he added to the
forces brought from Bowling Green between three and four thousand of the
men who escaped from Donelson, and the command of General Crittenden
from Kentucky, quickly raising his force at Murfreesboro to seventeen
thousand men. Leaving Murfreesboro on February 28th, marching through
Shelbyville to Decatur, he arrived at Corinth, on March 24th, with
twenty thousand men. General Bragg, with ten thousand well-drilled
troops from Pensacola, had preceded him. General Ruggles, with a
brigade, came from New Orleans; Major-General Polk, with General
Cheatham's division from Columbus, with the troops that escaped from
Island No. Ten the night before escape was cut off, and various outlying
garrisons under General Beauregard's command, swelled the concourse. Van
Dorn, having failed to drive Curtis back into Missouri, was ordered to
come with his command to Corinth. A regiment arrived before April 6th,
the rest later. Detached commands guarding the line of the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad were called in. The governors of States were called
on and raised new levies. Beauregard made a personal appeal for
volunteers, which brought in several regiments. Johnston had before
called for reinforcements in vain. Now every nerve was strained to aid
him. An inspection of his command satisfied him that if all the soldiers
detailed as cooks and teamsters were relieved, he would have another
brigade of effective men. He sent messengers through the surrounding
country, urging citizens to hire their negroes as cooks and teamsters
for ninety days, or even sixty days. But the messengers returned with
the answer that the planters would freely give their last son, but they
would not part with a negro or a mule.
General Bragg, on arriving at Corinth, wished to attack the troops as
they were beginning to land at Pittsburg and Crump's landings. General
Beauregard forbade this, writing to Bragg: "I would prefer the
defensive-offensive--that is, to take up such a position as would compel
the enemy to develop his intentions, and to attack us, before he could
penetrate any distance from his base; then, when within striking
distance of us, to take the offensive and crush him wherever we may
happen to strike him, cutting him off, if possible, from his base of
operations or the river."
On March 25th, Johnston completed the concentration of his troops. Van
Dorn was in person in Corinth, and was ordered to bring forward his
command. Johnston determined to wait as long as practicable for it.
Meanwhile, to hasten the organization and preparation of his army, he
appointed Gen. Bragg chief of staff for the time, but to resume command
of his corps when the movement should begin. Of him, Colonel William
Preston Johnston says, in his life of his father--a valuable book,
prepared with great industry, and written with an evident desire to be
fair: "In Bragg there was so much that was strong marred by most evident
weakness, so many virtues blemished by excess or defect in temper and
education, so near an approach to greatness and so manifest a failure to
attain it, that his worst enemy ought to find something to admire in
him, and his best friend something painful in the attempt to portray him
truly." A thorough disciplinarian and a master of detail, his merits
found full play, and his defects were less apparent in his position on
the staff.
Johnston was organizing his army; Grant was assembling his twenty-three
miles away. On the other side of the Tennessee, ninety miles from
Savannah, Buell, halted by Duck Creek, was building a bridge for his
troops--a bridge which it required twelve days to construct. Johnston
having completed his concentration, it was his obvious policy to attack
before Grant should be further reinforced. General Beauregard, in his
letter of March 18th to Bragg, said: "While I have guarded you against
an uncertain offensive, I am decidedly of the opinion that we should
endeavor to entice the enemy into an engagement as soon as possible, and
before he shall have further increased his numbers by the large numbers
which he must still have in reserve and available--that is, beat him in
detail." Lee wrote to Johnston, on March 26th: "I need not urge you,
when your army is united, to deal a blow at the enemy in your front, if
possible, before his rear gets up from Nashville. You have him divided,
and keep him so, if you can." It was Johnston's purpose, and expressed,
to attack Grant before Buell should arrive. But he determined to
continue organizing and waiting for Van Dorn as long as that would be
safe.
At eleven o'clock at night of April 2d, Johnston learned that Buell was
moving "rapidly from Columbia, by Clifton, to Savannah." About one
o'clock in the morning of Thursday, the 3d, preliminary orders were
issued to hold the troops in readiness to move at a moment's notice,
with five days' rations and one hundred rounds of ammunition. The
movement began in the afternoon. The army was arranged in three corps,
commanded respectively by Polk, Bragg, and Hardee, and a reserve under
Breckenridge. Beauregard was second in command, without a specific
command. Major-General Hardee's corps consisted of Brigadier-General
Hindman's division and Brigadier-General Cleburne's brigade. The
division consisted of Hindman's brigade, commanded by Colonel Shaver,
and Brigadier-General Wood's brigade. Wood's brigade comprised five
regiments, and two battalions of infantry and a battery; Cleburne's
brigade was composed of six regiments and two batteries. Major-General
Bragg's corps consisted of two divisions, commanded respectively by
Brigadier-General Ruggles and Brigadier-General Withers. The brigades of
Ruggles' division were commanded by Colonel Gibson, Brigadier-General
Patton Anderson, and Colonel Pond. Withers' brigades were commanded by
Brigadier-Generals Gladden, Chalmers, and Jackson. The brigades of
Chalmers and Gladden contained each five regiments and a battery; the
other brigades contained each four regiments and a battery, with, in
Anderson's and Pond's each, an additional battalion of infantry.
Major-General Polk's corps had two divisions, commanded by
Brigadier-General Clark and Major-General Cheatham. Clark's brigades
were commanded by Colonel Russell and Brigadier-General A.P. Stewart;
Cheatham's brigades were commanded by Brigadier-General B.R. Johnson and
Colonel Stephens. Each brigade was made up of four regiments of infantry
and a battery. Brigadier-General John C. Breckenridge's reserve
comprised three brigades, commanded by Colonel Trabue, Brigadier-General
Bowen, and Colonel Statham. Trabue had five regiments and two
battalions, Bowen four regiments, and Statham six regiments of infantry.
Each brigade had a battery. By the returns, Cleburne's brigade was the
largest, having 2,750 effectives. Besides, were three regiments, two
battalions and one company of cavalry. This force comprised 40,000 of
the 50,000 effectives gathered at Corinth. Different returns vary a few
hundred more and a few hundred less. General Johnston telegraphed to
Jefferson Davis, when the movement began, that the number was 40,000. In
forming for battle, the army was to deploy into three parallel lines,
the distance between the lines to be one thousand yards. Hardee's corps
to be the first; Bragg's the second; and the third to be composed of
Polk on the left and Breckenridge on the right.
Hardee, moving out in advance, in the afternoon of Thursday, halted
Friday forenoon at Mickey's house, about seventeen miles from Corinth.
Bragg's corps bivouacked Friday night in rear of Hardee. Clark's
division of Polk's corps followed in due order on its road. Cheatham's
division, on outpost on the railroad at Purdy and Bethel, under orders
to defend himself if attacked, otherwise to assemble at Purdy, march
thence to Monterey, and thence to position near Mickey's, did not leave
Purdy till Saturday morning, and reached his position Saturday
afternoon. Breckenridge, who marched from his station at Burnesville
through Farmington without entering Corinth, using a cross-road, could
not pull his wagons through the mud, and failed to get as far as
Monterey Friday night. While Hardee was lying near Mickey's house, his
cavalry felt the National outposts, and a reconnoitring party from the
National camp struck Cleburne's brigade.
The order issued at Corinth required the columns to be deployed by seven
o'clock, Saturday morning, and the attack to begin at eight o'clock.
Hardee began his movement at daybreak, Saturday, deployed about ten
o'clock, and waited. His line being too short to extend from Owl Creek
to Lick Creek, Gladden's brigade was moved forward from Bragg's corps,
and added to Hardee's right. The rest of Withers' division moved into
position behind Hardee's right; but Ruggles' division, constituting the
right of Bragg's line, did not appear. Successive messengers bringing no
satisfaction, General Johnston rode to the rear with his staff, till he
found Ruggles' division standing still, with its head in an open field.
It was set in motion, Polk followed; Cheatham arrived from Purdy;
Breckenridge extricated his command from the deep mud, and, by four
o'clock in the afternoon, the deployment and formation of the army was
complete. It was too late to attack that day. Beauregard urged that it
was too late to attack at all, that it would now be impossible to
effect a surprise, that the expedition should be abandoned and the
troops march back to Corinth. Johnston directed the troops to bivouac,
and attack to be made next day at daylight.
Of the five divisions at Pittsburg Landing, the organization of
four--the First, McClernand's; Second, C.F. Smith's, commanded by
Brigadier-General W.H.L. Wallace, General Smith being ill at Savannah;
the Fourth, Hurlbut's; and the Fifth, Sherman's--was completed. The
Sixth, commanded by Prentiss, was still in process of formation.
McClernand's First Brigade, composed of the Eighth and Eighteenth
Illinois, Eleventh and Thirteenth Iowa, was commanded by Colonel Hare,
of the Eleventh Iowa; the Second was composed of the Eleventh,
Twentieth, Forty-fifth, and Forty-eighth Illinois, and commanded by Col.
Marsh, of the Twentieth Illinois; the Third, of the Seventeenth,
Twenty-ninth, Forty-third, and Forty-ninth Illinois. Colonel Ross, of
the Seventeenth Illinois, the senior colonel, being ill and absent, the
command of this brigade devolved on Colonel Reardon, of the
Twenty-ninth. The Second Division comprised three brigades: the First,
commanded by Colonel Tuttle, of the Second Iowa, contained the Second,
Seventh, Twelfth, and Fourteenth Iowa; the Second, commanded by
Brigadier-General McArthur, comprised the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Missouri, Ninth and Twelfth Illinois, and Eighty-first Ohio. The
Fourteenth Missouri, at that time, went by the name of Birge's
Sharpshooters; the Third, commanded by Colonel Sweeney, of the
Fifty-second Illinois, comprised the Eighth Iowa, and the Seventh,
Fiftieth, Fifty-second, Fifty-seventh, and Fifty-eighth Illinois. The
Fourth Division contained three brigades: the First, commanded by
Colonel Williams, of the Third Iowa, contained the Third Iowa,
Twenty-eighth, Thirty-second, and Forty-first Illinois; the Second,
commanded by Colonel Veatch, of the Twenty-fifth Indiana, contained the
Twenty-fifth Indiana, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-sixth Illinois;
the Third, commanded by Brigadier-General Lauman, who reported for duty
Saturday, April 5th, and was then assigned to this command, comprised
the Thirty-first and Forty-fourth Indiana, and the Seventeenth and
Twenty-fifth Kentucky. The Fifth Division contained four brigades: the
First, commanded by Colonel McDowell, of the Sixth Iowa, was made of the
Sixth Iowa, Forty-sixth Ohio, and the Fortieth Illinois; the Second,
commanded by Colonel Stuart, of the Fifty-fifth Illinois, was made of
the Fifty-fifth Illinois and the Fifty-fourth and Seventy-first Ohio;
the Third, commanded by Colonel Hildebrand, of the Seventy-seventh Ohio,
contained the Fifty-third, Fifty-seventh, and Seventy-seventh Ohio; the
Fourth, commanded by Colonel Buckland, of the Seventy-second Ohio,
contained the Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and Seventy-second Ohio. The
Sixth Division was organized into two brigades: the First Brigade,
commanded by Colonel Peabody, of the Twenty-fifth Missouri, contained
the Twenty-first and Twenty-fifth Missouri, Twelfth Michigan, and
Sixteenth Wisconsin. The Second, commanded by Colonel Miller, of the
Eighteenth Missouri, comprised the Eighteenth Missouri and Sixty-first
Illinois. The Sixteenth Iowa, assigned to this brigade, arriving fresh
from the recruiting depot, without ammunition, on April 5th, reported to
General Prentiss that day, but was sent by him to the landing early in
the morning of the 6th, and was by General Grant assigned to duty that
day in another part of the field. The Eighteenth Wisconsin arrived and
reported on April 5th, and the Twenty-third Missouri arrived in the
morning of the 6th, and reported on the field at nine o'clock.[2] But
these two regiments were not formally assigned to either brigade. The
Fifteenth Iowa, assigned to this division, arrived the morning of April
6th, and was assigned to duty in another part of the field. The
Fourteenth Wisconsin, assigned to the division, arrived late in the
night of April 6th, and served on the 7th with Crittenden's division of
Buell's army.
[Footnote 2: The Fifteenth Michigan arriving without ammunition,
immediately before the attack began, marched to the rear for ammunition
and, returning to the field, fought through the day between the
Eighteenth Missouri and the Eighteenth Wisconsin.]
The artillery was not attached to brigades, but was under the direct
command of division commanders. The batteries of Schwartz and
McAllister, and Burrow's Fourteenth Ohio Battery served with
McClernand's division. Willard's Company A, First Illinois Artillery,
commanded by Lieutenant Wood, and Major Cavender's battalion of
Companies D, H, and I, First Missouri Artillery, were attached to W.H.L.
Wallace's division. Mann's four-gun battery, Ross' Second Michigan, and
Myer's Thirteenth Ohio batteries, were attached to Hurlbut's division.
Behr's Sixth Indiana Battery, and Barrett's Company B, and Waterhouse's
Company E, First Illinois Artillery, were attached to Sherman's
division. Barrett's battery had formerly been commanded by Captain Ezra
Taylor, promoted Major of the First Illinois Artillery, and was still
commonly called Taylor's battery, and is so styled in some of the
reports of the battle. Munch's Minnesota and Hickenlooper's Fifth Ohio
Battery were attached to Prentiss' division. There was some change in
the assignment of batteries on April 5th. The above gives their position
as it was on April 6th. Bouton's Company I, First Illinois Artillery,
and Dresser's battery, commanded by Captain Timony, though not assigned,
were given positions on the field by Major Ezra Taylor, Sherman's chief
of artillery, by direction of General Grant. Margraff's Eighth Ohio
Battery served with Sherman, Powell's Company F, Second Illinois
Artillery, served with Prentiss. Madison's Company B, Second Illinois
Artillery, served at the landing. Captain Silversparre's four-gun
battery of twenty-pound Parrotts, though assigned to McClernand,
remained at the landing from lack of horses and equipage to pull them
out to camp.
The Third Division, commanded by General Lewis Wallace, comprised three
brigades: The First Brigade, commanded by Colonel Morgan L. Smith, of
the Eighth Missouri, comprising the Eleventh and Twenty-fourth Indiana
and the Eighth Missouri, was in camp at Crump's Landing; the Second
Brigade, commanded by Colonel Thayer, of the First Nebraska, comprising
the First Nebraska, Twenty-third Indiana, and Fifty-eighth and
Sixty-eighth Ohio, was camped at Stony Lonesome, two miles out from
Crump's Landing; the Third Brigade, commanded by Colonel Whittlesey, of
the Twentieth Ohio, comprising the Twentieth, Fifty-sixth,
Seventy-sixth, and Seventy-eighth Ohio, was in camp at Adamsville, three
miles out beyond Stony Lonesome, or five miles from Crump's Landing.
Buell's Battery I, First Missouri Artillery, commanded by Lieutenant
Thurber, and Thompson's Ninth Indiana Battery, constituted the artillery
of the division.
The cavalry consisted of the Fifth Ohio, Fourth and Eleventh Illinois,
Companies A and B, Second Illinois, under Captain Houghtaling, two
companies of regular cavalry under Lieutenant Powell, Stewart's
battalion, and Thielman's battalion. The Third Battalion of the Fifth
Ohio and the Third Battalion of the Eleventh Illinois remained with
Lewis Wallace. The rest of the cavalry was assigned to different
divisions, but the assignment was changed on April 5th.
The Fifth Ohio Cavalry, attached to Sherman's division till April 5th,
frequently made reconnoitring expeditions some miles to the front, and
frequently encountered parties of hostile cavalry. Thursday, April 3d,
General Sherman sent Buckland's brigade out on a reconnoissance on the
Corinth road, but with strict injunctions, in accordance with General
Halleck's repeated order, not to be drawn into a fight with any
considerable force of the enemy, that would risk bringing on a general
engagement. Buckland marched to the fork of the road about five miles
out, which must have been at Mickey's. General Hardee states that
Mickey's is about eight miles from the landing. Posting the brigade
between the roads, he sent two companies out on each road. Both
encountered hostile cavalry, understood to be pickets, within half a
mile, began skirmishing with them, and saw a larger body of cavalry
beyond. The companies were recalled, and the brigade reached camp a
little before dark and reported. Next day, Friday, the 4th, a cavalry
dash on Buckland's picket-line swooped off a lieutenant and seven men.
General Buckland, who was near, sent information to Sherman, who sent
out 150 cavalry. Major Crockett, who was drilling his regiment near by,
sent a company to scout beyond the picket-line. Major Crockett was sent
by General Buckland with another company, to bring the first one back.
Before long firing was heard, Buckland started with a battalion to the
rescue, found the second company had been attacked and Major Crockett
captured, pushed on a distance estimated at two miles, attacked unseen a
body of cavalry just about to charge upon the first company, was
reinforced by the cavalry sent out by Sherman, pursued the hostile
cavalry a distance estimated another mile, came in view of artillery and
infantry, was fired on by the artillery, returned bringing in ten
prisoners, and found General Sherman at the picket-posts with a brigade
in line. The same evening, in obedience to an order from General
Sherman, Buckland sent him a written report. This advance was the attack
upon Cleburne's brigade reported by General Hardee.
Saturday the cavalry were moving camps, in obedience to the order of
reassignment. Batteries were moving about under the same order. Buckland
and Hildebrand anxiously visited their picket-lines and observed the
parties of hostile cavalry hovering in the woods beyond. Some of the men
on picket claimed they had seen infantry. Captain Mason of the
Seventy-seventh Ohio, on picket, observed at daylight, Saturday morning,
numbers of rabbits and squirrels scudding from the woods to and across
his picket-line. General Sherman was advised, but he had no cavalry to
send out; the Fifth had gone, and the Fourth not yet reported. He
enjoined Buckland and Hildebrand to be vigilant, strengthen their
pickets, and be prepared for attack. Additional companies were sent out
to increase the pickets, Buckland established a connecting line of
sentries from the picket reserve to camp, to communicate the first alarm
on the picket-line, and instructed his officers to be prepared for a
night attack.
Saturday afternoon, General Prentiss, in consequence of information
received from his advance guard, sent Colonel Moore, of the Twenty-first
Missouri, with three companies from his regiment, to reconnoitre the
front. The line of his march being oblique to the line of the camp, led
him out beyond the front of Sherman's line. He marched in that direction
three miles, saw nothing, and returned to camp. The oblique direction of
his march prevented his running into Hardee's lines. Prentiss, assured
there was some activity--a cavalry reconnoissance in his front--pushed
his pickets out a mile and a half and reinforced them. McClernand, the
same day, went out with Colonel McPherson and a battalion of cavalry on
a reconnoissance toward Hamburg and a short distance out on the road to
Corinth, and saw a few hostile scouts back of Hamburg.
General Lewis Wallace's reconnoitring parties developed the presence of
a considerable force at Purdy and Bethel, on the railroad. Getting
information, Friday night, of signs of preparation for movement by this
force, an order was sent to the brigade at Adamsville to form line at
daybreak. The other brigades reached Adamsville at an early hour, and
all remained prepared to repel attack till noon. The activity observed
at Purdy and Bethel was, in fact, Cheatham's preparation for his march,
Saturday, to his position in General Polk's line. General Grant being
advised, Friday, by L. Wallace, of the assembling of the force in his
front, directed W.H.L. Wallace to hold his division in readiness to move
to the support of L. Wallace immediately in case he should be
threatened; and advised Sherman to instruct his pickets to be on the
alert, and to be ready to move in support with his whole division, and
with Hurlbut's if necessary, if an attack on L. Wallace should be
attempted. W.H.L. Wallace and Sherman commanded, by their respective
positions, the bridges across Owl Creek, over which passed the two roads
from the camps at Pittsburg Landing to L. Wallace.
Saturday, Sherman wrote to Grant: "All is quiet along my lines now. We
are in the act of exchanging cavalry, according to your orders. The
enemy has cavalry in our front, and I think there are two regiments of
infantry and one battery of artillery about six miles out. I will send
you in ten prisoners of war, and a report of last night's affair, in a
few minutes.
"Your note is just received. I have no doubt that nothing will occur
to-day, more than some picket-firing. The enemy is saucy, but got the
worst of it yesterday, and will not press our pickets far. I will not be
drawn out far, unless with certainty of advantage; and I do not
apprehend anything like an attack upon our position." A little later in
the day, General Sherman wrote to Grant: "I infer that the enemy is in
some considerable force at Pea Ridge [another name for Monterey]; that
yesterday they crossed a bridge with two regiments of infantry, one
regiment of cavalry, and one battery of field-artillery, to the ridge on
which the Corinth road lays. They halted the infantry and artillery at a
point about five miles in my front, and sent a detachment to the house
of General Meeks, on the north of Owl Creek, and the cavalry down toward
our camp. This cavalry captured a part of our advance pickets, and
afterward engaged two companies of Colonel Buckland's regiment, as
described by him in his report herewith enclosed. Our cavalry drove them
back upon their artillery and infantry, killing many and bringing ten
prisoners (all of the First Alabama Cavalry), whom I send you." General
Grant on the same day despatched to General Halleck: "Just as my letter
of yesterday to Captain McLean, Assistant Adjutant-General, was
finished, notes from Generals McClernand's and Sherman's assistant
adjutant-generals were received, stating that our outposts had been
attacked by the enemy, apparently in considerable force. I immediately
went up, but found all quiet. The enemy took two officers and four or
five of our men prisoners, and wounded four. We took eight prisoners and
killed several. Number of the enemy's wounded not known. They had with
them three pieces of artillery, and cavalry and infantry. How much
cannot, of course, be estimated. I have scarcely the faintest idea of an
attack (general one) being made upon us, but will be prepared should
such a thing take place. General Nelson's division has arrived. The
other two, of Buell's column, will arrive to-morrow or next day. It is
my present intention to send them to Hamburg, some four miles above
Pittsburg, when they all get here. From that point to Corinth the road
is good, and a junction can be formed with the troops from Pittsburg at
almost any point. Colonel McPherson has gone with an escort to-day to
examine the defensibility of the ground about Hamburg, and to lay out
the position of the camp, if advisable to occupy that place." Earlier on
the same day General Grant also telegraphed to General Halleck: "The
main force of the enemy is at Corinth, with troops at different points
east. Small garrisons are also at Bethel, Jackson, and Humboldt. The
number at these places seems constantly to change. The number of the
enemy at Corinth, and within supporting distance of it, cannot be far
from eighty thousand men." General Halleck was preparing to leave St.
Louis and come to the front to take immediate command of the combined
army for the march on to Corinth. He advised Buell he would leave in the
beginning of the coming week.
CHAPTER VI.
SHILOH--SUNDAY.
Three companies of the Twenty-fifth Missouri, which regiment formed the
right of Colonel Peabody's brigade, Prentiss' division, were sent out on
reconnoissance about three o'clock in the morning of Sunday, April 6th.
Following the road cautiously in a south-westerly direction, oblique to
the line of the camp, they struck the enemy's pickets in front of
General Sherman's division. General Johnston, at breakfast with his
staff, hearing the fire of the encounter, turned to Colonel Preston and
to Captain Munford, and directed them to note the hour in their blank
books. It was just fourteen minutes after five o'clock.
Order was given to advance. To communicate the order along the line
required time. General Beauregard says the advance began at half-past
five. The three companies struck a battalion under Major Hardcastle, on
Hardee's picket-line. Major Hardcastle was posted on picket with a
battalion of the Third Mississippi, a quarter of a mile in front of
Wood's brigade, Hardee's corps. Lieutenant McNulty was posted with a
small party, one hundred yards, and Lieutenant Hammock with another
small party, two hundred yards, in front of the centre of the battalion.
Cavalry videttes were still farther to the front. The Major reports:
"About dawn, the cavalry videttes fired three shots, wheeled and
galloped back. Lieutenant Hammock suffered the enemy to approach within
ninety yards. Their line seemed to be three hundred and fifty yards
long, and to number about one thousand. He fired upon them and joined
his battalion with his men. Lieutenant McNulty received the enemy with
his fire at about one hundred yards, and then joined his battalion with
his men, when the videttes rode back to my main position. At the first
alarm my men were in line and all ready. I was on a rise of ground, men
kneeling. The enemy opened a heavy fire on us at a distance of about two
hundred yards, but most of the shots passed over us. We returned the
fire immediately and kept it up. Captain Clare, aide to General Wood,
came and encouraged us. We fought the enemy an hour or more, without
giving an inch. Our loss in this engagement was: killed, four privates;
severely wounded, one sergeant, one corporal, and eight privates;
slightly wounded, the color-sergeant and nine privates. At about 6.30
A.M. I saw the brigade formed in my rear, and I fell back."
At six o'clock, Colonel Moore, of the Twenty-first Missouri, also of
Peabody's brigade, was directed by General Prentiss to move out with
five companies to support the pickets. About half a mile from camp he
met the three companies of the Twenty-fifth returning. Despatching the
wounded on to camp, and sending for the rest of his regiment, he halted
with the detachment of the Twenty-fifth till joined by his remaining
five companies. So reinforced, he continued his advance three hundred
yards, met the advance of Shaver's brigade, halted on the edge of a
field, and repulsed it. Colonel Moore being wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel
Van Horn took command, and was further reinforced; after an engagement
of half an hour, was overpowered and fell back to the support of the
brigade.
According to General Bragg's report, Johnston's line of battle, after
marching less than a mile beyond the scene of the first attack made by
the three companies of the Twenty-fifth Missouri, came upon the
strengthened National pickets, which he calls advanced posts. These fell
back fighting. The army advanced steadily another mile, pushing back the
fighting pickets, and then encountered the National troops "in strong
force almost along the entire line. His batteries were posted on
eminences, with strong infantry supports. Finding the first line was now
unequal to the work before it, being weakened by extension, and
necessarily broken by the nature of the ground, I ordered my whole force
to move up steadily and promptly to its support."
Thus opened the battle of Shiloh. A combat made up of numberless
separate encounters of detached portions of broken lines, continually
shifting position and changing direction in the forest and across
ravines, filling an entire day, is almost incapable of a connected
narrative. As the first shock of the meeting lines of battle was near
the right of the National line, an intelligible account may be given by
describing the action of the divisions of Grant's army separately,
beginning with the right, or Sherman's.
The direction of General Johnston's advance was such as to bring him
first in contact with Sherman's left and Prentiss's right. To preserve
even an approximate alignment of a line of battle of two miles front,
marching with artillery, through wet forest, over rough, yet soft
ground, with regiments in column doubled on the centre, the advance was
necessarily slow. The reports show that portions of the second line,
instead of keeping the prescribed distance of eight hundred yards in
rear of the first, overtook it, and had to halt to regain the distance.
The National pickets, posted a mile in front of the camps, were struck
about half-past six o'clock Colonel J. Thompson, aide-de-camp to General
Beauregard, in his report to his chief, says: "The first cannon was
discharged on our left at seven o'clock, which was followed by a rapid
discharge of musketry. About 7.30 I rode forward with Colonel Jordan to
the front, to ascertain how the battle was going. Then I learned from
General Johnston that General Hardee's line was within half a mile of
the enemy's camps, and bore from General Johnston a message that he
advised sending forward strong reinforcements to our left. From eight
o'clock to 8.30 the cannonading was very heavy along the whole line, but
especially in the centre, which was in the line of their camps. About
ten o'clock you moved forward with your staff and halted within about
half a mile of the enemy's camps."
[Illustration: The Field of Shiloh.]
SHERMAN'S DIVISION.
The Seventy-seventh Ohio, of Hildebrand's brigade, was ordered the
evening before to go out to See's, Sunday morning, and reinforce the
picket reserve stationed there, and was up early Sunday morning. General
Buckland, having slept little in the night, rose early. While at
breakfast he received word that the pickets were heavily attacked, and
were falling back toward camp. He at once had the long-roll sounded, and
his brigade formed on the color-line. He rode over to General Sherman's
headquarters, a few hundred yards off, and reported the facts.
Meanwhile, the brigades of Hildebrand and McDowell formed on their
respective color-lines. The division was formed--Taylor's battery on a
rising ground in front of Shiloh Church; Hildebrand's brigade to its
left, the Seventy-seventh Ohio being next to the battery, and four guns
of Waterhouse's battery placed between the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-third
Ohio--the Fifty-third detached and forming the extreme left. The other
two guns of Waterhouse's battery were advanced to the front beyond Oak
Creek. Buckland's brigade formed to the right of Taylor's battery, and
McDowell's still farther to the right, on the bluffs of Oak Creek, near
its junction with Owl Creek, and separated from Buckland by a lateral
ravine which opened into Oak Creek. Behr's battery was with McDowell.
One of its guns, with two companies of infantry, was stationed still
farther to the right, commanding the bridges over Oak Creek and Owl
Creek, immediately above their junction.
The advanced section of Waterhouse's battery fell back before an
approaching skirmish line and took position with the battery. General
Sherman rode to the front of the Fifty-third, to the edge of a ravine,
the continuation or source of Oak Creek, and saw, through the forest
beyond, Johnston's lines sweeping across his front toward his left. At
the same time, General Johnston was, a few hundred yards off, on the
other side of the ravine, putting General Hindman with one of his
brigades into position for attack. Hindman's skirmishers opened fire and
killed Sherman's orderly. Sherman's brigades advanced to the sloping of
the ravine of Oak Creek; Sherman had already sent word to General
McClernand asking for support to his left; to General Prentiss, giving
him notice that the enemy was in force in front; and to General Hurlbut,
asking him to support Prentiss.
The first line of Johnston's army, commanded by General Hardee, opened,
widening the intervals between brigades as it advanced. The two brigades
commanded by General Hindman, having less rough ground to traverse,
outstripped General Cleburne. Hindman's own brigade, commanded by
Colonel Shaver, inclining to the right, struck Prentiss' right. General
Hindman in person, with Wood's brigade, came to the front of the
Fifty-third Ohio. General Johnston, having put it in position, rode back
to Cleburne and moved his brigade to Buckland's front. The battle
opened. The Fifty-third Ohio, detached by the position of its camp from
the rest of Hildebrand's brigade, being off to the left and farther to
the front, was first engaged. According to the report of
Lieutenant-Colonel Fulton, the advancing line of Wood's brigade having
twice recoiled before the fire of the regiment, Colonel Appler cried out
to his men to fall back and save themselves. The regiment retired in
confusion behind McClernand's Third Brigade, which had come up in
support; but, soon rallied by the Lieutenant-Colonel and Adjutant Dawes,
it returned to the front to the bank of the stream. The colonel
reappeared and again ordered a retreat. The regiment was now fatally
broken. Adjutant Dawes, however, rallied two companies and attached them
to the Seventeenth Illinois, of McClernand's Third Brigade, while a
considerable detachment joined the Seventy-seventh Ohio, then commanded
by Major Fearing. In the afternoon, Lieutenant-Colonel Fulton, with the
greater part of the regiment reunited, acted as support to Bouton's
battery.
General Patton Anderson, with his brigade, and Captain Hodgson's battery
of the Washington Artillery, pressed forward from Johnston's second
line, commanded by General Bragg, into the gap between Hindman and
Cleburne. Posting his battery on high ground, he advanced his brigade
down into the wet and bushy valley of Oak Creek, and charged up the
slope. Taylor's battery and the Fifty-seventh and Seventy-seventh Ohio
instantly drove him back. His regiments, not discouraged, charged
singly, and when broken, charged by battalion, but could not withstand
the fire, and as often fell back. General Johnston, who had passed on
toward his right, dispatched two brigades, Russell's and Johnson's, from
the third line, commanded by General Polk, to aid the assault. General
Beauregard moved them to his right, beyond Hindman, to attack
McClernand.
Meanwhile, Cleburne, forming the extreme left of Hardee's line, with his
brigade of six regiments and two batteries engaged Buckland. The valley
of Oak Creek is there wider, deeper, and boggy. The slope, crowned by
Buckland's brigade, was steep and bushy. A bend in its course gave some
companies of the Seventieth Ohio an enfilading fire. Cleburne's
regiments, tangled in the morass, struggled with uneven front up the
wooded ascent, only to be driven back by Buckland's steady fire.
Reforming, they charged again, to meet another repulse. The regiments,
broken, disordered, and commingled, persisted in the vain endeavor, only
to encounter heavier losses. The Sixth Mississippi lost 300 killed and
wounded out of a total of 425. More than one-third of the brigade were
killed and wounded. Pond's brigade, of Bragg's corps, came up in
support, but paused on the wooded bank, and did not attempt to cross
this valley of death.
McClernand's other brigades, which were to the left of the Third, after
some very sharp fighting, fell back. The long line of Wood's brigade
then largely outreached Colonel Raith's left flank. Raith refused his
left regiments. Wood's brigade wheeled to their left, confronting
Raith's new line. Waterhouse's battery, being taken on the flank, was
limbering up to withdraw, when Major Taylor ordered it into action
again. Raith's regiments gave way. Wood's brigade charged on
Waterhouse's battery, capturing three of its guns. Captain Waterhouse
and two lieutenants being wounded, Lieutenant Fitch, by order of Major
Taylor, retired to the river with the two pieces that were saved sound.
The Fifty-seventh and Seventy-seventh Ohio being now assailed on the
flank by Wood's advance, fell back in disorder. Anderson's brigade then
gathered itself up, emerged from the wet borders of the creek, and
gained the plateau in front of Hildebrand's camps. Buckland's rear was
now commanded by a hostile battery and threatened by Wood's brigade.
General Sherman at ten o'clock ordered his division to take position to
the rear along the Purdy road. Barrett's battery, moving back by the
Corinth road, came into position with McClernand's division in its
second position. McDowell's brigade had not yet been engaged, and to get
into the new position merely shifted his line to the left along the
road. Buckland moved back through his camp in order, his wagons carrying
off his dead and wounded and such baggage as they could hold. The
greater part of the Seventy-seventh Ohio, commanded by Major Fearing,
together with some companies of the Fifty-seventh, held by
Lieutenant-Colonel Rice, and some companies of the Fifty-third,
represented Hildebrand's brigade. Colonel Hildebrand finding his command
so reduced, served part of the day on McClernand's staff, but returned
to General Sherman in the evening. Colonel Crafts Wright, commanding the
Thirteenth Missouri in W.H.L. Wallace's division, was ordered in the
morning to take a designated position on the Purdy road. This brought
him on the left of General Sherman's new line. The remnant of
Hildebrand's brigade formed on Wright's left and operated with him.
Meanwhile General Grant, at breakfast at Savannah, nine miles below
Pittsburg Landing by river, but six miles in an air-line, heard the
firing. He at once sent an order to General Nelson to march his division
up the river to opposite Pittsburg; and, not aware that General Buell
had arrived the previous evening, sent a letter out to meet him,
advising him of the order given to Nelson and explaining the reason for
not waiting in person for his arrival. Steaming up the river, he
stopped at Crump's Landing at eight o'clock and directed Lewis Wallace
to hold his division in readiness to move. Arrived at Pittsburg Landing,
Colonel Pride, of his staff, at once organized ammunition trains, which
were busy all day supplying the troops at the front. The Twenty-third
Missouri, just arrived by boat, he hurried out to reinforce Prentiss.
The Fifteenth Iowa, just arrived, and the Sixteenth, sent by Prentiss to
the landing for ammunition, he directed to form line, arrest the tide of
stragglers from the front, and organize them to return. Riding to the
front, he found General Sherman a little before ten o'clock in his
hottest engagement, still holding the enemy at bay in front of his camp;
told him that Wallace would come up from Crump's Landing; sent word to
Wallace to move; to Nelson, to hasten his movements; returned to the
landing, dispatched the two Iowa regiments to reinforce McClernand, and
proceeded to visit the other divisions in the field.
The loaded wagons of McDowell's brigade, hurrying to the rear along the
Purdy road, interfered with the formation of Sherman's new line. Behr's
battery, galloping to the position assigned to it--the centre of the
line--added to the difficulty. This battery was hardly in position and
under fire before Captain Behr was killed, and the men abandoned their
guns, fleeing from the field with the caissons. The line so disordered
and broken was hard pressed by the enemy, and Sherman selected another
line of defence, to his left and rear, connecting with McClernand's
right. McDowell, nearly cut off by the enemy's pressing through the gap
left by Behr's men, brought the remaining gun of this battery from its
position near the bridge, and by a rapid fire pressed back the advance.
His regiments became separated while struggling through dense thickets
to the new position. The Fortieth Illinois found itself marching by the
flank, with a deep ravine along its left, and a confederate regiment
marching in parallel course not far to its right. Thus cut off, the
Fortieth formed with its rear to the ravine, with a desperate effort
drove its dangerous companion out of the way, and, pushing through the
timber, came into a valley in rear of McClernand.
Not all the force engaged in the two hours' fight in front of Sherman's
camp followed him to his new position. Cleburne had difficulty in
reforming his shattered command. The remnant of the Sixth Mississippi
marched to the rear under command of the senior surviving captain,
disabled for further service. The fragment of the Twenty-Third Tennessee
remaining near Cleburne was sent to the rear to hunt up the portions
that had broken from it in the contest. Cleburne, proceeding for his
other regiments, was stopped by General Hardee about noon, and directed
to collect and bring into action the stragglers who were thronging in
the captured camps. With the aid of cavalry he gathered up an
unorganized multitude; but, finding he could do nothing with them, he
resumed the search for his remaining regiments. About two o'clock he
found the Fifth and Twenty-fourth Tennessee and Fifteenth Arkansas
"halted under the brow of an abrupt hill." The Second Tennessee had
moved to the rear, and did not rejoin the brigade during the battle.
Cleburne was not again severely engaged during the day. Colonel Pond
kept his brigade, in pursuance of General Bragg's order, watching the
crossings of Owl Creek.
But the brigades of Anderson and Wood pressed on. Trabue's heavy brigade
of five regiments, two battalions and two batteries, had been detached
from the reserve at Beauregard's request for reinforcements, and sent by
Johnston to his extreme left. Skirting Owl Creek, he came in full force
upon Sherman's right flank, at half-past twelve o'clock. McDowell's two
remaining regiments, the Sixth Iowa and Forty-sixth Ohio, were quickly
moved to confront Trabue. The Forty-sixth Ohio was more alert in
movement, and opened a hot fire before Trabue was completely deployed
and in position. A steady combat through the timber and underbrush, and
across the ravines, lasted an hour and a half. The Sixth Iowa lost 51
killed and 120 wounded; the Forty-sixth Ohio, losing fewer killed, but
more wounded--34 killed, 150 wounded, and 52 taken prisoners--was quite
shattered, and took no further part in the battle. Colonel Trabue's
estimate of the character of the fighting at this point appears from his
statement that his command in this encounter killed and wounded four or
five hundred of the Forty-Sixth Ohio alone. It appears also from his
report, which has never been officially published, but which is printed
in the "History of the First Kentucky Brigade," that, of the 844
casualties in the brigade in the two days' battle, 534 were in the four
regiments engaged in this encounter. Sherman readjusted his line,
resting his right on a deep ravine running to Owl Creek, and keeping his
left in connection with McClernand. Trabue was reinforced by General
A.P. Stewart and part of his brigade, and a part of Anderson's brigade
which had been resting in a ravine in the rear. The struggle lasted with
varying intensity and alternate success.
There were charges and countercharges, ground was lost and regained; but
the general result was a recession of the battered division to the left
and rear. About four o'clock, during a lull, Sherman moved his reduced
command still farther in the same direction, and took position so as to
cover the road by which Lewis Wallace was to arrive. Here, with an open
field in front, he was not further molested, and here he bivouacked for
the night. At this point, Captain Hickenlooper, who had been engaged
all day in the sturdy defence made by Prentiss, joined Sherman with his
battery. Buckland, rejoined by the Seventieth Ohio, was ordered, late in
the afternoon, to take his brigade to the bridge over Snake Creek, by
which Lewis Wallace was expected. From this point the Forty-eighth Ohio
marched to the landing for ammunition, and was there detained as a
portion of the force supporting the reserve artillery till next morning.
The bridge appearing free from risk, Buckland returned to the place of
bivouac, constituting the right of Sherman's line. The Thirteenth
Missouri became separated from the division in the last struggle, was
incorporated for the night in Colonel Marsh's collection of regiments,
constituting for the night McClernand's right. The position of the
Thirteenth during the night was close by the headquarter tents of
General McArthur, of W.H.L. Wallace's division. The Fifty-third Ohio
bivouacked with the Eighty-first Ohio, in front of the camp of the
Second Iowa, in Tuttle's brigade of W.H. Wallace's division. McDowell's
brigade had disappeared from the division. Portions of the Fifty-seventh
and Seventy-seventh Ohio, with Lieutenant-Colonel Rice and Major
Fearing, were still with Sherman, and formed the left of his line in the
bivouac.
McCLERNAND.
The Forty-third Illinois, of McClernand's brigade, being out by
permission, Sunday morning, to discharge their pieces, which had been
loaded since they marched to the picket-line, Friday evening, distant
firing was heard. This being reported to General McClernand, he sent an
order to Colonel Reardon to hold the brigade in readiness for action.
Colonel Reardon, being confined to bed by illness, directed Colonel
Raith to assume command. There was some delay in getting the brigade
formed, owing to the sudden change of commanders and to the incredulity
of the officers in some of the regiments as to the reality of an attack.
The brigade being at length formed, advanced, and took position, with
its right near Waterhouse's battery--its line making an angle with
Sherman's line, so as to throw the left of the brigade upon and along
Oak Creek. Colonel Marsh, of the Twentieth Illinois, heard considerable
musketry on the left of the National camp. This continuing without
material interruption for some time, he ordered regimental commanders to
be in readiness to form, and soon after received an order from General
McClernand to form the brigade. Soon after the brigade was formed an
order was received to advance to the support of General Sherman, who was
reported to be heavily attacked. The brigade moved to the left to a
position assigned by General McClernand. The First Brigade was ordered
to form three regiments on the left of the Second, and to post one
regiment, the Eleventh Iowa, in reserve in rear of the right of Colonel
Marsh's brigade. The alignment of the Third Brigade, by Colonel Raith
throwing his left too far to the front, so as to be exposed to a flank
attack and also to cover Colonel Marsh's right, Colonel Raith wheeled
his left to the rear to connect with Marsh. The right of McClernand's
division, as thus formed, connected with Sherman, but the left was
uncovered.
General Johnston sent two brigades from Polk's corps, Colonel Russell's
and General B.R. Johnson's, to reinforce his extreme left. General
Beauregard, who had taken immediate command on the Confederate left,
sent them farther to his right, and they went into position on the left
of Wood's brigade. Two regiments of Russell's brigade formed on the left
of Wood; the rest were marched by General Clark, the division
commander, still farther to the right. Three of General Johnson's
regiments formed on the right of Russell's two, while General Bragg
moved Johnson's remaining two regiments off to his right, to another
attack. The assault on Colonel Marsh was made with great fury. In five
minutes most of the field officers in the brigade were killed or
wounded. The enemy's fire seemed especially directed at Burrow's
battery, posted in the centre of Marsh's brigade, all the horses of
which were killed or disabled. The colonel and lieutenant-colonel of the
Forty-eighth Illinois being wounded and taken off the field, the
regiment finally became disorganized and retired in disorder. The other
regiments fell back. The battery was lost. The first brigade, which had
not been severely engaged, next retired in some disorder. The Third
Brigade, being now enfiladed and turned on its left flank, Colonel Raith
refused his left regiment, and was himself soon mortally wounded. Wood's
brigade then wheeling to its left and advancing, the Third Brigade fell
back, leaving Waterhouse's battery on the flank of Sherman's division
exposed.
The division formed again, its right connected with Sherman's left on
the Purdy road. When Sherman fell back from the Purdy road, McClernand
adjusted his right to connect again with Sherman's left. While his right
connected still with Sherman, his left for a while almost joined W.H.L.
Wallace in the position which he had assumed, and, when pushed back
still farther, his left was yet to some extent protected by the
character of the ground, rough, intersected by ravines, and dotted with
impenetrable thickets that intervened between it and W.H.L. Wallace.
McAllister's battery, and Schwartz's battery commanded by Lieutenant
Nispel, were reinforced by Taylor's battery, commanded by Captain
Barrett, brought over from Sherman, and by Dresser's battery, commanded
by Captain Timony.
A determined and desperate struggle ensued, which lasted, with
occasional intermissions, till late in the afternoon. Shaver's brigade,
which, after a severe and protracted contest, had overcome Peabody's
brigade of Prentiss' division, was ordered to the attack upon the left
of McClernand's line. Advancing across a wide and open field, he
encountered so hot a fire in front and on his right flank, that his
brigade recoiled back to the shelter of timber and halted paralyzed,
till later in the day he was ordered to attack in another quarter.
General B.R. Johnson was wounded, and his brigade so severely handled
that it retreated from the field, leaving its battery, Polk's, behind.
McClernand's whole division advanced in line, pushing the enemy back
half a mile through and beyond his camp. This success was only
temporary. Changing front to meet fresh attacks, refusing first one
flank, then the other, clinging desperately to his camp, but, on the
whole, shifting slowly back from one position to another, he formed, in
the afternoon, in the edge of timber on the border of an open field, and
here, during a pause of half an hour, supplied his command with
ammunition. The respite was followed by a more furious assault. Falling
back from his camp toward the river, to the farther side of a deep
ravine running north and south, being the continuation of the valley or
ravine of Brier Creek, he formed his line, facing west with wings
refused, the centre being the apex, and still connecting on the right
with the remnant of Sherman's division. Several fitful onslaughts at
intervals forced McClernand to refuse his left still farther.
The swinging around of McClernand's left, while he receded in a general
direction toward the northeast, left a wide interval between his command
and W.H.L. Wallace. The force which had been massed against him and
Sherman had been diminished by detachments sent to aid in the attack
against W.H.L. Wallace and Prentiss. The remainder drifted through the
gap to Wallace's rear. Pond's brigade, to which had been assigned the
special duty of guarding along Owl Creek against any advance around
Johnston's left flank, constituted the extreme Confederate left. This
brigade had been very little under fire during the day. The battery
attached to it, Ketchum's, was now detached to aid in the assault upon
Wallace's front. Pond, with three Louisiana regiments of his brigade,
was directed to move to the left along the deep ravine which McClernand
had crossed, and silence one of McClernand's batteries. Trabue's
brigade, which had been struggling through the tangled forest covering
rough ground, separated by a lateral ravine from the ground in rear of
Wallace and Prentiss, through the dense thickets of which ravine no
command had been able to penetrate, was just emerging from the forest,
and crossing the Brier Creek ravine toward Hurlbut's camp. Trabue's men,
catching sight of the blue uniform of Pond's Louisiana regiments, fired
upon them. This being silenced, Pond's brigade continued down the
ravine, and up a lateral ravine toward the river, Colonel Mouton's
Eighteenth Louisiana in advance. As they neared the position the battery
withdrew, unmasking a line of infantry. A murderous fire was opened by
this line. Pond's brigade faltered, recoiled, withdrew; the Eighteenth
Louisiana, according to Colonel Mouton's report, leaving 207 dead and
wounded in the ravine.
This was the final attack on the National right. But scarcely was this
over before Hurlbut's command came falling back through his camp, pushed
on by Bragg and Breckenridge. W.H.L. Wallace's regiments, finding the
force which had been contending with Sherman and McClernand closing on
their rear, faced about and fought to their rear; some regiments
succeeded in cutting their way through and streamed toward their camp.
This sudden, tumultuous uproar, far in the rear of the day's conflict,
infected McClernand's command, and a large part of it broke in disorder.
The broken line was partially rallied and moved back to what McClernand
designates as his eighth position taken in the course of the day, and
here he bivouacked for the night, his right joining the left of
Sherman's bivouac; the left swung back so as to make an acute angle with
it. Colonel Marsh formed the right of the line. His "command having been
reduced to a merely nominal one" in the afternoon, he had been sent back
across the Brier Creek ravine before the rest of the division, to form a
new line, arrest all stragglers, and detain all unattached fragments.
Colonel Davis, with the Forty-sixth Illinois, was resting in front of
their camp in Veatch's brigade, Hurlbut's division, but on Colonel
Marsh's request took position on Marsh's right; McClernand, when he fell
back, formed the rest of his command on Marsh's left. The line consisted
of the Forty-sixth, Forty-eighth, Twentieth, Seventeenth, Forty-ninth,
Forty-third, and Forty-fifth Illinois, the Thirteenth Missouri, and the
Fifty-third and Eighty-first Ohio. The Forty-sixth Illinois lay in front
of its camp, being the right of Veatch's brigade camp, Hurlbut's
division. The Forty-eighth and Twentieth lay on its left. The
Seventeenth, Forty-ninth, and Forty-third moved around to connect with
Sherman's left. The position of the Forty-third was between the bivouac
of the Forty-sixth Illinois and the Thirteenth Missouri, and midway
between the camp of the Ninth Illinois of McArthur's brigade, W.H.L.
Wallace's division, and the camp of the Forty-sixth Illinois. The
Fifty-third and Eighty-first Ohio were in front of the camp of the
Second Iowa, Tuttle's Brigade, W.H.L. Wallace's division. Colonel
Crocker, Thirteenth Iowa, who had assumed command of the First Brigade
on the wounding of Colonel Hare, bivouacked with his regiment in front
of the camp of the Fourteenth Iowa, Tuttle's brigade. The Eighth and
Eighteenth Illinois spent the night with the reserve artillery.
Colonel Veatch, commanding Hurlbut's Second Brigade, formed his command
at half-past seven o'clock in the morning, and was shortly after ordered
to march to the support of Sherman. He reached a point not well defined,
between nine and ten o'clock, and was placed in reserve. He soon became
hotly engaged on McClernand's left. His two right regiments, the
Fifteenth and Forty-sixth Illinois, became separated from Colonel Veatch
with the other two regiments, and then separated from each other. The
Forty-sixth aided the Sixth Iowa and Forty-sixth Ohio in their desperate
struggle with Trabue, and after continual engagements, being forced back
to within half a mile of its camp, repaired thither about two o'clock
and had a comfortable dinner. The Fifteenth suffered severely. The
lieutenant-colonel and the major, the only field-officers with the
regiment, were killed, two captains were killed and one wounded, one
lieutenant was killed and six wounded. Colonel Veatch, with the
Twenty-fifth Indiana and Fourteenth Illinois, continued fighting and
manoeuvring with skill and determination till the retreating division
of Hurlbut passed along his rear. Colonel Veatch then reported to
Hurlbut, and formed part of his line of defence in support of the
reserve artillery at the close of the day.
PRENTISS AND W.H.L. WALLACE.
Prentiss' division in the front line, and W.H.L. Wallace's on the
plateau between the river and Brier Creek, were more widely separated in
camp than any other two divisions; but in the contest of Sunday they
operated together.
Colonel Moore, of the Twenty-first Missouri, being wounded early in the
encounter with the Confederate advance, Lieutenant-Colonel Woodyard took
command of the regiment, together with the accompanying detachment of
the Twenty-fifth Missouri and four companies of the Sixteenth Wisconsin,
sent out the night before to reinforce the pickets. Pushed by Shaver's
brigade, he fell back after a struggle on the edge of a field to the
farther side of a narrow ridge, about half a mile from camp, where he
was joined by Colonel Peabody with the rest of the brigade. After a
contest of half an hour, Shaver was repulsed and fell back. General A.S.
Johnston observing men dropping out of the ranks of the retreating
brigade, rallied it himself and ordered it to renew the attack. Peabody
recoiled under the fresh onset, and, falling back, took his place,
constituting the right of the line of battle of the division formed a
quarter of a mile in advance of the camp.
Gladden's brigade, forming part of Bragg's corps, on the second line of
Johnston's army, was moved forward to extend the right of Hardee on the
first line, when, by the divergence of Lick Creek from Owl Creek,
Hardee's line became inadequate to fill the distance between them. The
line of Johnston's advance being oblique to the line of Prentiss' front,
Gladden arrived in front of Prentiss' left after Shaver had become
engaged with Peabody. Colonel Adams, who took command of the brigade
upon the death of General Gladden, and who made the full report of the
brigade, says they arrived in position at eight o'clock. Colonel Deas,
who took command when Adams was wounded, says they arrived a little
after seven. Colonel Loomis, who was in command on the return to
Corinth, says in his report, made April 13th, that the engagement of
this brigade began at half-past seven. Wheeling to the left and
deploying into line, the brigade moved confidently forward. Gladden was
mortally wounded and his command fell back in confusion. General
Johnston ordered it to return to the attack, but, on inspecting its
condition, countermanded the order.
Chalmers' brigade, coming up from the second line, made an impetuous
charge. Jackson's brigade, which followed in rear of Chalmers, moved
forward and joined in the attack. Prentiss fell back and made a stand
immediately in front of his camp. After a gallant but short struggle,
his division, about nine o'clock, gave way and fell back through his
camp, leaving behind Powell's guns and caissons and two of
Hickenlooper's guns, all the horses of Hickenlooper's two guns being
killed. The line was broken and disordered by the tents. The
Twenty-fifth Missouri, and portions of other regiments drifted to the
rear. On the summit of a slope, covered by dense thicket, not far to the
rear of his camp, Prentiss rallied the Eighteenth and Twenty-first
Missouri, Twelfth Michigan, and Eighteenth Wisconsin. The Sixty-first
Illinois and Sixteenth Wisconsin were also rallied, but detached to form
in reserve to Hurlbut. The Twenty-third Missouri, arriving by boat at
the landing after the battle had begun, moved out at once and took
position in Prentiss' new line. In this position his left was near the
extreme southern head of the ravine of Brier Creek; thence his line
extended along an old, sunk, washed-out road running a little north of
west, and reached nearly to the Corinth road. Prentiss in person put
Hickenlooper's battery in position immediately to the right of the
Corinth road, near the intersection of the roads. Prentiss' men used the
road cut as a defence, lying down in it and firing from it. General
Grant, visiting Prentiss, approved the position and directed him to hold
it at all hazards. The order was obeyed. Continually assaulted by
successive brigades, he repelled every attack and held the position
till the close of the day.
General W.H.L. Wallace, commanding Smith's division, formed his
regiments at eight o'clock. Some of the regiments loaded their wagons
and received extra ammunition. At half-past eight o'clock the division
moved; McArthur with two of his regiments, the Ninth and Twelfth
Illinois, went to support Stuart's brigade at its isolated camp at the
extreme left of the National line, having sent the Thirteenth Missouri
to Sherman, and left the Fourteenth Missouri and Eighty-first Ohio to
guard the bridge over Snake Creek, on the Crump's Landing road. Wallace
led his other two brigades to the support of Prentiss, placing Tuttle on
Prentiss' right, and Sweeney to the right of Tuttle. Tuttle's left was
about one hundred yards to the right of the Corinth road, and the
division line extending northwestwardly behind a clear field, Sweeney's
right reached the head of a wide, deep ravine--called in some of the
Confederate reports a gorge--which ravine, filled with impenetrable
thickets, extended from his right far to his rear and ran into the
ravine of Brier Creek. Wallace added to the defence of this ravine by
posting sharpshooters along its border. General Wallace detached the
Eighth Iowa from Sweeney's brigade and placed it across the Corinth
road, filling the interval between the two divisions.
Wallace's line was barely formed when, at ten o'clock, Gladden's
brigade, now commanded by Colonel Adams, moved again against Prentiss.
Advancing slowly up the slight ascent through impeding thickets, against
an unseen foe, it encountered a blaze of fire from the summit, faltered,
wavered, hesitated, retreated, and withdrew out of range. A.P. Stewart
led his brigade against Wallace's front, was driven back, returned to
the assault, and was again hurled back; but still rallied, and moved
once more in vain, to be again sent in retreat.
The Confederates gave this fatal slope the name "The Hornet's Nest."
General Bragg ordered Gibson with his brigade to carry the position. The
fresh column charged gallantly, but the deadly line of musketry in
front, and an enfilading fire from the well-posted battery, mowed down
his ranks; and Gibson's brigade fell back discomfited. Gibson asked for
artillery. None was at hand. Bragg ordered him to charge again. The
colonels of the four regiments thought it hopeless. The order was given.
The brigade struggled up the tangled ascent; but once more met the
inexorable fire that hurled them back. Four times Gibson charged, and
was four times repulsed. Colonel Allen, of the Fourth Louisiana, one of
Gibson's regiments, rode back to General Bragg to repeat the request for
artillery. Stung by the answer, "Colonel Allen, I want no faltering
now," he returned to his regiment, led it in a desperate dash up the
slope, more persistent, and therefore more destructive, and returned
with the fragment of his command that was not left strewn upon the
hill-side. As the line of Sherman and McClernand continually contracted
as they fell back, the successive reinforcements pushed in toward the
left of the Confederate line gradually pressed Hindman's two
brigades--first wholly against McClernand's front, then against his
left, then beyond his line. These two brigades were then moved to the
front of W.H.L. Wallace. Flushed with victory, they advanced with
confidence. The same resistless fire wounded Hindman and drove back his
command. Led by General A.P. Stewart, the brigades gallantly advanced
again and rushed against the fatal fire, only to be shivered into
fragments that recoiled, to remain out of the contest for the rest of
the day.
The commander of the Confederate Army was killed farther to the right,
at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon. As the news of this loss
spread, there was a feeling of uncertainty and visible relaxation of
effort in parts of his command. In front of Prentiss and Wallace attack
was suspended about an hour.
Hickenlooper's four guns, standing at the salient where Prentiss and
Wallace joined, sweeping both fronts, had all day long been reaping
bloody harvests among the lines of assailants that strove to approach.
So near, yet so far; in plain view, yet out of reach, the little battery
exasperated the baffled brigades while it extorted their admiration.
General Ruggles sent his staff officers in all directions to sweep in
all the guns they could reach. He gives the names of eleven batteries
and one section which he planted in a great crescent, pouring in a
concentric fire. From this tornado of missiles Hickenlooper withdrew his
battery complete, and, passing to the rear through Hurlbut's camp,
reported to Sherman for further service.
The terrible fire of this artillery was supplemented by continued, but
desultory infantry attacks. The Crescent regiment of Louisiana essayed
to charge, but recoiled. Patton Anderson led his brigade up, but was
driven back. About four o'clock, Hurlbut, whose right had joined
Prentiss' left, finally gave way, and Bragg, following him, passed on to
the rear of Prentiss. By half-past four the fighting in front of Sherman
and McClernand had ceased, and Cheatham, Trabue, Johnson, and Russell,
finding that Wallace could not be approached across the dense tangle
filling the great ravine which protected his right, felt their way
unopposed to the plateau in his rear, meeting the combined force under
Bragg in front of Hurlbut's camp. General Polk collected in front of the
steadfast men of Prentiss and Wallace all the other troops within
reach, and at five o'clock, with one mighty effort, surged against their
line, now pounded by Ruggles' batteries.
When Hurlbut fell back, leaving Prentiss and Wallace entirely isolated,
these two commanders consulted and resolved to hold their position at
all hazards, and keep the enemy from passing on to the landing. But when
they became enveloped, almost encircled, the enemy having passed behind
them toward the landing and were closing upon the Corinth road in their
rear, Wallace ordered his command to retire and cut a way through.
Tuttle gave the order to his brigade, which faced about to the rear and
opened fire on the forces closing behind. The Second and Seventh Iowa,
led by Colonel Tuttle, charged, cut their way through, and marched to
the landing. The Twelfth and Fourteenth Iowa, lingering with the Eighth
Iowa to cover the retreat of Hickenlooper's battery, were too late, and
found themselves walled in. Colonel Baldwin, who had succeeded to the
command of the other brigade when Colonel Sweeney was wounded, brought
off part of his command; but two of his regiments, the Fifty-eighth
Illinois as well as the Eighth Iowa, were securely enclosed. Wallace
fell mortally wounded. Groups and squads of Prentiss' men succeeded in
making their way out before the circle wholly closed. Prentiss, with the
remaining fragments of the two divisions, facing the fire that
surrounded them, made a desperate struggle. But further resistance was
hopeless and was useless. Prentiss, having never swerved from the
position he was ordered to hold, having lost everything but honor,
surrendered the little band. According to his report, made after his
return from captivity, the number from both divisions surrendered with
him was 2,200. The statements vary as to the precise hour of the
surrender, and as to what command surrendered last. Colonel Shaw, of
the Fourteenth Iowa, who fought toward the rear before surrendering,
says that at the time he yielded he compared watches with his captor,
and both agreed it was about a quarter to six; he adds that the Eighth
and Twelfth Iowa and Fifty-eighth Illinois surrendered at about the same
time, and that the ground where they surrendered is about the spot
marked by three black dots in the fork of the Purdy and the Lower
Corinth roads, on Colonel George Thom's map of the field.
HURLBUT'S DIVISION.
It remains to describe the combat on the National left, where Hurlbut
with two of his brigades, supporting Stuart's isolated brigade of
Sherman's division and aided by two regiments of McArthur's brigade of
W.H.L. Wallace's division, resisted a part of Bragg's corps and the
reserves under General Breckenridge.
Colonel Stuart received word from Prentiss at half-past seven o'clock
that the enemy was advancing in force. Shortly after, his pickets sent
in word that the hostile column was in sight on the Bark road. He sent
his adjutant, Loomis, to General Hurlbut for assistance, but Hurlbut was
already in motion. Hurlbut, receiving notice from General Sherman, sent
Veatch's brigade to his aid. Soon after, getting a request for support
from Prentiss, he marched from his camp at twenty minutes after eight
o'clock, with his first brigade commanded by Colonel Williams, of the
Third Iowa, and his Third Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General
Lauman. Passing out by the Hamburg road, across the first small field
and through a belt of timber beyond that, and into the large field that
stretched to Stuart's camp, he formed the First Brigade in line near the
southern side of the field, the Forty-first Illinois on the left, and
the Third Iowa on the right. The Third Brigade, Lauman's, the
Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky forming the left, and the
Thirty-first and Forty-fourth Indiana the right, connected with
Prentiss' left, and was posted like it, protected in front with dense
thickets. General McArthur's two regiments appear to have operated on
Stuart's right. The Sixteenth Wisconsin and Sixty-first Illinois, from
Prentiss' division, formed in reserve in rear of the centre of Hurlbut's
line.
Colonel Stuart, finding Mann's battery, supported by the Forty-first
Illinois, coming to his aid and going into position by the headquarters
of one of his regiments, the Seventy-first Ohio, formed his line, the
Seventy-first Ohio and Fifty-fifth Illinois to the left of this battery
and facing nearly west, the Fifty-fourth Ohio at their left and facing
south. He sent four companies as skirmishers across the ravine to the
south of his camp, which discharges eastwardly into Lick Creek. His
skirmishers were unable to prevent the establishment of a hostile
battery on the heights beyond the ravine. While he was on the bank of
the ravine observing the enemy with his glass, Mann's battery, after
firing a few rounds at the hostile battery at a range of eleven hundred
yards, withdrew with the Forty-first Illinois back into the field, to
connect with their brigade. The Seventy-first Ohio, without orders, at
the same time retired. The Seventy-first Ohio was engaged in supporting
distance of the brigade in its first combat, though without the
knowledge of Colonel Stuart; but it was not with the brigade during the
rest of the day. The adjutant, however, returned with a score of men
after the regiment disappeared.
General Johnston, having personally seen the battle begun on his left
and centre, proceeded to reconnoitre the National right and try the
feasibility of turning it. Chalmers, called from his attack on Prentiss,
retired a short distance and halted half an hour, waiting for a guide
and further orders. He then marched directly south across the ravine
which runs eastwardly and debouches into Lick Run near the site of
Stuart's camp, and, advancing along the high land beyond, eastwardly
toward the river, arrived opposite Stuart's camp. Here the fire of the
skirmishers sent across the ravine by Stuart threw the Fifty-second
Tennessee into disorder. Chalmers, finding it impossible to rally more
than two companies of the regiment, ordered the remaining eight
companies out of the line, and they took no further part in the battle.
Here Chalmers halted half an hour while Clanton's cavalry reconnoitered
along the river. About ten o'clock, or a little later, Stuart having
withdrawn his two remaining regiments, the Fifty-fourth Ohio and
Fifth-fifth Illinois, back across the eastern extremity of the field to
the summit of a short, abrupt ascent in timber, Chalmers deployed his
brigade and advanced. The advantage of position partially compensated
Stuart for his inferiority in numbers. A contest with musketry across
the open field lasted some time without effect. Stuart reports it lasted
two hours. Clanton moved his cavalry forward along the river bluffs
toward Stuart's rear, around his left flank; Chalmers charged across the
field, and Stuart retreated to another ridge in his rear, and again
formed. Chalmers, being out of ammunition, and the wagons being far to
the rear, halted till ammunition could be brought up.
Meanwhile, Jackson's brigade, the Third Brigade of Withers' division,
marched to attack McArthur. The assault was gallantly made; but the
troops, unable to stand the steady fire which they encountered, fell
back. Being rallied after a rest, they renewed the attack. For a long
time the fate of the obstinate struggle was undecided. At length
McArthur's two regiments, pounded by well-posted batteries, yielded to
Jackson's persistent attack, after the Ninth Illinois had lost 61 killed
and 287 wounded, and withdrew, steadily and in order, to a new position.
Withers' First Brigade--Gladden's having been disordered in its first
attack on Prentiss, when General Gladden was killed--remained an hour at
halt in Prentiss' camp. After its sharp repulse in the later attack, the
brigade drifted to its right, following the course of preceding
brigades, came in front of Hurlbut's line, and moved to the attack.
Lauman's brigade, of Hurlbut's division, had remained undisturbed for an
hour after taking position. A skirmish line which he had posted in front
reported an advance of the enemy. Artillery from a distance in front
opened fire. At the first shot which fell in the Thirteenth Ohio
Battery, posted in the field to Lauman's left, with the right of
Williams' brigade, the entire battery deserted their guns and fled.
Shortly after the battle the men were, by order, distributed among other
batteries; the Thirteenth was blotted out, and on Ohio's roster its
place remained a blank throughout the war.
Soon, a line of gleaming steel was seen above the dense undergrowth in
Lauman's front. It advanced steadily till about one hundred yards from
his line. A sheet of fire blazed from the front of the brigade. The men,
restrained till then, fired rapidly but coolly. The fire could not be
resisted or endured. Gladden's brigade, now commanded by Colonel Adams,
was arrested in its march, broken, and fell back. Three times the
brigade rallied and returned to the assault. Once, a portion advanced to
within a few paces of the Thirty-first Indiana. But every charge was
vain, and Colonel Adams, the commander, being wounded, the brigade,
discomfited, withdrew.
After the termination of this engagement, several regiments--either the
Gladden brigade, now commanded by Colonel Deas, or one of the brigades
of Breckenridge's reserve--moved into the field to the left of Lauman.
Colonel Williams, commanding Hurlbut's first brigade, had been killed in
an artillery duel across the field, and the brigade, now commanded by
Colonel Pugh, had been drawn back from the field, behind a fence along
its northern boundary. The force that moved into the field was not only
confronted by the brigade under Colonel Pugh, but its flank was
commanded by the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky, which General
Lauman promptly wheeled to the left, against the fence bounding the
westerly face of the field. The assault made in this field was gallant
and deliberate, but brief and sanguinary. Pugh's command remained still
until the lines, advancing over the open field, were near. Then rising,
they poured in a volley, and continued firing into the smoke until no
bullets were heard whistling back from the front. The two Kentucky
regiments poured in their fire upon the flank, and when the smoke
cleared away, the field was so thickly strewn with bodies, that the
Third Iowa, supposing it was the hostile force lying down, began to
reopen fire upon them.
Before Withers' division became thus engaged with Hurlbut, McArthur, and
Stuart, General Johnston had dispatched Trabue's brigade, of
Breckenridge's reserve, off to his extreme left, to report to General
Beauregard, who, stationed at Shiloh Church, was superintending
operations in that quarter. The three brigades, Bowen, Statham, Trabue,
composing the reserve, had marched in rear of General Johnston's right
in echelon, at intervals of eight hundred yards. Johnston, observing
with anxiety the stubborn resistance opposed to Withers' division, and
eager to crush the National right, called up the remaining brigades of
the reserve, Bowen and Statham, and pushed them forward. Bowen was first
engaged, and the National left, in a series of encounters with the
increased force in its front, gradually but slowly receded, always
forming and rallying on the next ridge in rear of the one abandoned.
The Forty-first Illinois, constituting the left of Hurlbut's division,
held its position, and the Thirty-second Illinois was moved from its
place to support the Forty-first. The afternoon was come. Johnston
directed Statham's brigade against this position. Statham deployed under
cover of a ridge, facing and commanded by the higher ridge held by the
Illinois regiments, and marched in line up the slope. On reaching the
summit, coming into view and range, he was received by a fire that broke
his command, and his regiments fell back behind the slope in confusion.
Battle's Tennessee regiment on the right alone maintained its position
and advanced. Lytle's Tennessee regiment three times rallied and
advanced; but, unable to stand the fire, fell back. Every time it fell
back, the Thirty-second Illinois threw an oblique fire into Battle's
regiment, aiding the direct fire of the Forty-first, and preventing
Battle's further advance. The Forty-fifth Tennessee could not be urged
up the slope. Squads would leave the ranks, run up to a fence, fire, and
fall back to place; but the regiment would not advance. General
Breckenridge, foiled and irritated, rode to General Johnston and
complained he had a Tennessee regiment that would not fight. Governor
Harris, of Tennessee, who was with Johnston, remonstrated, and riding to
the Forty-fifth, appealed to it, but in vain. General Johnston moved to
the front of the brigade, now standing in line, rode slowly along the
front, promised to lead them himself, and appealed to them to follow.
The halting soldiers were roused to enthusiasm. Johnston, Breckenridge,
and Governor Harris in front, followed by the brigade, charged up the
slope and down the hollow beyond. Unchecked by the hot fire of the
Illinois regiments, they pushed up the higher slope, and the position
was gained.
The Illinois regiments fell back slowly, halting at intervals to turn
and fire, and were not pursued. One of those Parthian shots struck
General Johnston, cut an artery, and, no surgeon being at hand, he bled
to death in a few minutes. His body was carried at once by his staff
back to Corinth. General Beauregard, at his station at Shiloh Church,
was notified of the death, and assumed command. Albert Sydney Johnston
was a man of pure life, and, like McPherson, full of the traits that
call out genuine and devoted friendships. He was esteemed by many the
ablest general in the Confederate service. His death was deplored in the
South as a fatal loss. It was half-past two when Johnston fell. The loss
paralyzed operations in that part of the field, and for an hour there
was here a lull. The two Illinois regiments, though not followed, failed
to rally, and fell back to a bluff near the landing, where Colonel
Webster was putting batteries into position.
General Bragg, hearing of the death of General Johnston while he was
superintending operations in front of Prentiss and W.H.L. Wallace, rode
to the Confederate right. He there found a strong force, consisting of
three parts, without a common head: General Breckenridge, with two
brigades of his reserve division, pressing forward; General Withers,
with his division greatly exhausted and taking a temporary rest; and
General Cheatham, with his division of Polk's corps, to their left and
rear. Bragg at once assumed command, and began to assemble these
divisions and form them for a general advance. Hurlbut, observing these
preparations, moved Lauman's brigade, which had already twice
replenished its boxes and expended one hundred rounds of cartridges--to
his left to fill the gap made by the retreat of the Thirty-second and
Forty-first Illinois. Willard's battery, that accompanied McArthur's
brigade, was posted near the road from the landing to Hamburg. Hurlbut
brought up two twenty-pound guns of Major Cavender's artillery, which
were served by Surgeon Cornine and Lieutenant Edwards. A little after
four, according to Bragg, about half-past three according to Hurlbut,
Bragg moved forward. The artillery, aided by the rapid fire of Hurlbut's
infantry, checked the first impulse and made the advancing line pause.
Hurlbut, taking advantage of the lull, and first notifying Prentiss,
withdrew Lauman's brigade and the artillery. Bragg's line advanced
again. Hurlbut attempted to make another stand in front of his camp, but
the attempt was ineffectual. He fell back to the height behind Webster's
batteries.
The Third Iowa and Twenty-eighth Illinois, under Colonel Pugh, made a
desperate effort to maintain their position, but were ordered by General
Hurlbut to fall back when Lauman retired. These two regiments fell back
fighting, forming wherever the ground gave vantage, and turning upon
their pursuers. In the little field they halted and replenished their
cartridge-boxes. Here the Twenty-second Alabama attacked them, but was
so roughly handled that it took no further part in the contest that day.
As these two regiments fell back thus slowly, from time to time turning
at bay, portions of Bragg's command were pushing behind them and the
troops of Hardee, coming from the front of Sherman and McClernand, were
reaching toward their front. A narrow gap was left, and through a
gauntlet of fire, still fighting, the little band pressed on and joined
Hurlbut behind Webster's artillery.
The gunboat Tyler, commanded by Lieutenant Gwin, fired from ten minutes
to three o'clock until ten minutes to four upon Breckenridge's brigades,
and, joined by the Lexington, commanded by Lieutenant Shirk, fired later
upon the portion of Bragg's command close to the river-bank, for
thirty-five minutes. This fire drove a battery from its position, threw
Gibson's brigade and a portion of Trabue's brigade into disorder, killed
ten and wounded many of Wood's brigade, killed and wounded a number of
Anderson's brigade, and compelled it to seek shelter in a ravine.
As the National lines were drifting back toward the landing, Colonel
Webster, of General Grant's staff, gathered all the artillery within
reach--Major Cavender's six twenty-pounders, Silversparre's twenty-pound
Parrotts, and some light batteries--on a commanding position from a
quarter to half a mile from the landing. Immediately above the landing a
wide and deep ravine opens to the river. For some distance back from the
river its bottom was filled with back-water and was impassable. Half a
mile back it was still deep, abrupt, and wet, though passable for
infantry. Here Colonel Webster gathered from thirty-five to fifty guns.
Two of Hurlbut's batteries--Mann's, commanded by Lieutenant Brotzman,
and Ross'--had done brilliant service; Brotzman's battery of four pieces
had fired off one hundred and ninety-four rounds per gun. Ross' battery
was lost in the retreat. Brotzman lost so many horses that he was able
to bring off only three guns. These took place in Webster's frowning
line. Hurlbut was joined at this position by half of Veatch's brigade,
which had been with McClernand through the day, and reformed his
division in support of the artillery. General Grant directed him to
assume command of all regiments and coherent fragments near. The
Forty-eighth Ohio, of Buckland's brigade, being then at the landing,
some of W.H. L. Wallace's regiments, that succeeded in breaking through
the encircling force, and other detachments, reported to him. Squads of
men, separated from their commands, fell in. Hurlbut thus gathered in
support of the artillery a force in line which he estimated at four
thousand men.
General Bragg proposed to push his success and attempted to withdraw his
two divisions, Ruggles' and Withers', from the tumult which accompanied
the surrender, and ordered them to press forward and assault the
position to which Hurlbut had fallen back. When Ruggles received Bragg's
order for farther advance, one of his brigades, Pond's, was on the
extreme Confederate left, near Owl Creek; Gibson's brigade was in
confusion, caused by the fire of the gunboats; Anderson's was apart in a
ravine, taking shelter from the same fire. But Ruggles began at once to
assemble what force he could. Of Withers' division, the First Brigade
was scattered. The brigades of Jackson and Chalmers received the order
while they were resting in the field where the Third Iowa had rested and
filled their cartridge-boxes, and where Jackson was about to replenish
the empty boxes of his men. Withers immediately moved these two brigades
forward to the deep ravine whose farther bank was crowned with the grim
line of artillery, behind and to the right of which stood Hurlbut's
command.
While there was this activity at the front, the aspect at the rear,
about Shiloh Church, where General Beauregard kept his position, was
very different. As the Confederate lines advanced, men dropping out of
the ranks filled the woods with a penumbra of stragglers. Hunger and
fatigue, stimulated by the remembrance of abandoned camps passed
through, later in the day led squads--Beauregard and some of his staff
say, led regiments--to straggle back from the fighting front to the
restful and attractive rear. Language cannot be stronger than that used
by General Beauregard. The fire of the gunboats, many of the shells
passing over the high river-bank and exploding far inland, appeared even
more formidable than it really was; and Beauregard was assured by a
despatch, which he received that day on the field, that Buell, instead
of being near Pittsburg, was, in fact, before Florence, and could not
effect a junction. It must have been about five o'clock or a little
later when Beauregard sent an order to his command to retire and go into
bivouac. The order was delivered by his staff not only to corps
commanders, but directly to commanders of divisions and brigades.
General Ruggles, while attempting to assemble a force in pursuance of
Bragg's order, received the command to retire.
According to Withers' report, he moved his division forward and just
entered a steep and precipitous ravine when he was met by a terrific
fire. He sent to the rear for reinforcements and ordered his brigade
commanders to charge the batteries in front. The orders were about being
obeyed, when, to his astonishment, he observed a large portion of his
command move rapidly by the left flank away from under the fire. He then
learned that this was in accordance with General Beauregard's orders,
delivered directly to the brigade commanders. Jackson reports that he
began a charge, but his men, being without ammunition, could not be
urged up the height in face of the fire of Hurlbut and the batteries.
Leaving his men lying down, he rode to the rear to get an order to
withdraw, when he met a staff officer bearing such an order from General
Beauregard. General Chalmers plunged into the ravine, and the order to
retire did not reach him. He was not aware that his brigade alone, of
all the Confederate Army, was continuing the battle. He brought Gage's
battery up to his aid, but this battery was soon knocked to pieces by
the fire of the heavier National artillery. The gunboats, having
previously taken position opposite the mouth of the ravine, opened fire
as soon as the assault began. They opened fire at thirty-five minutes
past five.
Chalmers had not ended his useless attempt when the boats bearing
Ammen's brigade of Nelson's division of Buell's army crossed the river
and landed. General Nelson, when ordered by General Grant, early in the
morning, to move up the river, sent out a party to discover a route. No
practicable way was found near the river; one, a little inland, was
ascertained, practicable for infantry, but not for wheels. The division
moved at one o'clock. General Ammen's brigade, composed of the
Thirty-sixth Indiana and the Sixth and Twenty-fourth Ohio, being in
advance, crossed the river first. The Thirty-sixth Indiana, landing
first, pushed up the bluff through a great mob of fugitives from the
field, some thousands in number, and, by direction of General Grant,
General Ammen sent it forward to the support of the batteries. One
soldier was killed while the regiment was forming; one was killed and
one wounded after it reached its position. The Sixth Ohio marched up
under like order in reserve to the Thirty-sixth Indiana. The
Twenty-fourth Ohio marched half a mile to the right of the batteries,
scoured the country half a mile out to the front without finding any
enemy, and there went into bivouac. The day's battle was over.
Prentiss was driven back through his camp about nine o'clock; Sherman
was forced from his about ten o'clock; at the same time, Stuart took
position in rear of his. McClernand was compelled finally to abandon his
camp about half-past two, and at half-past four Hurlbut fell back
through his. When night came, the National troops held W.H.L. Wallace's
camp and an adjoining portion of Hurlbut's, while Beauregard's army
occupied Sherman's, McClernand's, and Prentiss'.
When Prentiss and Sherman were attacked, there was a wide gap between
their lines. A little after ten o'clock the National line was connected,
Sherman on the right, McClernand next, then W.H.L. Wallace, and next, on
his left, Prentiss, and Hurlbut and McArthur filling the space between
Prentiss and Stuart. The right was gradually forced back on a curve
till, at half-past four o'clock, there was a gap between McClernand and
Wallace. Hurlbut held his ground till four o'clock, but by half-past
four he retreated, leaving Prentiss' left in air. Through the two gaps
thus made the Confederate left and right poured in and encircled
Prentiss and Wallace. After their surrender there was no fighting,
except Chalmers' bold, but idle assault.
In this day's battle the National loss was nearly ten thousand killed,
wounded, and captured. The Confederate loss was as great in killed and
wounded, but the loss in prisoners was small.
CHAPTER VII.
SHILOH--NIGHT, AND MONDAY.
The vice of the formation of Johnston's army into three long, thin,
parallel lines, together with the broken character of the ground and the
variable obstinacy of resistance encountered, produced a complete and
inextricable commingling of commands. General Beauregard left it to the
discretion of the different commanders to select the place for bivouac
for the night.
Colonel Pond, retiring from his disastrous repulse toward the close of
the afternoon, found himself wholly separated by an interval of more
than a quarter of a mile from the nearest support, the whole of the
Confederate left having drifted from him toward the southeast.
Assembling all his brigade, except the Crescent Regiment, which had
become detached, and recalling his battery--Ketchum's--he remembered
that the special duty had been assigned to him, by General Bragg, of
guarding the flank along Owl Creek. When night fell, he moved to his
rear and then to his left, and bivouacked in line facing to the east, on
the high land west of Brier Creek. Ketchum's battery was placed in a
field a little back from the ravine. He posted pickets to his rear as
well as to his front. The other two brigades of Ruggles' division spent
the night to the east of Shiloh Church.
Jackson's brigade, of Withers' division, when it recoiled from its
fatal attack on Hurlbut and the reserve artillery, went to pieces.
Jackson with the battery marched to Shiloh Church and reported to
General Beauregard. He saw nothing more of his brigade till he rejoined
it at Corinth. Chalmers, abandoning his vain assault, was astonished to
find that the army had fallen back, leaving him alone. He fell back to
the field where Prentiss surrendered, and there rested. Of the remaining
brigade, Gladden's, the merest fragment cohered; this little band, or
detachment, bivouacked near the Hamburg road. Trabue's brigade, except
one regiment which had become separated, spent the night in the tents of
McDowell's brigade camp; Breckenridge's other two brigades were between
Shiloh Church and the river.
Of General Polk's command, Clark's division, though partially scattered,
rested, the greater portion of it, between Breckenridge and Shiloh
Church. The other division, Cheatham's, which remained the freshest and
least disordered command in Beauregard's army, moved off the field; and,
accompanied by General Polk and one regiment of Clark's division,
marched back to its camp of Saturday night.
Of Hardee's corps, so much of Cleburne's brigade as remained with him,
slept in Prentiss' camp; Wood's brigade slept in McClernand's camp;
Shaver's brigade was disintegrated and dissipated.
In the National army, what men were left of Prentiss' division were
gathered about the landing and with Hurlbut. The regiments of W.H.L.
Wallace that had escaped capture returned to their division camp.
Hurlbut after dark moved his division out to the front of the reserve
artillery. Being relieved by General Nelson, he formed his line with its
left near the reserve artillery and the right near McClernand.
McClernand's command bivouacked along the eastern face of the
camp-ground of W.H.L. Wallace's division. Sherman's left joined
McClernand; his right, Buckland's brigade, lay along the field at the
south flank of McArthur's brigade camp, and along the east bank of the
ravine of Brier Creek. Stuart's brigade, the Fortieth Illinois of
McDowell's brigade, and the Forty-eighth Ohio of Buckland's brigade
spent the night near the reserve artillery.
Captain Baxter, of General Grant's staff, brought to Lewis Wallace at
eleven or half-past eleven, a verbal order to move his division. The
First Brigade had already moved out to Stony Lonesome, and the division
was ready to march. General Wallace believed the attack at Pittsburg was
a feint, and that the real attack was to be made at Crump's Landing, on
account of the great accumulation of stores at that point, and desired
the order requiring him to move away from Crump's Landing should be in
writing. Captain Baxter wrote and gave him an order to march to the
Purdy road, form there on Sherman's right, and then act as circumstances
should require. The two brigades at Stony Lonesome were at once put in
motion. When the head of the division had just reached Snake Creek, not
much more than a mile in an air-line from the right of Sherman's camp,
Captain Rowley came up and informed Wallace of the state of affairs, and
that the National line had fallen back. Wallace countermarched the two
brigades to keep his right in front, retraced his steps (being joined on
the way by Major Rawlins, Grant's adjutant, and by Colonel McPherson)
the greater part of the way to Stony Lonesome, and there took a rude
cross-road which came into the river road from Crump's to Pittsburg
Landing, about a mile from the bridge which had been guarded for his
approach. McPherson and Rawlins confirmed Captain Rowley's statement of
the disastrous falling back of the National lines toward the river. The
wagons were not allowed to accompany the column, but continued on
through Stony Lonesome to Crump's Landing, and the Fifty-sixth Ohio, and
one gun from Thurber's battery were detached to guard them. Whittlesey's
brigade, at Adamsville, received at two o'clock the order to march.
Sending the wagons with the Sixty-eighth Ohio as guard to Crump's
Landing, the remaining three regiments pushed through the mud, the field
officers dismounting to let broken-down men ride, and overtook the other
brigades as they were beginning to cross Snake Creek. The Twenty-fourth
Indiana in advance, crossing the bridge just after sunset, deployed
skirmishers in front, marched along the road along the east bank of
Brier Creek, and halted in front of the camp of the Fourteenth Missouri,
which regiment was occupying its camp. The Twentieth Ohio, the rear
regiment of the division, halted on the bank of Brier Creek ravine, in
front of the camp of the Eighty-first Ohio, at eight o'clock. The
division facing to the right, making a front to the west, along the
ravine, brought the Twenty-fourth Indiana to the left and the Twentieth
Ohio to the right of the division. The batteries having been left at the
junction of the cross-road and the river road, till all the infantry had
crossed, followed in their rear, and were posted near the bank.
The remainder of Nelson's division followed Ammen's brigade late in the
evening. Crittenden's division arrived in the night. McCook receiving
orders to hasten forward in the morning, while twelve miles out from
Savannah, halted at the outskirts of the village at seven o'clock P.M.,
rested his men two hours, marched to the landing, seized such boats as
were there and such as arrived, and reached Pittsburg Landing at five
o'clock Monday morning with Rousseau's brigade and one regiment of
Kirk's brigade.
General Grant and General Buell met at Sherman's headquarters in the
evening; it was there agreed that Buell with his army should in the
morning attack on the left, and Grant's immediate command should attack
on the right. Buell formed Nelson's division about two hundred yards in
front of the reserve artillery, with his left near the river, facing
south. Crittenden, when he arrived, was placed in rear of Nelson, half a
mile from the landing, where his command stood at arms all night. At
eleven o'clock a heavy rain began to pour. All the National troops and
most of the Confederate lay on the ground without shelter. The gunboats
every fifteen minutes through the night fired a shell over the woods, to
explode far inland and banish sleep.
Early Monday morning, Nelson on the extreme left, on the Hamburg road,
and Lewis Wallace on the extreme right, by Snake Creek, moved to the
attack. Beauregard knew then that Buell had arrived and the junction of
the two National armies had been effected. The opening of the battle
proclaimed what the conclusion would be.
Nelson moved in line with Ammen's brigade on the left, Bruce's in the
centre, and Hazen's on the right, his left extending a little beyond the
Hamburg road towards the river. A remnant of Gladden's brigade, between
two and three hundred men, under Colonel Deas, some fragments of some of
the regiments of Jackson's brigade, with some regiments that had strayed
from their proper commands, the Fourth Kentucky from Trabue's brigade,
the First Tennessee from Stephens' brigade, the One Hundred and
Fifty-fourth Tennessee from General B.R. Johnson's brigade, and the
Crescent Regiment from Pond's brigade, scattered about, were roused by
Nelson's advance and retired before it. At six o'clock Nelson was halted
by Buell to allow Crittenden's division to complete its deployment and
form on Nelson's right. Nelson again advanced. General Withers
meanwhile had thrown the heterogeneous fragments into an organized
force, added Chalmers' brigade to it, and strengthened it by the
addition of three batteries. Nelson, when he again advanced, came upon
this consolidated line, which drove him back. Nelson was without
artillery. His batteries, unable to get through the soft mud which the
infantry traversed, remained behind at Savannah. General Buell sent to
his aid Mendenhall's battery from Crittenden's division. The rapid and
accurate fire of Mendenhall's guns silenced the central opposing
battery. Hazen's brigade charged upon it, captured the guns and drove in
retreat the cannoneers and their support. Bowen's brigade of
Breckenridge's reserve corps, commanded by Colonel Martin since General
Bowen was wounded Sunday afternoon, was coming up in support. Colonel
Martin made his brigade lie down in a ravine till the torrent of
fugitives passed over, then rising, charged the pursuers. Hazen's
brigade, torn by the fire of two batteries, one on each flank, and now
charged by a fresh brigade, suffered in a short time more than half the
whole loss suffered by the division in the entire day. The loss of the
division in killed and wounded, was 90 killed and 558 wounded. The
Forty-first Ohio, in Hazen's brigade, out of a total engaged of 371,
lost 140 killed and wounded. The shattered regiments streamed back in
confusion, leaving a gap in the division line.
Ammen's brigade was sorely pressed. Constituting the left of the army,
it was in constant risk of being turned. Bruce's brigade, now put in
hazard by the recession of Hazen, could give only indirect assistance to
Ammen. Just then, Terrill's regular battery, of four twelve-pounders
(Napoleons) and two ten-pound Parrotts, having arrived from Savannah,
and missed its way to McCook's division, was ordered by General Buell to
Nelson's relief. Dashing out to the skirmish line in front of Colonel
Ammen, in order to get the range of the enemy's batteries, Terrill's
guns became the target of the concentrated fire of the opposing
batteries and the line of infantry. He was compelled to retire; but,
firing as he retired, he kept at a distance the long line that followed
and essayed to charge. Colonel Tuttle, who had been marching what was
left of W.H.L. Wallace's division in reserve, in rear of Nelson and
Crittenden, sent the Second Iowa forward in aid of Terrill. At the same
time the Fortieth Illinois, of McDowell's brigade, Sherman's division,
which had been marching in reserve to Nelson, filed to the front around
Ammen's left flank, and the Confederate line retired to their position
in the timber. Ammen's line, which fell back under the galling fire
called out by Terrill's artillery charge, now returned to the front and
occupied the timber where the enemy had been. It was now nearly two
o'clock. There was no more fighting in Nelson's front. Terrill's battery
suffered so severely that the Sixth Ohio was detailed as its special
support, and supplied artillerists from its ranks. From an advanced
position in Nelson's front, upon his skirmish line, this battery
succeeded in opening an enfilading fire upon the troops in front of
McCook, and one section advanced far enough to take in reverse the
batteries that were engaged with Crittenden and McCook.
General Crittenden's division moved a little after five o'clock to
Nelson's right. Colonel W.S. Smith's brigade connected with Nelson and
continued his line. General J. T. Boyle's brigade was formed in rear of
the left wing of Smith's brigade. A little after six o'clock McCook
marched to the front with Rousseau's brigade, and formed on Crittenden's
right, but facing to the west. The Fourteenth Wisconsin, assigned to
Prentiss' division, not arriving at Pittsburg till Monday morning,
reported to General Crittenden, and acted during the day as a part of
Colonel Smith's brigade. General Buell describes the line thus formed as
follows; "The force under my command occupied a line of about a mile and
a half. In front of Nelson's division was an open field, partially
screened toward his right by a skirt of woods, which extended beyond the
enemy's line, with a thick undergrowth in front of the left brigade of
Crittenden's division; then an open field in front of Crittenden's right
and McCook's left, and in front of McCook's right woods again, with a
dense undergrowth. The ground, nearly level in front of Nelson, formed a
hollow in front of Crittenden, and fell into a small creek or ravine,
which empties into Owl Creek, in front of McCook. What I afterward
learned was the Hamburg road (which crosses Lick Creek a mile from its
mouth) passed perpendicularly through the line of battle near Nelson's
left. A short distance in rear of the enemy's left, on high, open
ground, were the encampments of McClernand's and Sherman's divisions,
which the enemy held." This line is almost identical with the line held
by McArthur, Hurlbut, Prentiss, and Wallace, Sunday afternoon. Buell's
cavalry was not brought up, and, from want of transportation, only three
batteries--Bartlett's and Mendenhall's of Crittenden's division, and
Terrill's of McCook's division. But these were served with remarkable
efficiency.
When Crittenden took position, his skirmishers were advanced across the
open field to the edge of the timber in front. This dense growth, called
in the reports "chapparal" and "jungle," covered both slopes of a
hollow, which was threaded by a rivulet with muddy borders, and was the
scene of many a bloody repulse the day before, in the repeated assaults
upon Prentiss. The skirmishers soon became engaged, and a battery
concealed in woods on rising ground beyond, played upon the troops in
line. The skirmishers retired to the line, but were sent back to their
original position, while Bartlett's battery silenced the hostile
battery, and, by accurate fire, compelled it several times to shift its
position. A line of battle appearing in the timber preparing to charge,
the skirmishers were called back, Bartlett swept the bushes with
canister and shrapnell, Boyle's brigade charged into the brush,
encountered the fire of the Confederate line at close quarters, replied,
charged, and drove the enemy through the timber to an open field beyond.
The enemy rapidly crossed the field and took position in woods on its
farther side. A line of cavalry appearing at one end of the field, which
was also commanded by the enemy's battery, Boyle withdrew his regiments
to their original position. Bartlett's battery, aided by Mendenhall's,
was in constant activity. The infantry, with intervening pauses of
cessation, met and made charges into the chapparal. Mendenhall's
battery, in the course of the day, expended five hundred and twenty-six
rounds of ammunition, or about eighty-eight to the gun. Bartlett, by
noon, had fired his entire supply, six hundred rounds, and took his
battery to the landing to replenish. When he returned, the fighting had
ceased. After an hour of quiet, a furious attack was made on Smith's
brigade. The contest that ensued is described in Colonel Smith's report:
"The enemy soon yielded, when a running fight commenced, which extended
about a mile to our front, where we captured a battery and shot the
horses and many of the cannoneers. Owing to the obstructed nature of the
ground, the enthusiastic courage of the majority of our men, the laggard
discharge of their duty by many, and the disgraceful cowardice of some,
our line had been transformed into a column of attack, representing the
various grades of courage, from reckless daring to ignominious fear. At
the head of this column stood a few heroic men, not adequately
supported, when the enemy returned to the attack with three fresh
regiments in good order. We were driven back by these nearly to the
first position occupied by our line, when we again rallied and moved
forward toward the battery. Reaching a ravine to the right, and about
six hundred paces from the battery, we halted and awaited the assistance
of Mendenhall's battery, which was brought into action on a knoll within
half a mile of the enemy's battery, which it immediately silenced. We
then advanced and captured it the second time, and succeeded in holding
it despite the efforts of the enemy to repulse us." This charge entirely
shattered Cleburne's brigade, and it disappeared from the contest. This
ended the battle in Crittenden's front, and Mendenhall's battery
advanced and fired on the flank of the column, by that time retiring
before McCook's division. The force which General Crittenden engaged was
commanded by General Breckenridge, and consisted of one of
Breckenridge's brigades--Statham's--aided by the brigades of Russell and
A.P. Stewart, from Polk's corps. These two brigades constituted Clark's
division, but General Clark having been wounded the previous day, the
brigades were under Breckenridge's immediate command. To these was added
Cleburne's brigade, reduced to one-third of its numbers. One-third was
killed and wounded before Buckland's brigade, Sunday morning; one-third
had straggled to the rear; the remaining third rallied to enter into
Monday's battle.
In accordance with the direction of General Buell, McCook deployed
Rousseau's brigade into line facing toward Shiloh Church. The Fifteenth
Michigan, intended for Prentiss' division, being now without assignment,
reported to McCook, and was by him attached for the day to Rousseau's
brigade. General Beauregard still held his own position near the
church, and as the line of inevitable retreat was by the road passing by
the church, it was necessary that his force should hold this position to
the last. It was a centre to which stragglers and fragments of commands
had drifted during the night. Monday morning the greater part of
Beauregard's army reported there, and, though much was despatched thence
to other quarters, portions so despatched returned to take part in the
final conflict. Pond's brigade, after its rapid retreat from Lewis
Wallace's front, had a fatiguing march before finally settling into
position. He says in his report: "I was ordered by General Ruggles to
form on the extreme left and rest my left on Owl Creek. While proceeding
to execute this order, I was ordered to move by the rear of the main
line to support the extreme right of General Hardee's line. Having taken
my position to support General Hardee's right, I was again ordered by
General Beauregard to advance and occupy the crest of a ridge in the
edge of an old field. My line was just formed in this position when
General Polk ordered me forward to support his line. While moving to the
support of General Polk, an order reached me from General Beauregard to
report to him with my command at his headquarters." Ruggles' division
and Cheatham's division, with one regiment of Clark's, were put on the
Confederate left of Shiloh Church; Wood's brigade and Trabue's brigade
to the right. Russell and A.P. Stewart were first sent to oppose
Crittenden, but were afterward shifted toward the Confederate left, to
McCook's front. The report of Colonel Thompson, Beauregard's
aide-de-camp, to General Beauregard, states: "About 11.30 o'clock it was
apparent that the enemy's main attack was on our left, and our forces
began to yield to the vigor of his attack."
When Rousseau's brigade was formed, his right was in the air. McCook
held it in place till Kirk's brigade arrived from Savannah, and
occupied the time exploring the ground to his front and right. Kirk
having arrived, McCook moved Rousseau's brigade across a ravine to a
rising ground a few hundred yards in advance, and placed Kirk's brigade
in reserve of Rousseau's right, to protect the exposed flank. A company
of regulars (there were three battalions of regulars in Rousseau's
command) was sent into the woods as skirmishers. In less than an hour
the skirmishers were driven back and followed by the Fourth Kentucky
Regiment and Fourth Alabama Battalion belonging to Trabue's brigade.
After a fierce attack for twenty minutes, the assailants fell back
before the rapid and well-directed fire of Rousseau's men and retired
out of sight in the timber. Trabue's regiments rallied and quickly
returned to the assault with greater vigor than before. The steady fire
of Rousseau's men again drove them to retreat; Rousseau advanced into
the timber, passed through it to an open field, when Trabue, who, with
three regiments was engaged with McClernand, united the two portions of
his brigade and charged furiously upon Rousseau. After a desperate
struggle Trabue gave way; Rousseau captured two guns and repossessed
McClernand's headquarters.
This advance drew Rousseau away from Crittenden, while it connected him
with McClernand; exposed his left, while it covered his right. Colonel
Willich, who had arrived with the Thirty-second Indiana, passed around
to the left, and, with regiment in column doubled on the centre, charged
upon the enemy in that quarter, drove him into the timber, then
deploying in line opened fire. Willich became subject to so hot a
fire--mainly, he reports, from the National troops--that he was
compelled to retire. Dressing his lines he charged again. Observing
undue excitement in his men, he halted the regiment, and in the midst of
the battle exercised the men in the manual of arms. Having thus steadied
them, he resumed the charge and again drove the enemy into the timber.
Rousseau's command having exhausted their cartridges, Kirk's brigade
took place in the line, while Rousseau, behind them, replenished from
the supply which General McCook had already procured. Gibson's brigade
having now arrived, was deployed, about two o'clock, on the left. The
two armies were concentrating about Shiloh Church. Gibson's left flank
being twice threatened and partially turned, the Forty-ninth Ohio twice,
under fire, changed front to the rear on the right company with
precision. Veatch's brigade, of Hurlbut's division, which had been
acting in reserve, was moved forward by McCook and extended his left.
The division being now sorely pressed by the enemy's artillery, Major
Taylor, Sherman's chief of artillery, brought forward Bouton's battery
and assigned part to each brigade. The section assigned to Gibson
quickly silenced the batteries in his front. McCook was now connected
with the forces to his right.
McClernand's command consisted--Monday morning--of the Forty-sixth
Illinois, of Hurlbut's division, constituting his right; the Twentieth,
Seventeenth, Forty-third, Forty-fifth, Forty-eighth, and Forty-ninth
Illinois, of his own division, being his First and Second Brigades, and,
on his left, the Fifty-third Ohio, of Sherman's division, and the
Eighty-first Ohio, of W.H.L. Wallace's division. Except the two flanking
regiments, the Forty-sixth Illinois and the Eighty-first Ohio, the
regiments were extremely reduced. After firing had opened by Nelson and
by Lewis Wallace, McClernand moved across the ravine of Brier Creek to
the large open field, where his line was dressed; McAllister's battery
was brought up and engaged a battery posted beyond, or in the proper
front of, McClernand's First Brigade camp. Lewis Wallace's batteries
beyond the timber to the northwest, and a battery with Sherman in the
same direction, joined in the artillery combat. The Confederate battery
becoming silent, McClernand moved forward and entered the camp of his
First Brigade, being the northwestern extremity of his camp, without
having encountered opposing infantry. It was discovered that a body of
the enemy was advancing beyond the left of the line. McClernand moved by
the flank to the left till the left regiments came to a field in rear of
his camp, and charged across it against a battery and its supports on
the farther side. The Fifty-third and Eighty-first Ohio recoiled, were
ordered back, fell to the rear in some disorder, and the whole line
retired. The Twenty-eighth Illinois was moved forward from Hurlbut's
reserve and added to McClernand's left. The line again advanced, pushed
the enemy back through McClernand's camp, where he made a stand, and
McClernand was again compelled to yield. General McCook now extended his
right by throwing forward the Louisville Legion. The two divisions
connected, and the Twenty-eighth Illinois returned to the reserve.
Sherman, being ordered by General Grant early in the morning to advance
and recapture his camps, sent his staff out to gather in the members of
his command. Colonel Sullivan marched the Forty-eighth Ohio, at dawn,
out from the reserve artillery, and Buckland's brigade was complete.
Colonel Stuart was found near the landing with two regiments of his
brigade, and a small detachment of the Third, the Seventy-first Ohio.
The Thirteenth Missouri, temporarily attached to Sherman, which had
become entangled with McClernand's command the previous afternoon, and
bivouacked at night in his line, was regained. Portions of the
Fifty-seventh and Seventy-seventh Ohio still adhered. Major Taylor,
chief of artillery, brought Lieutenant Wood's battery. The column being
formed, he marched by the flank toward the west to the bluffs of Owl
Creek, and along them to an open field at the extreme right of
McClernand's camp, and awaited the approach of McCook on the Corinth
road. Hearing heavy firing in front of Rousseau, about ten o'clock, and
observing it gradually gaining ground toward Shiloh Church, he moved the
head of his column to General McClernand's right, formed line of battle,
facing south, with Buckland next to McClernand and Stuart on his right,
and advanced slowly and steadily under a heavy fire of musketry and
artillery.
General Lewis Wallace discovered at dawn, on the bluff on the opposite
side of Brier Creek, and just facing Thompson's battery, a hostile
battery. The Twentieth Ohio discharging their rifles to clear them, were
answered by a volley that disclosed the presence of a hostile line of
battle. At the same time Pond's brigade and Ketchum's battery became
aware of the fact that only the valley of Brier Creek separated them
from troops that had arrived in the night. Colonel Pond was dismayed by
the further discovery that he was nearly a mile in advance of his
nearest support. After a short engagement he withdrew his infantry,
leaving Wharton's regiment of mounted Texas Rangers to support the
battery. After a sharp artillery duel, Ketchum drew off his battery,
covered by the mounted regiment. General Grant directing Wallace to push
his line of attack to the west, directly from the river, the division
advanced, the brigades in echelon, the First to the front and left, the
Third to the right and rear, sweeping the bluffs facing Snake Creek and
Owl Creek, and coming out in the fields in rear of Sherman's camps.
Wheeling the division to the left, he soon became hotly engaged, first
Thompson's battery with another battery, then infantry with opposing
infantry.
There was yet a gap between Sherman and Wallace, but the conflict now
raged about Shiloh Church with a fury surpassing any portion of the
battle of Sunday. McCook, with his well closed division, McClernand and
Sherman with their attenuated but persistent commands, Wallace with his
fresh and compact division, with the batteries of Bouton, McAllister,
Wood, Thompson, and Thurber, formed a curved line concentrating upon the
convex line comprised of part of Clark's division, Wood's brigade,
Trabue's brigade, Cheatham's division, and Ruggles' division, with the
batteries of Ketchum, Byrne, Bankhead, and others. McClernand, Sherman,
and Wallace all speak with admiration of the splendid fighting of
McCook's division. Ammunition was becoming exhausted. Buckland withdrew
his regiments to fill their boxes. Stuart's brigade, now commanded by
Colonel Kilby Smith, plunged forward to make up with renewed vigor for
diminished numbers. Wallace's left flank was exposed. The Eleventh
Indiana, changing front, faced the danger on its flank. The First
Nebraska having used its last cartridge, the Seventy-sixth Ohio leaped
to its place. Thompson's battery having expended its last round,
Thurber's guns took their place so quickly that there was no
intermission in the fire. The Twentieth Ohio, sent off to the right to
meet a force springing up in that quarter, met with a sudden discharge
at close range, dashed through a fringe of bushes, and drove a battery
from the field beyond.
Wood's brigade, charging on Rousseau, was knocked to pieces and retired
to the rear, where General Wood with the aid of cavalry gathered up
1,500 stragglers into an ineffective reserve. McCook pushed his line
forward to Sherman's camp. The lines were pressed closer and the fire
was hotter than ever. General Grant called two regiments, and in person
led them in a charge in McCook's front, and broke the enemy's line.
Endurance has its limits. The intense strain of two days was telling.
Beauregard saw his men were beginning to flag; exhausted regiments were
dropping out of line. It was now three o'clock. Two hours before,
General Beauregard had sent word to his extreme right in Nelson's front,
to retire slowly in alternate lines. Breckenridge, put in command of the
movement, had drawn Statham's brigade from Crittenden's front.
Beauregard was fighting to secure his retreat.
Colonel Thompson, aide-de-camp to Beauregard, says in his report: "While
I was engaged in rallying our disorganized troops to the left and rear
of the church, you seized the banners of two different regiments and led
them forward to the assault in face of the fire of the enemy; but from
the feebleness of the response I became convinced that our troops were
too much exhausted to make a vigorous resistance. I rode up to you and
advised that you should expose yourself no further, but should dispose
your troops so as to retire from Shiloh Church in good order." Colonel
Whittlesey, in his report, states: "There being signs of a retreat
farther to the south, Lieutenant Thurber was directed to sweep the
ground in front, which he did with his two howitzers and three
smooth-bores in fine style. Two prisoners captured near there, one of
them an officer of the Creole Guard, state that General Beauregard was
endeavoring to form a line for a final and desperate charge on our right
when Lieutenant Thurber opened upon him, and the result was a disorderly
retreat."
The battle was over. General Beauregard posted a battery and a brigade
on the rising ground south of Oak Creek, commanding the ground about
Shiloh Church, and withdrew his worn troops behind them. General
Beauregard says this was at two o'clock. Cheatham fixes the hour when he
retired at half-past two. The National commanders fix the close of the
contest at about three o'clock. At Woods', about two miles beyond, a
rear-guard took position again. At Mickey's, where Breckenridge had
already arrived, he was detailed with his command as rear-guard, and the
rest of the army passed on to Monterey.
There was no pursuit of the retreating army. All advance by the National
troops ceased about four o'clock. McCook went into bivouac near the camp
of Peabody's brigade, Prentiss' division. Wood's division, arriving too
late to take part in the battle, pushed to the front and engaged his
skirmishers with the light troops covering the retreat. Mendenhall's
battery, far off toward Crittenden's left, catching some glimpses of the
retiring column through openings in the forest, sent some parting
rounds. Wood and Crittenden went into bivouac in front of Prentiss'
camp. General Buell pushed Nelson forward on the Hamburg road, near to
the crossing of Lick Creek, and the division bivouacked near Stuart's
camp. The divisions, or what was present of them, of McClernand,
Sherman, Hurlbut, and W.H.L. Wallace, returned to their camps. Lewis
Wallace advanced his division across Oak Creek to the large field.
Company A, of the Twentieth Ohio, obtaining permission to proceed
farther, advanced to the Confederate hospital and was deploying to drive
off a detachment of cavalry that was burning a commissary train, when it
was recalled to rejoin the division, then returning across Oak Creek, to
bivouac in front of the camp of McDowell's brigade.
McClernand and Sherman formed part of the line of battle. Prentiss'
division was gone. The other two divisions, what was left of them, acted
in reserve. Hurlbut formed his division in the morning complete, with
the exception of the Forty-sixth Illinois, which served for the day with
McClernand. It was a skeleton division. The Third Iowa was 140 men
under the command of a lieutenant. In the forenoon, General Grant sent
Hurlbut out to act as reserve to McClernand. The Twenty-eighth Illinois
took place for a while on McClernand's left, and Veatch with his three
regiments took place on McCook's left, when he diverged from Crittenden.
Colonel Tuttle, senior officer in the Second Division, by the death of
W.H.L. Wallace and the wounding of McArthur, gathered the remaining
regiments of his division, except the Fourteenth Missouri and the
Eighty-first Ohio, added to them Colonel Crocker and three regiments of
McClernand's First Brigade, and marched in reserve to Crittenden. He
sent the Second Iowa to Nelson, when Nelson's line was broken by the
gallant but disastrous charge of Hazen; the Eighth and Eighteenth
Illinois moved out to the left of Crittenden when he diverged from
Nelson, and the Seventh Iowa, moved into the front line later in the
day.
The number of Johnston's army has already been given as 40,000 men.
Badeau says the effective force present in the National camps Sunday
morning was 33,000 men. General Sherman makes the number 32,000. William
Preston Johnston, in the Life of his father, makes the number of the
National troops, the "grand total in Sunday's battle," 41,543. These
various statements arise from the different ways of making and reading
returns. Forty thousand does not represent the total force which A.S.
Johnston led to Shiloh. Forty thousand "present for duty" is exclusive
not only of the brigade of detailed teamsters and cooks that General
Johnston complained of, but of all regular and permanent details. It
appears from some reports which give numbers, that it was also exclusive
of temporary details made for the occasion of the battle--hospital men,
train guards, ammunition guards, sappers and miners, infantry detailed
to act with batteries, etc. It appears from some of the reports, which
state numbers, that the "enlisted men" "present for duty," in the "Field
Returns of the Confederate Forces that marched from Corinth to the
Tennessee River," comprised only non-commissioned officers and privates,
and was therefore exclusive of musicians, buglers, artificers, etc.,
though enlisted as such. The 40,000, therefore, is the number of the
combatants engaged in the battle. The field return is susceptible of
further explanations, the character of which does not appear. The field
return, for example, gives the "present for duty," in the artillery in
Polk's corps, as 20 officers and 331 enlisted men--351 in all; while the
official report of the chief of artillery of the corps, of casualties in
the battle, giving each battery separately, states the number actually
engaged in the battle as 21 officers, 56 non-commissioned officers, and
369 privates, making a total of 446. It is clear, therefore, that the
40,000 is intended as the number of officers, non-commissioned officers,
and privates actually engaged in the battle, and a comparison of the
reports of General Polk's chief of artillery with the returns suggests
that in some way it may not be the full number of combatants engaged.
The aggregation of returns making 41,153 present for duty in Grant's
army at Pittsburg Landing, Sunday morning, is not a consolidated return,
but a collection of footings of regimental returns, the nearest in date
attainable to April 6th, for the most part furnished by the War
Department to Colonel Johnson, the rest either taken from reports of
State adjutant-generals, or else estimated. The statement includes the
Fourteenth Wisconsin and the Fifteenth Michigan, neither of which
arrived till after the close of Sunday's battle.[3] Deducting the
"present for duty" given for these, 1,488, leaves, in round numbers, as
in General Johnston's army, 40,000. But "present for duty" in the
returns of the National forces, includes musicians, buglers, artificers,
etc.; all men present for the duty for which they were enlisted. The
army was clothed with music. There were 72 regiments present, including
those which arrived Sunday morning. The field music of 720 companies,
with the buglers of cavalry and artillery, made about three thousand
men. Besides these there were bands so numerous that an order was
shortly afterward made, restricting the number of bands to one to each
brigade. Where the battle reports give the number taken into action, the
difference in the number given and the number of "present for duty," as
given by the War Department to Colonel Johnston, suggests that many had
gone on to the sick list, or been detailed, between the date of the
return and April 6th; or that many men present for duty were left behind
in camp. Probably all were true, and thirty-three thousand or thirty-two
thousand is the number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and
privates actually engaged in Sunday's battle on the National side. The
reinforcements of Monday numbered, of Buell's army, about twenty
thousand; Lewis Wallace, sixty-five hundred; other regiments, about
fourteen hundred.
[Footnote 3: This is a mistake as to the Fifteenth Michigan, which lost,
Sunday, 33 killed, 64 wounded, and 7 missing.]
There ought to be no uncertainty in the reports of casualties. Yet,
while the general result is clear, precision in detail is now hardly
attainable. General Beauregard's report gives his loss as 1,728 killed,
8,012 wounded, and 959 missing; making an aggregate of 10,699. Of the
reported missing, many were killed or wounded. These numbers are the
aggregate of losses reported by brigades. They cannot include casualties
at division, corps, or army headquarters, happening either to the
generals commanding, or to the officers on their staff, or to enlisted
men on duty there. And while batteries were attached to brigades, the
cavalry was a wholly independent command, not attached or reporting to
brigades or divisions; two regiments were not attached to any corps.
Their casualties cannot be included in brigade reports. Colonel
Johnston, after much examination, "finds a possible variation of 218
more casualties, principally in missing, that might be added to General
Beauregard's report."
The generally accepted official report of the National loss is: in
Grant's army, 1,437 killed, 5,679 wounded, and 2,934 missing, making a
total of 10,050; in Buell's army, 263 killed, 1,816 wounded, and 88
missing--making a total of 2,167. The two armies aggregated 1,700
killed, 7,495 wounded, and 3,022 captured--making total, 12,217. The War
Department, in the printed collection of battle reports, does not give
the casualties of the two armies separately, but gives the aggregate,
1,574 killed, 7,795 wounded, and 2,794 missing--making a total of
12,163. The "Medical and Surgical History of the War" makes the loss
1,735 killed, 7,882 wounded, 3,956 missing--making a total of 13,573.
The loss of the Army of the Ohio, as given above, is the report of
General Buell on April 15th. Six days later, the Medical Director of
that army made to General Buell a tabulated statement of killed and
wounded in each regiment, brigade, and division engaged, which makes the
number 236 killed and 1,728 wounded. All these estimates are based upon
the same material--upon the field reports. As the revisers of the
reports for publication have had the best opportunity for deliberate
examination and for comparison of the reports with muster-rolls, their
estimate of casualties is perhaps the most trustworthy.
The loss in artillery on each side was about equal. General Sherman lost
seven guns and captured seven. General McClernand lost six guns and
captured three. Prentiss lost eight guns. Hurlbut lost two batteries.
The Army of the Ohio captured about twenty guns, many of them being
recaptured guns, lost on Sunday. One of Breckenridge's brigades threw
away their arms, taking in place better arms picked up on the field.
There was a great destruction of camp equipage and stores. The
quartermaster of the Third Iowa, in Hurlbut's division, packed
everything in wagons, safely carried stores and baggage to the landing,
and let down the tents to save them from damage by shot. Before the
wagons of Prentiss' division went to the rear, while the division was
still engaged at the front, Colonel Miller's servant gathered everything
in the Colonel's tent, packed it in one of the wagons, carried it safely
off, and kept all in good order till Miller returned from captivity. But
such thoughtfulness was the exception, and the returning troops found
much missing and more destroyed.
Heavy rain fell again Monday night. Next morning General Grant sent
General Sherman with his two brigades, and General Wood with his
division and the Fourth Illinois Cavalry, in pursuit. The miry road was
lined with abandoned wagons, limber-boxes, and with hospitals filled
with wounded. The advance was suddenly fallen upon by Forrest and his
cavalry, and driven back in confusion. Forrest coming upon the main
column retired, and was pursued in turn. General Sherman advanced about
a mile farther, and returned to camp. Breckenridge remained at Mickey's
three days, guarding the rear, and by the end of the week Beauregard's
army was again in Corinth. The battle sobered both armies. The force at
Pittsburg Landing saw rudely dashed aside the expectation of speedy
entry into Corinth. The force at Corinth, that marched out to drive
Grant into the river, to scatter Buell's force in detail, and return in
triumph to Nashville, was back in the old quarters, foiled,
disheartened.
CHAPTER VIII.
CORINTH.
When news of the two days' fighting was received at the North, the
people of the Ohio Valley and St. Louis were stirred to active sympathy.
Steamboats bearing physicians, nurses, sisters of charity, and freighted
with hospital supplies were at once despatched and soon crowded the
shore of Pittsburg Landing. There was need for all the aid that was
brought. Besides the thousands of wounded, were other thousands of sick.
The springs of surface water used in the camps, always unwholesome, were
now poisonous. The well lost their strength; of the sick many died every
day. Hospital camps spread over the hills about the landing, and the
little town of Savannah was turned into a hospital. Fleets descended the
river bearing invalids to purer air and water.
General Halleck arrived at the landing on April 11th, established his
headquarters near the river bluff, and assumed personal command. General
Pope, with the Army of the Mississippi, summoned from the operations
just begun before Fort Pillow, arrived on the 21st, and went into camp
at Hamburg. Seasoned troops from Missouri and fresh regiments from
recruiting depots arrived. The camps were pushed out farther from the
river, and Halleck found 100,000 effective men under his command. The
army was organized into right wing, centre, left wing, and reserve. The
right wing comprised all the army of the Tennessee except the divisions
of McClernand and Lewis Wallace, together with the division of General
Thomas from the army of the Ohio, and was commanded by General Thomas.
The remnants of the commands of Prentiss and W.H.L. Wallace were
incorporated in two new divisions. The centre, composed of the Army of
the Ohio, except Thomas' division, was commanded by General Buell. The
left wing, the Army of the Mississippi, to which General Granger's
cavalry division was still attached, was commanded by General Pope.
General Pope, General Rosecrans having been assigned to him for duty,
divided his command on May 29th into two wings, the right commanded by
General Rosecrans, the left by General Hamilton. The reserve, under
General McClernand, comprised his division and that of Lewis Wallace.
General Grant was appointed second in command, without command or duty
attached to that position, though he still remained commander of the
District of West Tennessee.
Beauregard was reinforced, almost immediately after his return, by Van
Dorn with 17,000 troops seasoned by campaigns in Missouri and Arkansas,
raising his effective strength to 50,000. The Confederate Government at
Richmond and the State governments in the Southwest strained every
resource to increase his force. Unimportant posts were denuded of their
garrisons, new regiments were recruited, and Price, of Missouri, whom
the Government at Richmond had refused to recognize, was appointed
major-general. Beauregard found his force amount on the muster-rolls to
an aggregate of more than 112,000. But sickness and absence were so
prevalent that the return of effectives never quite reached 53,000. The
position at Corinth was naturally strong. Standing on a long ridge in
the fork of two streams, which run parallel to each other nearly to
their junction, protected on the front and both flanks by swampy valleys
traversed by the streams and obstructed by dense thickets, a line of
earthworks running along the crest of the highland bordering the
valleys, it could be approached with difficulty. The difficulty was
enhanced by a belt of timber which screened the works from view.
Railroads coming into the town facilitated reinforcement and supply.
[Illustration: Approach to Corinth.]
Beauregard kept strong parties well advanced to his front, while the
National force at the river, absorbed in the work of organization and
supply, made little effort to ascertain his position. As late as April
27th, a reconnoitering party sent out by McClernand discovered that
Monterey, twelve miles from the landing, was held in some force. Next
day General Stanley, of Pope's command, sent out a detachment that drove
this force beyond Monterey. General Halleck began his march about the
close of April, moving slowly, keeping his army compact, intrenching at
every halt, and ordering his subordinate commanders strictly to refuse
to be drawn into a general engagement. The right wing halted and
intrenched immediately beyond and to the west of Monterey on May 4th.
The enemy's outposts kept close in front of Halleck's army and opposed
every advance.
General Pope, moving out on the left from Hamburg, stretched in advance
of the adjoining part of the line. On May 3d, his command being encamped
with Seven Mile Creek in his front, General Paine, with his division,
pushed forward to Farmington, within four miles of Corinth, attacked a
considerable force and drove them from their intrenchments, compelling
them to leave their dead, as well as their tents and baggage, behind.
Next day Pope advanced his entire force within a mile and a half of
Farmington, but had to return next day to his former position behind
Seven Mile Creek, to keep up his connection with Buell. On the 8th, he
again moved his whole force to Farmington, and pushed two divisions on
separate roads almost up the intrenchments at Corinth; but was again
informed that the army to his right was not ready to advance. One
brigade was still kept as advanced guard at Farmington. On the 9th, a
heavy force from Corinth emerged from the timber just as Plummer's
brigade, then on post, was being relieved by Palmer's. The two brigades
met the attack briskly and a severe combat ensued. Pope's army was
within a mile and a half behind the creek, but forbidden by Halleck's
order to cross. To prevent a general engagement, the two brigades were
withdrawn. It was not till after May 20th that Pope finally occupied
Farmington with Buell's line.
Observing indications on the night of the 26th, he next day advanced,
and connecting with his right, sent Colonel W.L. Elliot, of the Second
Iowa Cavalry, with his own regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel E.
Hatch, and the Second Michigan Cavalry, commanded by Colonel P.H.
Sheridan, who was only assigned to the regiment that day, to make a
circuit around Corinth and strike the railroad forty miles in its rear,
doing all practicable destruction to it. Next day, the 28th, Stanley's
division was pushed far forward and after a sharp skirmish secured
possession of a ridge directly upon the creek, in front of the enemy's
works, which he at once fortified. Paine's division was moved out the
same day and occupied on Stanley's left. The same day Buell advanced
Nelson and Crittenden to the front on a line with Stanley.
General Thomas held Sherman on his extreme right, with his skirmishers
extended out to sweep the Mobile & Ohio Railway.
After several successive advances, meeting more or less opposition, on
May 17th, Sherman moved with his division--supported by Hurlbut--and
with batteries, against a commanding position in his front, called
Russell's, just two miles from the main entrenchments, held by a
brigade. It was some time before he could get a position for his
batteries. Resistance was more obstinate than at any previous
encounter. But, finally, the point was carried, and was found to cover
a sweep of open ground to the south, the direction toward Corinth, and
the division entrenched. Beyond the open land--stretching southward from
Russell's--and intervening woods was other open land, and still beyond,
a rising ground, with a high wooded ridge behind it. On this rising
ground was a loop-holed, double loghouse, having complete command of the
open ground north of it. A force stationed here exceedingly annoyed
Sherman's pickets. On the morning of the 27th he moved with his division
and batteries, supported by Veatch's brigade, from Hurlbut, and John A.
Logan's brigade, from McClernand, quietly and unseen through the timber
as near as practicable. Two of Silversparre's twenty-pounder Parrott
guns were moved silently through the forest to a point behind a hill,
from the top of which could be seen the house and ground to be
contested. The guns were unlimbered, loaded, and moved by hand to the
crest. A quick rapid fire demolished the house. The infantry dashed
forward, drove the enemy from the ridge across a field and into a thick
forest beyond. In the afternoon the repulsed troops suddenly reappeared,
but after a short contest they were again driven. The advanced position
thus carried was at once intrenched. The intervening forest concealed
from Sherman the fact that, though he was more than three miles from the
town, he was now less than a mile from the main defences of Corinth,
that he was between the creeks, and there was no obstruction but the
forest between him and the works. Next day General Thomas advanced the
rest of his command, wheeling it to the right so as to bring the whole
upon the bank of the creek, which flowed between him and Corinth. This
advance brought his left division, T.W. Sherman, within half a mile of
the main entrenchments, but separated from them by the swampy valley.
The same day Buell advanced McCook to connect with T.W. Sherman. Halleck
had been a month gaining with his 100,000 men a few miles, but he was
now closing in upon Corinth.
Beauregard, though contesting pertinaciously every advance, had already
began his evacuation. Detailed instructions, regulating the evacuation
and the subsequent march of the troops, were issued on the 26th and
27th, and three o'clock A.M. of the 29th was appointed for the time. On
the 28th an order was issued postponing the movement till the morning of
the 30th, to gain more time for removing stores. On the 29th the final
order was issued, which required, among other precautions to hide the
movement, "whenever the railroad-engine whistles during the night, near
the intrenchments, the troops in the vicinity will cheer repeatedly, as
though reinforcements had been received." The sick and wounded were sent
off by railway, as was the heavy artillery. All valuable stores were
carried off; though considerable quantities of stores of all
kinds--commissary, quartermaster, and ordnance--were neither removed nor
destroyed. Elliot, with his cavalry, struck the railroad at Booneville
before daylight of the 30th, destroyed there a locomotive, twenty-five
box-cars loaded with ordnance, ammunition, and quartermaster stores, one
or two platform-cars with field-pieces, a depot building filled with
ordnance stores, tore up the track and destroyed two culverts, and
returned to Farmington, having prevented the further use of that railway
for the purposes of evacuation.
General Pope, hearing the engines whistling and men cheering after
midnight, understood it as Beauregard intended--to show the arrival of
reinforcements. But skirmishers were sent forward to ascertain, if
practicable, the fact. Trains were heard leaving, and, at six o'clock,
explosions, followed by clouds of smoke, satisfied both him and Sherman
that Beauregard was leaving. By eight o'clock, his advance had felt
their way through the intrenchments and marched into town. Sherman,
having farther to go, was but little later in entering.
Pope's army moved at once in pursuit along the roads leading
south--Rosecrans in front, Hamilton following, and Granger with the
cavalry keeping in advance. Two divisions from Thomas' command, Davies
and T.W. Sherman, were added to the pursuing column. The pursuit
developed the fact that Beauregard, or a large part of his force, halted
at Baldwin, fifty miles south of Corinth, in an inaccessible position
behind swamp and jungle, while his line extended to the northwest, to
Blackland, an approachable point west of the railroad. Pope had made all
preparations to attack at Blackland and issued the order, when Buell
arrived at the front and suspended the attack. Beauregard retreated
farther and the pursuing force returned to Corinth.
General Pope, while detained a few days at Danville, by illness, was
continually receiving despatches from his officers at the front, and
telegraphing them or their substance to General Halleck, at Corinth, a
few miles off. General Granger said in one despatch there were ten
thousand stragglers from the retreating army in the woods, all of whom
would come in and surrender. All knew the woods were full of stragglers,
and it was generally believed that General Granger's estimate of their
number and intentions was reasonable. Pope, condensing into one,
despatches received from Rosecrans, Hamilton, and Granger, telegraphed
to Halleck, "The two divisions in the advance under Rosecrans are slowly
and cautiously advancing on Baldwin this morning, with the cavalry on
both flanks. Hamilton, with two divisions, is at Rienzi, and between
there and Booneville, ready to move forward, should they be needed. One
brigade from the reserve occupies Danville. Rosecrans reports this
morning that the enemy has retreated from Baldwin, but he is advancing
cautiously. The woods, for miles, are full of stragglers from the enemy,
who are coming in in squads. Not less than ten thousand men are thus
scattered about, who will come in within a day or two." General Halleck
despatched to the War Department "General Pope, with 40,000 men, is
thirty miles south of Corinth, pushing the enemy hard. He already
reports 10,000 prisoners and deserters from the enemy, and 15,000 stand
of arms captured." This despatch of General Halleck's made a great
sensation. The expectation that the stragglers would come into the
National camp was disappointed; the prisoners taken were few, and Pope
was censured for making a statement of fact which he neither made nor
authorized.
Fort Pillow was abandoned June 1st. On June 6th, Admiral Davis, who had
succeeded Commodore Foote, destroyed the Confederate fleet in front of
Memphis after an engagement of an hour and a half. The same day, the two
regiments that Pope left with the fleet, entered the city. The objects
proposed in the spring were accomplished, though not in the manner
designed. The railway connection at Corinth was broken, though not by a
mere dash from the river. Fort Pillow was possessed, Memphis was
occupied, and the Mississippi open to Vicksburg. The volunteers had been
through a hard military school. After their experience in fighting, they
had practice in the slow advance to Corinth, in picket duty and field
fortification. They had learned something of the business of war and
were now ready for campaign, battle, and siege.
END.
INDEX.
NOTE.--_Regiments, batteries, etc., are indexed under the names of their
States, excepting batteries called by their captain's or by some other
special name. These are indexed under_ BATTERIES.
Adams, Colonel, 141-143
Alabama, troops of. Regiments: First, 80, 120;
Fourth, 171;
Twenty-second, 154;
Twenty-seventh, 42;
Colonel Baker's, 80
Allen, Colonel, 144
Ammen, Colonel, 163, 164, 165, 166
Anderson, General Patton, 128, 129
Appler, Colonel, 128
Arkansas, troops of. Regiments:
Eleventh, 69, 80;
Twelfth, 69, 80, 88;
Fifteenth, 132
Ashboth, General, 9, 11 et seq.
Badeau, General Adam, his work on General Grant cited, 20, 60, 61, 178
Bailey, Colonel, 62
Bailey's Ferry, 28, 29
Baker, Colonel, 80
Baldwin, Colonel, report of, 45, 146
Baldwin, Miss., position of, 190, 191
Bankhead, Captain, 80
Bankhead, Fort, 76
Bark road, 147
Barrett, Captain, 130, 136
Bartlett, 168
Batteries:
Bankhead's battery, 175;
Barrett's battery, 115, 130;
Bartlett's battery, 167, 168;
Bouton's battery, 175;
Bratzman's batteries, 155;
Burrows' battery, 101, 115, 136;
Byrne's battery, 175;
Cavender's, Major, artillery, 154;
Crittenden's battery, 169, 177;
DeGolyer's battery, 70;
Dresser's battery, 39, 136;
Dubuque battery, 16;
Graves' battery, 52, 55, 60;
Green's battery, 60;
Guy's battery, 60;
Hickenlooper's battery, 145, 146;
Hodgson's, Captain, battery, 128;
Houghtaling's Ottawa Light Artillery, 70, 87;
Hurlbut's batteries, 155, 181;
Jackson's battery, 60;
Ketchum's battery, 138, 160, 174, 175;
Maney's battery, 42, 43, 48,52, 60;
Mann's battery, 101, 115, 148;
McAllister's, 39, 52, 115, 136, 172, 175;
Mendenhall's battery, 165, 167, 168, 169, 177;
Munch's Minnesota, 115;
Plummer's battery, 73, 74;
Porter's battery, 52, 55, 59, 60;
Schofield's battery, 17;
Schwartz's battery, 39, 115, 136;
Sherman's battery, 102;
Stewart's, R.C., battery, 80;
Terrill's battery, 165, 166, 167;
Thurber's battery, 163, 175, 176;
Washington Artillery, 128;
Waterhouse's battery, 102, 126, 127, 129, 135, 136;
Webster's battery, 154, 155
Battle, Colonel, 152
Baxter, Captain, 162
Bear Creek, 91
Beauregard, General G.P.T., 78;
number and character of his command in the Southwest, 91;
sends force to Pittsburg Landing, 99, 128;
assumes Johnston's command, 153;
referred to, 156, 157, 160, 161, 164, 169, 170, 175, 176;
losses of, 180;
reinforced, 184, 186;
begins an evacuation, 189;
halts at Baldwin, 190
Behr, Captain, 131
Belmont, Mo., 19, 20;
engagement at, 21
Bentonville, Mo., 13
Big Barren River, 24
Bird's Point, Mo., 20, 74
Birge, Colonel, 55
Bissel, Colonel J.W., 70 et seq.
Blair, General Frank P., 2
Blandville, Ky., 19
Boonville, Mo., 2, 4, 8, 9, 190
Boston Mountains, Ark., 12
Bowen, General, 151
Bowling Green, Ky., occupied by Buckner, 24
Bowling Green, Ky., rebel evacuation of, 64
Boyle, General J.T., 166, 168
Bragg, General, 128, 138, 153 et seq.
Breckenridge, General, 138, 135, 155, 169, 176, 177, 181, 182
Brier Creek, 100, 137, 160, 161, 163, 172, 174
Brotzman, 155
Brown, Lieutenant-Colonel, 11
Brown Major, 45;
report of, cited, 61
Brown, Colonel, 80
Bruce, 164, 165
Brush, Captain, 50
Bryner, Colonel John, 70
Buckland, Colonel, 102
Buckland, General, 126, 129, 173, 174
Buckner, General S.B., 24;
at Fort Donelson, 37 et seq.;
plans of, for sortie, 47, 48;
his advice in the council at Fort Donelson, 57;
offers to surrender Fort Donelson, 59
Buell, General D. C, 164, 165, 166, 167, 169, 177;
suggestions of, as to attack on General Johnston's line, 26;
made major-general, 65;
correspondence with Halleck, 97, 98, 130;
loss in his army, 181;
commands centre of the Army of the Ohio, 184, 186, 187, 188
Burrows, Captain, 101
Cairo, Ill., 18;
district of, 65
Camp Jackson, 2
Cape Girardeau, Mo., 7, 17
Carlin, Colonel, 16
Carondelet, the, 30, 43, 46;
her passage of the batteries, 84 et seq.
Carr, Colonel E.A., 12
Carthage, Mo., engagement near, 4
Cavender, Major, 39
Chalmers, General, 142, 148, 157 et seq., 161
Charleston, Ky., 19
Chattanooga, Tenn., 91
Cheatham, General B.F., 23, 68
Cincinnati, the, 30
Clanton, 149
Clare, Captain, 123
Clark, Colonel, 80
Clark, General, 169
Clarke, General, 37, 136
Clarksville, Tenn., 37
Clear Creek, Mo., engagement near, 11
Cleburne, General, 127, 129
Columbus, Ky., 18, 19; works at, 24;
rebel evacuation of, 64
Commerce, 19, 66
Conestoga, the, 46
Cook, Colonel John, 39, 55
Cooper's Farm, Ark., 12
Corinth, Miss., 91, 141;
map of, 181
Crittenden, General, 163, 164, 166, 167, 169, 170, 177, 178, 187
Crocker, Colonel, 139, 178
Cross Hollows, Ark., 12
Cruft, Colonel Charles, 44, 50, 57
Crump's Landing, 100, 130
Crump's Landing Road, 143, 162, 163
Cullum, General, 74, 93
Cumming, Colonel G.W., 70
Curtis, General Samuel R., 11, 12 et seq.
Danville, 190, 191
Davis, Admiral, 191
Davis, Colonel, 139
Davis, General Jefferson C., 11, 12
Dawes, Adjutant, 128
Deas, Colonel, 141
De Golyer, Captain, 70
Department of the Missouri, 10
Dickey, Colonel, 32, 39
Dixon, Lieutenant (afterward Captain), 24, 43
Dodge, Colonel, 15
Donelson, Fort, situation of, 24, 28, 33;
description of, 34 et seq.;
surrender of, 60;
number of its garrison, 61 et seq.
Dougherty, Colonel H., 20
Dover, Tenn., 33
Drake, Colonel, 54
Drake, Lieutenant Breckenridge, 159
Dresser's Battery, 136
Dresser, Captain, 31
Dubois, Captain, 5
Dug Springs, Mo., engagement at, 5
Eastport, 91
Elbert, Captain, 13
Elliot, Colonel, 87, 189
Essex, the, 30
Farmington, 186-189
Fayetteville, Ark., 12
Fearing, Major, 128, 130
Fitch, Colonel G.N., 70
Fitch, Lieutenant, 129
Fletcher, Lieutenant, 78
Florence, Ala., 32
Floyd, General J.B., 37, 45 et seq.;
his advice in the council at Fort Donelson, 59;
leaves Fort Donelson, 59
Foote, Commodore A.H., concurs in Grant's plans as to Forts Henry
and Donelson, 27;
his part in the campaign, 28 et seq.;
report of, 31;
at Fort Donelson, 38, 43, 46;
wounded, 46;
returns to Cairo, 54;
at Island No. Ten, 79 et seq., 191
Forrest, Colonel, 58, 152
Fort Donelson (see Donelson, Fort)
Fort Heiman, 28
Fort Henry, situation of, 24, 28;
expedition against, 27 et seq.;
surrender of, 31
Fort Holt, 20
Fort Pillow, 19;
abandoned, 19
Frankfort, Ky., 18
Frederickstown, Mo., 16
Fremont, General John C., appointment of, 7;
early measures and orders of, 8, 9;
relieved from command, 10;
correspondence with General Grant, 18
Frost, General D.M., 2
Fulton, Lieutenant-Colonel, 128
Gantt, Colonel, 59, 69
Georgetown, Mo., 9
Gibson, General, 144, 172
Gilmer, General J.F., constructs Confederate works in Kentucky
and Tennessee, 24, 31, 34; leaves Fort Donelson, 59
Gladden, General, 141, 164
"Golden State," the, 96
Granger, Captain, 6
Granger, General Gordon, 69, 70, 86 et seq., 190
Grant, General Ulysses S., commanding at Cape Girardeau, 17;
commanding District of Southeast Missouri, 18;
his plans as to Columbus, etc., 19, 20;
at Belmont, 21 et seq.;
plans for expedition against Forts Henry and Donelson, 26, 27;
his conduct of the campaign, 28 et seq.;
at Fort Donelson, 37 et seq.;
his despatch demanding its surrender, 60;
made Major-General, 65;
assigned to command military department of Tennessee, 65;
traits of, 92;
his proposed movement up the Tennessee, 93;
in disfavor with General Halleck, 94 et seq., 130;
arrival at Savannah, 102;
his directions to McClernand at Shiloh, 155;
orders to Nelson, 158;
directions to Thirty-Sixth Indiana, 158;
consultation with Buell, 164;
orders to Sherman, 173;
orders to Wallace, 174;
sends out Hurlbut, 177;
size of his army at Pittsburg Landing, 179;
loss in his army, 181;
sends Sherman and Wood in pursuit, 182;
appointed second in command, 184
Graves, Captain, 60
Gray, Captain, 82
Green, Captain, 60
Greenville, Ark., 19
Groesbeck, Colonel John, 70
Gumbart, Lieutenant, 49
Guy, Captain, 60
Halleck, General H.W., appointed Commander of the Department of the
Missouri, 10;
his views as to movements in Tennessee, 25, 26;
orders to Grant, 27, 28, 38;
despatch after Donelson, 64;
assigned to command Department of the Mississippi, 67, 99;
instructions to Pope, 74, 82 et seq.;
congratulations to Pope, 90;
his plans against Corinth, etc., 91 et seq.;
traits of, 92;
orders to Grant, 93 et seq.;
instructions to Buell, 97;
arrives at Pittsburg Landing, 183-186;
closes in on Corinth, 189;
despatches to, 190;
despatch from, 191
Hamburg Landing, 100
Hamilton, General Schuyler, 69, 70 et seq., 184, 190
Hammock, Lieutenant, 122
Hannibal, Mo., 8
Hanson, Colonel, 41, 55
Hardcastle, Major, 122
Hardee, General, 127, 132, 161, 170
Hare, Colonel, 140
Harris, Governor, 152
Haynes, Colonel Milton A., 37, 42
Haywood, Colonel, 80
Hazen, General, 164, 178
Heiman, Colonel, 30, 42, 48 et seq.
Heiman, Fort, 28
Helena, Ark., 66
Helm, Colonel, 59
Henderson, Colonel, 80
Henry, Fort, see Fort Henry
Hickenlooper, Captain, 103, 134
Hickman Creek, 33
Hickman, Ky., 18
Hildebrand, 102, 130
Hindman, General, 127, 144
Hodgson, Captain, 128
Hollins, Commodore, 69, 76 et seq.
"Hornet's Nest," the, 144
Hopkinsville, 37
Houghtaling, Captain, 70
Hubbard, Major, 11
Hudson, Captain, 80
Humboldt, 91
Hunter, General David, 9;
appointed to command the Department of the West, 10, 64
Hurlbut, General S.A., 96;
at Shiloh, 101 et seq.; 127, 138, 153 et seq., 158, 161, 172, 173,
177, 181, 187, 188
Illinois, troops of. Regiments:
First, 70;
Second, 71, 116;
Fourth, 32, 39, 182;
Seventh, 39, 41, 56, 70, 71, 113;
Eighth, 38, 45, 50, 113, 140, 178;
Ninth, 39, 113, 139, 143, 150;
Tenth, 70, 75;
Eleventh, 39, 52, 53, 113, 116;
Twelfth, 39, 113;
Thirteenth, 50;
Fourteenth, 113, 140;
Fifteenth, 113, 140;
Sixteenth, 70, 75;
Seventeenth, 17, 42, 56, 113, 128, 139, 172;
Eighteenth, 38, 45, 50, 113, 140, 178;
Twentieth, 17, 39, 113, 135, 139, 172;
Twenty-second, 20, 22, 23;
Twenty-fifth, 42;
Twenty-sixth, 70, 72;
Twenty-seventh, 20, 21, 23;
Twenty-eighth, 113, 154, 173, 178;
Twenty-ninth, 38, 45, 50, 113;
Thirtieth, 20, 38, 50;
Thirty-first, 20, 38, 51, 52, 53;
Thirty-second, 53, 113, 152, 154;
Fortieth, 96, 114, 131, 132, 162, 166;
Forty-first, 39, 113, 147, 148, 152, 154;
Forty-second, 84, 172;
Forty-third, 113, 134, 139;
Forty-fifth, 39, 42, 113, 139, 172;
Forty-sixth, 44, 113, 139, 140, 172, 177;
Forty-seventh, 70, 72;
Forty-eighth, 39, 42, 113, 136, 139, 172;
Forty-ninth, 42, 56, 113, 139, 172;
Fiftieth, 39, 113;
Fifty-first, 70;
Fifty-second, 113;
Fifty-fifth, 114, 148, 149;
Fifty-seventh, 44, 113;
Fifty-eighth, 44, 53, 113, 146, 147;
Sixty-first, 114, 142, 148.
Batteries:
First, 20, 23, 39, 52, 53, 102, 115, 126, 127, 128, 136, 175;
Second, 115
Indiana, troops of. Regiments:
Eleventh, 56, 115, 175;
Seventeenth, 148;
Twenty-third, 116;
Twenty-fourth, 115, 163;
Twenty-fifth, 39, 41, 55, 113, 140, 148;
Thirty-first, 44, 113, 148, 150;
Thirty-second, 171;
Thirty-fourth, 70;
Thirty-sixth, 105, 158;
Forty-third, 70;
Forty-fourth, 44, 113, 148;
Forty-sixth, 70;
Forty-seventh, 70;
Fifty-second, 39, 54, 55, 56;
Fifty-sixth, 39;
Fifty-ninth, 70.
Batteries:
Sixth (Behr), 115, 127, 131;
Ninth (Thompson), 116, 175
Indian Creek, 33
Indian Ford, St. François River, Ark., 19
Iowa, troops of. Regiments:
First, 6;
Second, 39, 55, 56,70, 87, 113, 134, 139, 146, 166, 178, 187;
Third, 113, 147, 148, 151, 154, 156, 177;
Fifth, 70;
Sixth, 114, 133, 140;
Seventh, 20, 22, 23, 39, 41, 55, 113, 146, 178;
Eighth, 113, 143, 146, 147;
Eleventh, 113, 135;
Twelfth, 39, 113, 146, 147;
Thirteenth, 113, 139;
Fourteenth,39, 43, 55, 111, 139,146, 147;
Fifteenth, 114, 131;
Sixteenth, 114, 131
Ironton, Mo., 7
Island Number Eight, 67
Island Number Ten, 19, 64;
situation and description of, 66 et seq.;
canal at, 81, 82;
capture of, 87, 88
Jackson, Camp, 2
Jackson, Captain, 60
Jackson, General, 142, 157
Jackson, Governor, powers conferred on, by the State Legislature, 1;
proclamation by, 2;
movements of, 4
Jefferson City, Mo., 2, 7
John's Bayou, 81
Johnson, Major, 61
Johnson, General Bushrod R., 36, 49;
escape of, 63, 135
Johnston, General Albert Sydney, 12;
evacuates Bowling Green, 64;
at Corinth, 81;
his movements to join Beauregard, 92, 122, 141;
death of, 153;
army of, 178
Johnston, Preston, 122
Jones, Lieutenant, 80
Jordan, Colonel, 126
Kansas, troops of. Regiments: First, 6
Kennedy, Colonel, 80
Kentucky, attitude of, with regard to the Rebellion, 18
Kentucky, troops of. Regiments:
Fourth, 164, 171;
Eighth, 61;
Seventeenth, 44, 113, 151;
Twenty-fifth, 44, 50, 113, 151
Kirk, 163, 170, 171, 172
Lauman, Colonel J.G., 39, 55, 147
Lawler, Colonel, 50
Lebanon, Mo., 12
Lexington, Mo., 4, 8;
surrender of, 9
"Lexington," gunboat, 155
Lick Creek, 99, 141, 177
Lincoln, Abraham, President of the United States, 10;
his War Order No. 3, 98
Logan, Colonel (afterward General) John A., 50, 188
Loomis, Colonel J.W., 70, 141
Loss, Confederate, 180; National, 181
Lothrop, Major W.L., 70 et seq.
Louisiana, troops of. Regiments:
Fourth, 144;
Eleventh, 22, 80;
Twelfth, 80;
Eighteenth, 138
Louisville & Nashville Railroad, 24
Louisville, the, 46
Lyon, General Nathaniel, 2, 4, 5;
death of, at the battle of Wilson Creek, 6
Lytle, Colonel, 152
Mackall, General W.W., 83, 87, 88
Madrid Bend, 66 et seq.
Maney, Captain, 42 et seq., 60
Mann, Captain, 101
Mann's battery, 148 (see Artillery)
Marsh, Colonel, 134, 139
Marshal, Captain L.H., 86
Martin, Colonel, 165
Mayfield, Ky., 26
McAlister, Captain, 31
McArthur, Colonel John, 39, 47
McArthur, General, 134, 139, 178
McClellan, General G.B., his despatch as to Grant, 94;
relieved from general command, 95, 98
McClernand, General J., at Pittsburg Landing, 102 et seq.
McClernand, General J.A., 130, 158, 159, 161, 167, 171 et seq., 177, 178;
at Belmont, 20 et seq.;
march of, toward Mayfield, Ky., 27;
commands the advance in expedition against Fort Henry, 28;
at Fort Donelson, 38 et seq.;
made Major-General, 65;
his loss in guns, 181;
mentioned, 184, 186, 188
McCook, 163, 166, 167, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 177, 178, 189
McCoun, General, 68, 76 et seq.
McCulloch, General Ben., 4 et seq., 12, 13, 14
McDowell, Colonel, 102
McDowell, General, 131
McIntosh, General, 14
McKingstry, General, 9
McNulty, Lieutenant, 122
McPherson, Lieutenant-Colonel, 55
Memphis & Charleston Railroad, 91
Memphis & Ohio Railroad, 24
Memphis, Tenn., 91, 191
Mendenhall, 165, 167, 168, 169
Michigan, troops of. Regiments:
Second, 70, 187;
Third, 70;
Twelfth, 114, 142;
Fifteenth, 169, 179.
Batteries:
First, 70;
Second (Ross), 70;
Third, 70
Miller, Colonel, 182
Mill Spring, Ky., engagement at, 27
Mississippi & Tennessee Railroad, 91
Mississippi, Department of, defined, 65
Mississippi River, description of the shores of, 66 et seq.
Mississippi, troops of. Regiments:
Third, 122;
Sixth, 129, 132;
Fourteenth, 51, 59;
Twentieth, 45, 48, 49, 54, 57, 59;
Twenty-sixth, 48, 49;
Colonel Baker's, 80
Missouri, course of, as to secession, 1
Missouri, Department of the, 10
Missouri, troops of. Regiments:
First, 6;
Eighth, 56, 115, 116;
Eleventh, 17, 70, 72;
Twelfth, 13;
Thirteenth, 39, 113, 130, 134, 139, 143, 173;
Fourteenth, 113, 143, 163, 178;
Eighteenth, 114, 142;
Twenty-first, 114, 118, 123, 141, 142;
Twenty-second, 70;
Twenty-third, 114, 131, 142;
Twenty-fifth, 114, 122, 123, 124, 141, 142;
Twenty-sixth, 70.
Batteries:
First (Buell's), 70, 72, 115, 116
Mitchell, General O.M., 25
Mobile & Ohio R.R., 91
Monterey, Tenn., 177, 186
Montgomery, Ala., 91
Moore, Colonel, 123, 141
Morgan, Colonel J.D., 70
Morrison, Colonel W.R., 39, 42
Mouton, Colonel, 138
Mower, Captain, 75
Mulligan, Colonel, 8, 9
Munford, Captain, 122
Murray, Ky., 26
Mussel Shoals, Tennessee River, 32
Nashville, Tenn., contemplated movement against, 26
Nebraska, troops of. Regiments:
First, 44, 53, 116, 175
Neely, Colonel, 80
Nelson, General, 130, 158, 161, 163 et seq., 172, 176 et seq., 187
New Madrid, Mo., 19;
situation of, 66;
evacuation, 77, 78
New Orleans, Jackson, & Great Northern R.R., 91
Nispel, Lieutenant, 136
Norfolk, Ky., 19
Oak Creek, 100, 129, 135, 176, 177
Oglesby, Colonel R.J., 19, 31, 38, et seq.
Ohio, troops of. Regiments:
Third, 173;
Fourth, 116;
Fifth, 116;
Sixth, 105, 158, 166;
Twentieth, 44, 48, 56, 62, 116, 163, 174, 175, 177;
Twenty-fourth, 105, 158;
Twenty-seventh, 70, 71;
Thirty-ninth, 70, 71, 75;
Forty-first, 165;
Forty-third, 70, 86;
Forty-sixth, 53, 96, 114, 133, 140;
Forty-seventh, 53;
Forty-eighth, 114, 134, 155, 162, 173;
Forty-ninth, 172;
Fifty-third, 102, 114, 126, 127, 128, 130, 134, 139, 172, 173;
Fifty-fourth, 114, 148, 149;
Fifty-sixth, 116, 163;
Fifty-seventh, 102, 114, 126, 128, 129, 130, 134, 173;
Fifty-eighth, 44, 53, 116;
Sixty-third, 70;
Sixty-eighth, 116, 163;
Seventieth, 114, 129, 134;
Seventy-first, 114, 148, 173;
Seventy-second, 114;
Seventy-sixth, 44, 53, 113, 175;
Seventy-seventh, 114, 117, 126, 128, 129, 130, 134, 173;
Seventy-eighth, 116;
Eighty-first, 113, 134, 139, 143, 163, 172, 173, 178.
Batteries:
Fifth, 103, 115;
Eighth (Margraff's), 115;
Eleventh (Sands'), 70;
Thirteenth (Myers'), 115, 150
Osage River, the, 10
Osceola, Mo., 10
Osterhaus, Colonel, 14
Otterville, Mo., 11
Owl Creek, 99, 132, 160, 167, 170, 174
Paducah, Ky., 18
Paine, General, 86
Palmer, General J.N., 69, 70
Palmyra, Mo., 8
_Patriot_, the Nashville, cited, 60, 61
Peabody, Colonel, 122, 141
Pearce, General, 4
Pea Ridge, battle of, 12, 13 et seq.
Perczell, Colonel N., 70
Phelps, Lieutenant, 30
Pillow, Fort, 19, 66, 80 (see Artillery)
Pillow, General G.H., 21;
at Fort Donelson, 36, 45 et seq.;
his advice in the Council at Fort Donelson, 57;
leaves Fort Donelson, 59
Pilot Knob, Mo., 16
"Pittsburg," the, 46
Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., 130 et seq., 162, 163, 181;
selected as the place of assembly of the army in West Tennessee, 99
Pleasant Point, Tenn., 79
Plummer, Colonel J.B. (afterward General), 17, 69, 70
Polk, General Leonidas, 18, 19, 128, 161, 169, 170;
evacuates Columbus, 66;
occupies Island Number Ten, 68
Pond, Colonel, 160, 169, 174
Pond, General, 129
Pope, General John, 7, 9, 10;
made Major-General, 65;
appointed to command the force against New Madrid and Island Number Ten, 66;
lands at Commerce, 69;
his conduct of the New Madrid campaign, 74 et seq.;
goes into camp at Hamburg, 183;
commands left wing of the Army of the Mississippi, 184;
advances from Hamburg, 186;
occupies Farmington, 187, 189, 190;
pushes on to Corinth, 191
Porter, Captain (afterward Commodore and Admiral), at Fort Henry, 30, 60
Powell, General, 142
Prentiss, General, at Pittsburg Landing, 102 et seq.;
referred to, 158, 159;
his loss in guns, 181
Price, General Sterling, 1, 2 et seq.; 7, 8, 10 et seq., 184
Pride, Colonel, 131
Pugh, Colonel, 151, 154
Purdy road, 136
Purdy, Tenn., 101
Raith, Colonel, 129
Rawlins, Captain (afterward General), 53
Reardon, Colonel, 134
Reelfoot, Lake, 67
Rice, Lieutenant-Colonel, 130
Rienzi, 190
Rolla, Mo., 4, 7, 12
Rosecrans, General, 184, 190, 191
Ross, Colonel, 56
Rousseau, 163-169, 170-171, 172-174, 175
Ruggles, General, 145, 154, 157, 170
Russell, Colonel, 135, 169, 170
"Russell's," position of, 187
Russellville, Ky., 37
Savannah, Tenn., 97
Schofield, Captain, 17
Schwartz, Captain, 31, 49
Schwartz's battery, 136 (see Artillery)
Sedalia, Mo., 10
Selma, Ala., 91
Shaver, Colonel, 123, 127
Shaw, Colonel, 147
Sheridan, Colonel P.H., assigned to Second Michigan Cavalry, 187
Sherman, General W.T., suggestions of, to General Halleck, 25;
assigned to command Military District of Cairo, 65;
at Pittsburg Landing, 101 et seq.;
in the expedition up the Tennessee, 96, 122 et seq.;
referred to, 158, 174, 175, 177;
his loss in guns, 181;
mentioned, 182, 187, 188, 190
Shiloh, battlefield of, described, 99 et seq.;
the battle of, 122 et seq.;
loss on Sunday, 159
Shiloh church, 100, 169, 172, 174, 175, 176
Sigel, General Franz, 4, 9, 11 et seq.
Sikeston, 74
Slack, Colonel J.R., 70
Smith, Colonel I.L.K., 70
Smith, Colonel M.L., 56
Smith, Colonel W.S., 166, 167, 168
Smith, General C.F., in command at Paducah, 18;
march of, toward Mayfield, and report, 27;
in the Henry and Donelson campaign, 28 et seq.;
at Fort Donelson, 38 et seq.;
storms the works at Donelson, 55;
made Major-General, 65;
traits of, 92;
sent to Clarksville, 93;
death of, 104
Smith, General, 143
Smithland, Ky., 19
Snake Creek, 99, 134, 143, 162 et seq.; 174
Springfield, Mo., 4, 7, 12
Stanley, General D.S., 69, 76 et seq.; 186, 187
Statham, General, 151
St. Charles, Mo., 7
Stewart, Captain R. C, 32, 80
Stewart, General A.P., 76; report of, 77, 133, 169, 170
Stewart, General, 68
St. Joseph, Mo., 8
St. Louis, events at, in the spring of 1861, 2
St. Louis, the, 30, 46
Stony Lonesome, 162, 163
Stuart, Colonel, 173, 174
Stuart, General, 143, 158, 159
Sturgis, Major, 6
Sugar Creek, Ark., 12
Sullivan, Colonel, 173
Sweeney, Colonel, 146
Sweeney, General, 143
Syracuse, Mo., 9
Taylor, Captain, 31, 102
Taylor, Major, 129, 172, 173
Taylor's battery, 136 (see Artillery)
Tennessee, troops of. Regiments:
First, 164;
Second, 21, 132;
Third, 51, 55;
Fourth, 80;
Fifth, 80, 132;
Tenth, 42;
Fifteenth, 22;
Eighteenth, 41, 51, 55;
Twenty-third, 132;
Twenty-fourth, 132;
Twenty-sixth, 48;
Thirtieth, 48, 55;
Thirty-first, 80;
Forty-first, 55;
Forty-second, 48;
Forty-fifth, 152;
Forty-eighth, 42;
Forty-ninth, 48, 55, 62;
Fiftieth, 48, 55;
Fifty-second, 149;
Fifty-third, 42;
One Hundred and Fifty-fourth, 164;
Colonel Baker's, 80
Terrill, 165, 166
Terry, Major, 80
Thayer, Colonel John M., 44
Thomas, General, 184, 187, 188
Thomas, General G.H., wins battle of Mill Springs, Ky., 27
Thomas, General L., 95
Thompson, Colonel J., 124
Thompson, Colonel, report of, 176
Thompson, Fort, 69, 76
Thompson, General Jefferson, 16, 71
Thorn, Lieutenant, 147
Thurber, Lieutenant, 176
Tilghman, General L., at Paducah, 18;
at Fort Henry, 29 et seq.
Timony, Captain, 136
Tipton, Mo., 9
Tiptonville, Tenn., 67
Totten, Captain, 5
Trabue, General, 132, 170, 171
Trubeau, General, 68
Tuttle, Colonel, 166, 178
Tuttle, General, 134, 139
Tyler, gunboat, Lieutenant Gwin, 46, 154
Union City, Tenn., 68
United States, troops of. Regiments:
First, 71, 75, 86;
Fourth, 71
Van Dorn, General Earl, 12 et seq., 184
Van Horn, Lieutenant-Colonel, 123
Veatch, Colonel, 41, 101
Veatch, General, 139, 172, 178
Versailles, Mo., 9
Vicksburg, Miss., 191
Virginia, troops of. Regiments:
Thirty-sixth, 51;
Fiftieth, 51
Wallace, Colonel (afterward General) Lewis, 38 et seq., 44 et seq.;
made major-general, 65;
in the Tennessee expedition, 97, 131, 164, 170, 172, 175, 177, 184
Wallace, Colonel (afterward General) W.H.L., 31, 39;
in the Tennessee expedition, 96;
at Pittsburg Landing, 104 et seq., 130, 153, 155, 158, 159, 161, 162,
166, 172, 177;
death of, 178
Walke, Commander Henry, 20, 84 et seq.
Walker, Colonel L.M., 69
Walker, General, 89
Warrensburg, Mo., 11
Warsaw, Mo., 10
Waterhouse, 129
Watson's Landing, 86
Webster, Colonel J.D., 34, 155
Western District, limits of, 7
Wheeler, Captain, 80
Whittlesy, Colonel Charles, 25, 56, 62;
report of, 176
Williams, Colonel, 147
Willich, Colonel, 171
Wilson Creek, Mo., engagement at, 5 et seq.;
reconnoissance at, 10
Wilson's Bayou, 81
Wisconsin, troops of. Regiments:
Eighth, 17, 70;
Fourteenth, 114, 166, 179;
Fifteenth, 70;
Sixteenth, 103, 114, 141, 142, 148;
Eighteenth, 114, 142.
Batteries:
Fifth, 70;
Sixth, 70;
Seventh, 70
Withers, General, 149, 156, 157, 165
Wood, Captain, 53
Wood, General, 129, 135, 175, 177, 182
Woodyard, Lieutenant-Colonel, 141
Worthington, Colonel W.H., 70
Wright, Colonel Crafts, 130
Wynn's Ferry Road, 42
Yate, Major, 70
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