Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862

by Edward Cunningham

  Pickets reached Stuart’s headquarters with the news of Confederate troops approaching near Locust Grove Run, and Stuart soon was busy attending to forming up his three regiments. Drawn up along the edge of their regimental camps, Stuart’s men were only dimly aware of the seriousness of the situation. The firing was in the distance, and perhaps some of the men wondered if they would be involved at all. A devoted patriot, Stuart was eager for action, sensing that battle might give him a chance to redeem his reputation, tattered by his being named as correspondent in the divorce case of Mrs. Isaac Burch of Illinois.51

  About 7:30 a.m., Stuart received word from Prentiss that the Sixth Division was under assault and, presumably, warning the colonel to be on the lookout. A little later one of Stuart’s pickets ran in with news that Confederate troops were moving on the Bark Road. Just after 8:00 a.m., Stuart, looking through his binoculars into the distance, spotted the waving flag of Colonel Daniel Adams’ First Louisiana fluttering above Prentiss’ camp. Stuart dispatched his adjutant, Lieutenant Charles Loomis, to notify General Hurlbut that Prentiss was in trouble and to request support for his own brigade.52

  As Lieutenant Loomis rode away to raise the alarm, Stuart deployed his Seventy-first Ohio, Colonel Rodney Mason, with its right resting opposite the eastern end of the camp of the Fifty-fourth Ohio. Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Malmborg was next on the left, and the Fifty-fourth Ohio, Colonel T. Kilby Smith, was just beyond facing south. Colonel Stuart sent two companies of the Fifty-fourth to slow down Withers’ advance, and it was these men who routed the Fifty-second Tennessee so effectively.53

  Chalmers deployed some of his Mississippians forward as skirmishers to cover his advance. The men “fought like Indians behind trees, logs, and lying down” on the ground. Private Joe Seals, Tenth Mississippi, picked off one of Stuart’s men as the fellow carelessly stuck his head from a tree. Seals shot him between the eyes and then hit two more Yanks for good measure.54

  Gage’s Battery went into position and began dropping 3-inch and 12-pound shells on the Federal soldiers. Colonel Stuart could see the advance of Chalmers and, by moving his binoculars to the right, he was able to make out Jackson’s soldiers moving toward the Hamburg Road where it divided into the Purdy and Savannah segments.55

  While swinging around to support the Mississippi brigade, Jackson’s soldiers were shelled by Ross’ Michigan Battery, losing two men killed and three wounded in the Seventeenth Alabama. Except for this brief firing, the brigade was still green as it moved toward Stuart’s camp. The Alabamans and Texans paused to redress their lines and then swarmed into the ravine across the swampy bottom, climbing up the steep side, and moving into the camps. The Southerners fanned out among the tents, looking for Federals. One daredevil Bluecoat started a sniping campaign on the Seventeenth Alabama, firing three shots without hitting anyone. The soldiers of the Alabama regiment waited, and then the Yank made a break for it. He was immediately shot down.56

  Colonel John Moore’s Second Texas ran into a little more opposition, as Stuart’s skirmishers wounded several privates and mortally wounded Captain Belvidere Brooks, who died two days later.57 Some of the Texans fanned out to loot the Fifty-fifth Illinois camp. A large hand mirror and a silver-mounted revolver were among the prizes. One pillager found a large tin box, which when pried open proved to be filled with fresh, crisp greenbacks, ranging from one to one hundred dollars in denomination. The Southerners did not know about this new type of money, and the man who found it “gave the box a contemptuous kick and the crisp notes fluttered around as unheeded as so many autumn leaves.” Another Texan secured a half gallon jug of whiskey and was sharing it with some of his buddies when Major H. G. Runnels showed up, smashing the jug and remarking that the next man who took a drink would be shot.58

  The tempo of the fight was gradually picking up, and by 11:15 or 11:20 a.m., the first real heavy fighting commenced with a charge by the Nineteenth Alabama. After crossing the ravine, twenty-five-year old Colonel Joseph Wheeler and his Nineteenth Alabama made a determined attack on the Seventy-first Ohio. The overweight colonel of the Seventy-first, Rodney Mason, promptly defected to the rear, leaving his soldiers on their own, and many of his men naturally followed him. Wheeler’s men shot the few Ohioans who tried to make a stand, killing Lieutenant Colonel Barton S. Kyle, who attempted to rally the regiment.59 The Alabamans captured a captain and fifty enlisted men as prisoners. The Seventy-first’s major led part of the men down to the Tennessee River, where they were picked up by a gun boat. Another part of the Seventy-first retired to the Landing, where they re joined what was left of the brigade that night.60

  Stuart reshuffled his remaining infantry to cover his now exposed right, but his raw troops began to panic. In a stentorian voice he thundered, “Halt, men, halt; halt, you cowards.” Spurring his horse forward, he galloped among his fleeing men, freely using the flat of his sword to restore order. The two regiments soon were rallied with a loss of only a few hundred yards of ground.61 Stuart stopped the rout at the price of a Rebel bullet through his shoulder, and the actual command of the brigade seems to have passed to Lieu tenant Colonel Oscar Malmborg, a graduate of Stockholm Military Academy, an eight year veteran of the Swedish Army, and a twenty-one month veteran of the Mexican War.62

  Chalmers’ Mississippians and the Second Texas of Jackson’s Brigade kept the pressure up on the Fifty-fourth Ohio and Fifty-fifth Illinois, but the rest of Jackson’s Brigade became entangled with Hurlbut’s left wing, General McArthur’s two regiments, and some additional newcomers, the Fiftieth Illinois of General W. H. L. Wallace’s Third Brigade.

  As the battle began that morning, W. H. L. Wallace’s division was going through its usual Sunday morning routine. In the Second Iowa the men were lined up for company inspection when they heard the “long roll” for the first time in the war. Within minutes Wallace’s regiments were formed up and ready to march toward the sound of gunfire. Supply sergeants hurriedly issued two day’s rations and sixty cartridges per man. Moving out at the double-quick, the division headed for the front, meeting hundreds of stragglers from Prentiss’ division, who were heading for the rear. The scurrying stragglers passed free advice to Wallace’s men, namely for the division to turn about and to go back. One frightened young fellow stood by the road waving his hands and yelling, “For God’s sake don’t go out there! You will all be killed. Come back! Come back!”63

  The battle hardened veterans of the Second Division kept right on going. Meeting with Lieu tenant Colonel Wills De Hass of Sherman’s division, who acted as a guide, Wallace moved his First and Third Brigades for ward to support McClernand and Sherman; his Second Brigade he split up, the regiments being detached to various parts of the battlefield. McArthur took the Ninth and Twelfth Illinois over to help Stuart, and a little later Wallace ordered the Fiftieth Illinois, Colonel T. W. Sweeny’s Third Brigade, to follow McArthur and link up with him on the extreme Un ion left.64 In route to the left, the Ninth Illinois picked up a number of recruits. Sword in hand, a young officer of the regiment insulted, shamed, and threatened a number of stragglers from other units into joining McArthur. The brave, young lieu tenant took each name down in a little notebook, which he placed in his coat pocket. Unfortunately he was killed as his brigade went into action. With their colorful Scots bon nets perched on their heads, McArthur’s “Highlanders” confidently moved into position on Hurlbut’s left.65

  Advancing against Jackson’s Confederate brigade, General McArthur deployed his three regiments, the Fiftieth Illinois having caught up, from left to right: the Fiftieth Illinois, Colonel Moses M. Bane, Twelfth Illinois, Lieutenant Colonel Augustus L. Chetlain, and the Ninth Illinois, Colonel August Mersy, in addition to Lieutenant Peter P. Wood’s Battery A, First Illinois Light Artillery. Jackson’s Alabamans moved forward toward the Illinoisans, while Captain Isodore Girardy’s Battery opened up with four of his guns, blasting the Illinoisans with canister.66

  The Twelfth Illinois took heavy casualties, and Lieutenant
Colonel Chetlain was obliged to withdraw about seventy-five yards to get relief from the gunfire, leaving behind a number of wounded personnel including Captain Frank B. Ferris and Lieutenant Richard K. Randolph.67 Chetlain, suffering for several days from dysentery, had been advised the previous day by the regimental surgeon to go to the hospital at Paducah. Still in camp on Sunday morning, Chetlain watched the regiment pull out without him. The minutes ticked by and finally, arising from his bed, the young officer put on his uniform, mounted a horse, and headed for the front. Just after taking cover from Girardy’s fire, Chetlain had his horse shot from under him by a Confederate sniper, the fall badly bruising the already ailing officer, but he gamely continued in command.68

  In the face of heavy fire from the three Illinois regiments and their supporting battery, the Alabamans’ advance slowed down. Jackson’s left regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Farris, Seventeenth Alabama, pushed in so close to McArthur’s men that they could see Yankees not only on their front but on both sides as well. Six Bluecoats, probably stragglers from earlier actions, suddenly wandered into Farris’ position. These Yanks naively asked whose side the Alabamans were on. The confused Federals were told to surrender or be shot down. All six wisely chose to raise their hands. Then two Northern officers wandered by, one of them leading a horse. Farris’ men yelled for them to surrender. One of them jumped on the horse and tried to ride away, but a company officer brought him down with a pistol bullet. The other Northerner hid behind a tree and began yelling for his men to come up. The officer must have been bluffing, for no more Federals appeared. The Confederates gave the Union officer a chance to surrender, but he gamely peppered them with his revolver. A dozen musket balls spattered his tree before the Northerner dropped his sword and pistol and yelled, “Don’t kill me—I surrender!”69 Un fortunately someone shot him any way.

  McArthur’s men opened with their rifles, and the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Alabama regiments replied in kind. Part of Bane’s Fiftieth Illinois moved upon the Seventeenth Alabama’s right flank, advancing within pistol range. The lieutenant colonel of the Fiftieth fired three pistol balls at Sergeant Bob Mosley and Lieutenant Edward Crenshaw. The two Alabamans returned his fire, their bullets simultaneously breaking one of his legs. Mosley ran out, disarming and capturing the fallen officer. The following day the Seventeenth Alabama returned the lieutenant colonel to his own lines under a flag of truce, a yellow handkerchief tied to a sapling pole.70

  An enthusiastic fire fight developed between Jackson’s left wing and McArthur’s Illinoisans, with probably part of the Forty-first Illinois, Hurlbut’s left wing regiment, joining in. Slugs flew fast and thick, and soon the Seventeenth Alabama ran short of ammunition. Colonel Farris told his men to fire slowly and deliberately. The non-commissioned officers started stripping cartridges from the dead and wounded. Luckily the Yanks began to give ground.71

  At one stage in the fighting some of the Seventeenth Alabamans began to waver. Temporarily forgetting his ecclesiastical duties, the Reverend Isaac Tickenor, the regimental chaplain, moved out and began rallying the men, finally even leading a charge. Grabbing a rifle, he battled like a Trojan, much to the delight and admiration of his flock. According to the soldiers, the Baptist chaplain killed one Federal field grade officer, one captain, and four privates, besides capturing a dozen other fellows.72

  Casualties on both sides were heavy. Girardy’s Battery took a particularly bad beating from McArthur’s riflemen. Lieutenant J. J. Jacobus was mortally wounded, shot through the forehead. Private August Roesel was picked off by an Illinois rifleman, who put a ball through his head while the gunner was in the act of aiming his 6-pounder. Lieutenant Charles Speath caught a ball through his right arm, while Private John Halbert was shot through both arms. Three other enlisted men were badly wounded before McArthur’s riflemen were pushed back. (These were the last casualties the battery sustained that day, although it was repeatedly engaged all afternoon.)73

  There was no massive all-out assault on the extreme Union left. The rugged terrain forbade that. The Confederates attacked in short spurts and rushes, gradually pushing the Yankees backward, gobbling up seventy-five or a hundred yards of terrain at a bite. With little bites, Withers’ Division continued to push closer to the Tennessee River and Pittsburg Landing. By 12:30 or 12:40 p.m., the Mississippians and Alabamans were threatening to roll over the Union left, and there were no other Federal troops between them and the river.

  Chapter 10

  The Crossroads

  EXECUTING A WITHDRAWAL UNDER fire is always a hazardous proposition, but by a few minutes past 10:00 a.m., William Sherman’s Fifth Division, or what was left of it, was established in a new position linking up with John McClernand’s First Division.1 Colonel Jesse Hildebrand stayed with his remaining regiment, the Seventy-seventh Ohio, until it started retiring from the Shiloh Church position. The regiment fell into disorder, the men disappearing in all directions. Hildebrand became separated, lost heart, and washing his hands of the affair galloped over to McClernand’s headquarters, where he attached himself to the First Division as a volunteer aide.2

  Buckland’s three regiments also reached the Purdy Road line in a state of confusion. Cockerill and part of the Seventieth Ohio wandered off, but eventually wound up with McClernand. Colonels Sullivan and Buckland made repeated efforts to rally the brigade, but the more faint-hearted soldiers went scattering in all directions.3 Cursing and yelling, officers managed to collect fragments from the various regiments and formed them up about two hundred yards west of the crossroads.

  General Grant located Sherman and briefly chatted with him as to how things were going. Sherman was riding a wounded horse, and he had a minor wound in one hand. He was covered with dust and mud. Sherman informed Grant that ammunition was running a little short. Dispatching an aide to the rear to order additional cartridges, Grant rode off toward McClernand’s division.4

  Sherman’s ammunition situation was particularly tricky, since the division employed six different types of shoulder arms. Hildebrand’s brigade alone used three different kinds of muskets. Many of Sherman’s soldiers insisted on carrying wounded comrades to the rear, and although many of these fellows later returned to the firing lines, the practice further weakened the already depleted division.5

  Sherman missed McDowell’s brigade. He had ordered the still unengaged unit to fall back on the Purdy Road line, but there was no sign of it.6 Generals Anderson’s and Cleburne’s skirmishers cut the Purdy Road about one-third of a mile west of the crossroads just after McDowell’s lone battery galloped down the road toward the crossroads, save one 12-pound howitzer detached to guard the Owl Creek bridge. McDowell ordered the remaining gun brought up and it was soon in action, showering the Southerners with canister. Musket balls sprinkled all three of McDowell’s regiments, and the colonel decided against trying to force the road. Turning his regiments in a northeasterly direction, McDowell moved across Crescent Field and into Sowell Field before swinging about and linking up with McClernand’s division about 11:30.7 Even with McDowell out of position to help, Sherman still prepared to resist with the regiments of his other two brigades and Raith’s brigade, which also arrived a little earlier at the new line.

  The new Purdy Road position lacked the natural strength of the Shiloh Church ridge, but at least the Union army presented a fairly continuous front for the first time in the battle. Colonel Stuart’s command held the extreme Union left, supported by McArthur’s regiments. Next in line was Hurlbut’s command holding the Peach Orchard, and the remnants of Prentiss’ division, reinforced by Colonel Jacob Tindall’s Twenty-third Missouri Infantry, which occupied part of a sunken road to the right of Hurlbut. W. H. L. Wallace’s division held the rest of the road, commanding a clear field of fire across the northern end of Duncan’s Field. General McClernand’s First Brigade under Colonel Abraham Hare (including two veteran regiments) occupied a position eighty to one hundred yards in front of the Purdy Road and just north of the R
eview Field. The left portion of the brigade was about 300 yards to the south of Wallace’s right flank, and so in a position to receive supporting fire from that unit.

  From left to right Hare’s brigade consisted of Captain James H. Ashmore’s Eighth Illinois, Major Samuel Eaton’s Eighteenth Illinois, and Colonel Marcellus Crocker’s Thirteenth Iowa. Captain Edward McAllister’s Battery D, First Illinois Light Artillery, was positioned on the right flank of the Thirteenth Iowa, perhaps seventy-five yards north of the Purdy Road. To the right of the battery McClernand’s veteran Second Brigade, Colonel C. Carroll Marsh commanding, braced itself. From left to right Marsh deployed the Forty-fifth Illinois, Colonel John E. Smith, Forty-eighth Illinois, Colonel Isham Haynie, Twentieth Illinois, Lieutenant Colonel Evan Richards, and the Eleventh Illinois, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Ransom. Captain Jerome Burrows’ Fourteenth Ohio Battery unlimbered on a little patch of high ground just to the rear of the Twentieth Illinois. After its successful withdrawal from the Shiloh Church line, Raith’s brigade deployed just behind and to the right of Marsh on the north side of the crossroads, the Forty-ninth Illinois lying across the Shiloh Church Road. Sherman directed Nispel’s Battery to unlimber on Marsh’s right, while Captain James Timony’s Battery D, Second Illinois, formed up on the left of the Forty-ninth Illinois. The Eleventh Iowa, of Hare’s brigade, deployed just behind the batteries at the crossroads as infantry support. General Sherman’s men were on the north side of the Purdy Road, on Raith’s right.