Bragg’s efforts to whip the army into shape were handicapped by the necessity to fortify Corinth in case General U. S. Grant should suddenly strike. Still, some four miles of breastworks were constructed around Corinth in late March.46 Bragg was also handicapped by a wide spread sickness among the officers and enlisted men. Corinth possessed but limited supplies of pure water, and the army, lacking knowledge of proper methods of sanitation, quickly managed to pollute most of these.47 The continuing cold, wet weather which plagued the Southerners in Tennessee and Kentucky wreaked devastation in the ranks at Corinth. Many of the Rebels were already in poor condition from the winter’s campaigning in Kentucky, and General Bragg’s soldiers suffered severely after their stay in sunny Florida.48 Blankets, raincoats, uniforms and even shoes were in short supply, even for officers, which added to the problems.49 The Twentieth Tennessee was issued only thirty-three pairs of good boots, so Colonel Joel Battle decided the only fair way of distributing the foot gear was to let the men settle it with a shooting match. Firing at two hundred yard range targets, the three best shots in each company received a pair of shoes—a unique method of military supply distribution.50
Just three hours horseback ride away, General U. S. Grant’s army was also undergoing a few problems. The single biggest thing wrong with the Union army was a malady which all of the men from private to general were suffering—overconfidence. On March 29, Grant wrote his beloved wife, Julia, that “a big fight may be looked for some place before a great while which it appears to me will be the last in the West.” He went on to say that he was completely confident of success.51 Three days later Grant’s youngest divisional commander, Brigadier General Lew Wallace, wrote an old friend that the rebellion “is closing fast,” and continuing, Wallace predicted that the Union army would have complete control of the Mississippi River before the end of April.52
Before the expedition started up the Tennessee River, Governor S. J. Kirkwood of Iowa visited the troops, telling them that the “backbone of the rebellion was broken,” and that the war was nearly over. According to the governor, all of the soldiers would be home by the Fourth of July.53 Indeed, Secretary of War Stanton was so optimistic about Union military prospects that on April 3, he issued General Order No. 33, which stated that “the recruiting service for volunteers will be discontinued in every state from this date.”54 With their military and civilian leaders in such optimistic spirits over the progress of the war, the Union rank and file could hardly be blamed for sharing the optimistic certainty.55
Private Enoch Colby, Jr., Battery A, First Illinois Light Artillery, wrote home that “we shall not have more than one more fight, and that will probably be at Corinth, Mississippi.”56 Lieutenant Payson Shumway, Fourteenth Illinois, wrote his wife, Hattie, that “it is generally thought that our enemy will re treat as we advance.” Shumway continued, “I do not anticipate any fighting very soon, if at all.”57
Private Elijah Shepard believed that “we have the revels [Rebels] now as it were almost in our power. They perfectly cowed down, they have lost all hope of conquering us.” Shepard went on to say that many of the men were afraid to take leave or go home for fear of missing the end of the war.58
Whatever the state of the army’s thinking, the men were still happy to see reinforcements arriving by steamer in a steady stream. But the new arrivals gave General Grant a number of fairly significant problems. Obviously one was a question of organization. Grant had to decide what divisions to assign the new units to. Finally the army commander handled the matter by creating a completely new division, the Sixth, to be led by Brigadier General Benjamin M. Prentiss.59
Forty-two year old Prentiss was born in Virginia, but grew up in Missouri and Illinois. During the Mormon troubles, he served as a junior officer in the Illinois Militia.60 When the Mexican War broke out, Prentiss en listed in the First Illinois. By a peculiar quirk of fate, W. H. L. Wallace served in the same company as Prentiss. Indeed, when Prentiss was promoted to company commander, Wallace replaced him as first lieutenant, both men participating in the Battle of Buena Vista.61 Prentiss managed to survive the war to become a lawyer in his adopted state. On the out break of hostilities Prentiss was commissioned colonel of the Tenth Illinois Infantry, but was soon promoted to brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from May 7. Grant and Prentiss were not on the very best terms, but his appointment must reflect Grant’s confidence in him.
Another administrative problem concerned the commander of the Second Division, Brigadier General C. F. Smith. The scratch on his leg refused to heal, and the white-haired veteran was confined to his upstairs bed in the W. H. Cherry House, unable to exercise command over his unit. The mantle of his Second Division fell upon the lean, long-faced W. H. L. Wallace. Appointed brigadier general of volunteers on March 2, 1862, William H. L. Wallace was formally directed to take charge of the Second Division on April 3.62
The new divisional commander was forty years old, and had served as a company grade officer in the First Illinois Infantry during the Mexican War. A capable peacetime attorney and Illinois politician, Wallace was a very devoted supporter of the Union. Although he blamed the abolitionists for starting the war, the sandy haired, gray-eyed Wallace was still ready to uphold the national flag.63
One of Grant’s lesser difficulties was moving the First Division from Savannah to Pittsburg Landing. Most of the transports had been sent back to Kentucky to pick up reinforcements or supplies, and Grant was forced to make the switch with only two steamers, one of them a tiny vessel.
The divisional transfer began on March 21 but was not completed for several days. The weather was warm and wet, but the army established a fairly rigorous program of drill. Either because he begrudged the time lost to training or simply felt it unnecessary, Grant neglected to erect the fortifications his superior Henry Halleck had directed.64
Training schedules were considerably handicapped by the lack of professional military training on the part of most of Grant’s officers. As was the case in the Confederate army, the majority of Union officers possessed very little military background, except a stint in the militia or with the volunteers in the Mexican War.
Perhaps Colonel William Shaw, Fourteenth Iowa, was typical as any. Educated in the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, Shaw served in the Second Kentucky Infantry during the Mexican War and remained in the Southwest as an adventurer, businessman, and sometimes Indian fighter. In 1849, he was a member of the first party to cross the desolate, trackless region between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Fort Smith, Arkansas.65
Colonel Joseph Woods, Twelfth Iowa, was a West Point graduate, while Colonel Marcellus Crocker, Thirteenth Iowa, had spent two years at the Military Academy before ill health forced his resignation.66 Colonel Hugh T. Reid, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, was fifty years old and a graduate of Bloomington, Indiana, College. Immigrating to Iowa, he practiced law, frequently serving as district attorney for almost a quarter of a century be fore entering the U. S. Army in 1861 as a colonel of volunteers. Major, later Secretary of War, William Belknap of the same regiment possessed only a slightly more martial back ground. Born at Newburgh, New York, in 1829, Belknap later was graduated from Princeton College. He later practiced law in his adopted state of Iowa. Originally a Douglas Democrat, Belknap was converted to the Republican Party on the out break of the Civil War. While residing in Keokuk, he entered the local militia company, the City Rifles, which he rose to command. Partly due to a martial relationship with Colonel Reid and partly to his military training and political tie-ups, Belknap was commissioned major of the Fifteenth Iowa, November 1861.67
The Forty-third Illinois Regiment’s position was a little different. Its colonel was Julius Raith, a German-American veteran of the Mexican War, in which he had commanded a company in the Second Illinois Volunteers. When the Civil War broke out Raith helped a prominent Illinois German-American, Gustave Koerner, organize a German regiment. Koerner soon severed his relationship with the regiment and Raith was appointed colonel by the gover
nor of Illinois.
To serve as lieutenant colonel, Julius Raith called an old friend and comrade, Adolph Engelmann, a fifty-two year old native of Bavaria. Engelmann’s family immigrated to America back in 1833, but the future Civil War officer remained behind to study jurisprudence in Heidelberg, Munich, and Jena. Becoming involved in a revolutionary plot at Frankfort, Germany, Engelmann was forced to flee to France and finally to the United States. In St. Louis, Missouri, he was admitted to the bar, and he earned a living as an attorney, notary, and realtor. In 1840, Engelmann moved to the predominantly German-American settlement of Belleville, Illinois. Lawyer, circuit clerk, and deputy, Engelmann enlisted as a second lieutenant in the Second Illinois Regiment on June 16, 1846. After being wounded at Buena Vista, Lieutenant Engelmann was honorably discharged on June 18, 1847. In the years after the war, Engelmann became known as one of the most important leaders of the large German elements in Illinois and as publisher of the Belleville Zeitung, the first prominent German newspaper in the state of Illinois. Adolph Engelmann held various political offices before 1861. His appointment as lieutenant colonel of the German Forty-third Illinois Infantry helped solidify pro-Unionist feelings among the extremely large group of both first and second generation Germans in the state.68
Officers like Shaw, Reid, Belknap, Raith, and Engelmann usually performed fairly capably, but the presence of a large number of amateur soldiers was bound to cause some trouble. Some of the field officers were incapable of maintaining discipline with their men, while others spent too much time drinking or trying to curry favor with the politicians back home. Many officers, some of whom later turned out to be capable, were put under arrest at Pittsburg.
Colonel David Moore, Twenty-first Missouri, was one of the first officers to cross swords with General Grant’s Regular Army idea of discipline. Moore was placed under arrest and tried for negligence at Savannah on March 28, but the court-martial board finally cleared him.69 Scots-born ex-militia officer, Colonel John McArthur, commanding the Second Brigade of the Second Division, ran afoul of military justice and was immediately relieved of his duties. He would, how ever, be restored to his command on the morning of April 6, 1862, by General W. H. L. Wallace. Wallace and the other senior officers were kept busy running back and forth to Savannah to take in the numerous court-martial proceedings which arose at this time.70
It was not only the colonels who were getting into trouble, but the lower grades as well. Captain Joseph Shannon, Fourteenth Iowa, drank too much whiskey, and he tried to improperly unload some supplies at the Landing for his regiment without waiting for his turn. An Ohio field officer, recognizing that the Iowa captain was drunk, ordered Shannon placed under arrest, but the Iowan refused to submit, exclaiming that he was officer of the day. The real officer of the day rode up, and the besotted Shannon tried to arrest him. After a few rather confused minutes, Captain Shannon wound up under arrest and headed for a fast court-martial. Colonel Shaw intervened and was finally able to get the charge dropped before the matter reached headquarters.71
Another bad row developed between Lieutenant Colonel F. W. Ellis, Fifteenth Illinois, and Lieutenant Colonel Markoe Cummins, Sixth Iowa. Both regimental commanders espied a good camp site and both tried to claim it. The men had a public rhubarb over the spot, but Ellis eventually won the dispute and the Fifteenth Illinois claimed his prize.72
Actually good camping space was not particularly scarce. There was enough cleared to provide each regiment with an abundance of room for all its facilities. Each company was assigned five or six large tents, usually of the famous Sibley variety. The enlisted men lived in these, with the officers and noncoms bunking in extra tents. With the warm weather and early spring, camping out proved fairly pleasant. The only thing particularly bad was the frequent rains. The Tennessee River continued to rise, and much of the low ground around the Landing was submerged. All of the camp area stayed muddy, making it difficult for the unlucky soldiers to keep their boots and uniforms clean and dry. For some strange reason, the whole area was alive with turkey buzzards. Thousands of these ugly creatures winged their way around the camp area, especially near the Landing.73
Modern methods of sanitation were still in their infancy in the Civil War, and some of Grant’s regiments suffered severely from disease, usually typhoid or some other ailment brought on by permitting the water supply to become polluted.74 If the water was often bad, at least the weather was slowly improving. Orders came through for the men to pack up their heavy clothes and send them home. The steamers that carried their winter clothing to St. Louis and Paducah returned with much welcomed mail from home and of course the usual assortment of two-week-old newspapers, which the men devoured anyway.75
In their off duty time the Union soldiers sat under trees or inside their tents playing euchre, sledge, poker, and for the more intellectual minded, whist or reading, with the rain pattering the roofs of the tents. When the weather permitted, or the soldiers simply decided to go outside anyway, there were the interminable ball games in addition to running, jumping, and wrestling matches for the more strenuous minded.76
The food was fair, at least for those units blessed with competent cooks. One cavalry battalion boasted of its fine coffee and biscuits, but other units suffered from stomach ailments caused by inexperienced cooks. The Twenty-fifth Indiana Infantry dined on fried potatoes, meat, hash, rice, beans, hominy, pies, and biscuits. For the soldiers with an extra sweet tooth it was only necessary to visit one of the numerous sutlers camped about near the Landing who sold fruits, preserves, jelly, catsup, apple butter, and a host of other delicacies, and occasionally perhaps an unofficial shot of bad whiskey.77
To men on such a pleasant regime, life seemed fairly enjoyable, if a little monotonous at times. The frequent company and battalion drills were no real hardship, while the numerous reviews by General Grant and the other big brass were looked on with some favor, as it gave the ordinary soldier a chance to see what a real live general looked like. The only fly in the ointment was that some of the regimental officers occasionally became somewhat carried away with their training schedules. Instead of carrying out the routine training exercises prescribed from above, some of them added little wrinkles of their own. The farm and small town boys of the Twenty-fifth Missouri were luckier than most, for they found themselves using a large tree for target practice with their rifles. Most of the men in the regiment were experienced small game hunters, but they soon discovered that shooting a heavy army rifle was a slightly different proposition. With pure Teutonic thoroughness, Colonel Raith, Forty-third Illinois, insisted on a rigid program of training with the bayonet. General McClernand personally watched his German- Americans go through their paces and complimented them on their skill with the wicked-looking steel blades.78
Each warm spring day faded into the next for the Union army at Pittsburg Landing. It was a time of training and anticipation. Within a few days these soldiers would strike their tents and move southward toward the little Mississippi town of Corinth. Then there would be one more big fight that would end the war, and the Union soldiers could all go home.
The Union Leaders
Unless otherwise credited, all photos are courtesy of Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders
Col. Jacob Ammen
Col. Ralph P. Buckland
Brig. Gen. Jeremiah T. Boyle
Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell
Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden
Brig. Gen. James A. Garfield
Col. Marcellus Crocker
Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant
Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck
Brig. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut
Col. William B. Hazen
Brig. Gen. Jacob G. Lauman
Brig. Gen. John McArthur
Brig. Gen. Alexander McD. McCook
Brig. Gen. John A. McClernand
Lieut. Col. James B. McPherson
Brig. Gen. William Nelson
Brig. Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau
; Brig. Gen. Benjamin M. Prentiss
Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman
Maj. Gen. Charles F. Smith
Col. William Sooy Smith
Col. Morgan L. Smith
Col. David Stuart
Col. Thomas W. Sweeny
Miller’s Photographic History
Col. James M. Tuttle
Col. John M. Thayer
Col. James C. Veatch
Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace
Brig. Gen. W. H. L. Wallace
Chapter 6
The March to Shiloh
THE FIRST TWO WEEKS of the Union occupation of Pittsburg and Crump’s Landing passed comparatively quietly. General U. S. Grant had orders to avoid trouble, and the Southerners were reluctant to start anything until they had enough strength available to finish it. But on the last day of March, small-scale skirmishing began. On Monday, Southern patrols applied pressure on advanced Union picket posts around Adamsville, Tennessee. General Lew Wallace sent out additional cavalry to protect his advanced posts, but Confederates abruptly attacked and routed the reinforcement party, wounding and capturing three members of the Fifth Ohio Cavalry. Lew Wallace simply wrote the affair off as a mere skirmish, but it did mark a new phase in military activities along the Union position. From now on, Confederate cavalry would increasingly take the offensive, probing Union positions and pinning down the Federal cavalry so as to deprive Grant’s army of intelligence.1
Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 Page 12