Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862

by Edward Cunningham

  McClernand’s soldiers moved into position with enough time to organize and get ready for a fight, but Raith’s and Sherman’s men reached the new line with Confederate skirmishers hot on their heels and the main body of Southerners only six or eight minutes away.8 Johnson’s skirmishers advanced on Sherman’s position as Behr’s Sixth Indiana Battery galloped up the Purdy Road, reaching the crossroads. Sherman rode up and directed Behr to un limber just to the right of the crossroads.9

  Chanting, “Bull run, Bull run,” and “Get up there, you Damn Yankee Sons of Bitches, and fight like men,” the Rebel skirmishers raked Behr’s Battery with musket balls. The captain’s lifeless body fell off his horse, and several of his enlisted gunners were wounded. Drivers and gunners alike panicked and headed for the rear without firing a shot, abandoning the four 6-pound smoothbores and the 12-pound howitzer.10

  Major Schwartz took personal command of Nispel’s remaining guns and opened fire on the advancing Confederates. The battery began catching heavy musket fire and the major asked Colonel Raith for infantry support. The brigade commander personally led the Seventeenth and Forty-third Illinois forward. Both Schwartz and Raith were immediately wounded, the former seriously, the latter mortally with a Minie ball through his right thigh.11 Southern soldiers captured the wounded colonel and placed him in a tent, from which point he was later recovered by the Federals.12

  The Confederate advance slacked off somewhat as hundreds of Southerners straggled toward the rear, either deliberately malingering to minimize the risk of death or maiming, or carrying wounded comrades to sanctuary. Beauregard worked frantically to get these men back to the firing lines. His personal escort under Captain J.G. Dreux, broke up a party of men plundering a captured encampment, while his staff officers collected stragglers.13

  When all of his aides were employed, Beauregard rode about looking for additional assistance. Spotting a Southern officer, General Beauregard asked him to identiy his unit. Captain Samuel Latta replied that he was a member of the Thirteenth Tennessee. Failing to recognize the general, Latta asked, “And who are you, sir?” Beauregard told him, and within minutes Latta was headed for the front in charge of a hundred stragglers.14

  The Confederates were nearly as disorganized and confused as Sherman’s battered division. There was no single individual coordinating the various brigades, and the advance on the Purdy Road line was disorganized. From left to right, the Southern order of advance was Anderson’s Brigade with bits and pieces from Cleburne’s Brigade on the west side of the Corinth and Pittsburg Road. Bushrod Johnson’s Brigade should have been on Anderson’s right, but the wounding of General Johnson left the unit leaderless because it took a while to locate the senior colonel, Preston Smith. Only the One hundred fifty-fourth Tennessee, Smith’s own regiment, advanced along or just to the left of the Corinth- Pittsburg Road, taking part in the assault against the Union Purdy Road position.

  By order of General Hardee and General Ruggles, the Fifth and Twenty-third Tennessee and Thirteenth Arkansas of Stewart’s Brigade moved up just behind Colonel Smith, supporting him in his advance on the Federals at the crossroads.

  Part of Russell’s Brigade, on the right of General Johnson’s, was badly disorganized after the Shiloh Church assault but took part in the advance. By some rapid and rather confusing reshuffling, Wood’s and part of Stewart’s brigades changed positions, so Wood actually hit the right position at the crossroads, while Stewart and the Fourth Tennessee advanced on Wood’s right. Shaver’s Brigade completed the line-up, moving up on Stewart’s right. As this second push commenced against the Union right only three of Anderson’s regiments moved forward, the Seventeenth and Twentieth Louisiana and the Ninth Texas.15

  At the beginning of the attack the Seventeenth Louisiana lost its lieutenant colonel to one of Sherman’s riflemen, who put a Minie ball through Jones’ left arm. With their leader gone, the regiment faltered.16 Reichard’s Twentieth Louisiana charged Sherman, but was stopped by heavy fire. As the Ger man-Louisianan temporarily retired, Captain Herman Muller, Company C, was struck in his knee by a bullet. One of the men yelled to First Lieutenant Charles DePetz, “Captain Muller has fallen!” DePetz sent two men to pick up the captain and carry him to a hospital.17 DePetz assumed command of the company, and Reichard quickly rallied the regiment. Within minutes the Twentieth went forward again. At the identical spot where Captain Muller was hit, Lieutenant DePetz was struck in the back by a shell fragment, sending him sprawling to the ground. DePetz’s fingers nervously felt his back but found the fragment had only struck his rolled up raincoat. Pulling himself together, the greatly relieved lieutenant climbed to his feet and ran after his still advancing regiment. Heavy fire hit the Twentieth, but they pressed steadily on to ward Sherman.18

  On the right of Anderson’s Brigade, Stanley’s Ninth Texas resolutely advanced toward the Purdy Road, although hit heavily by Sherman’s fire. The Washington Artillery raked Sherman’s soldiers with 6 and 12-pound projectiles to cover the advance,19 but Union sharpshooters in the woods and some unidentified tents sprinkled the battery with rifle fire, causing many casualties. One man was struck as he moved the trail of one of the pieces. Private Richard Pugh, in the battery since March 6, was hit by two bullets that tore his pants legs with out scratching him. The battery was forced to a new position in order to avoid some of the sniper fire.20

  Still acting under Bragg’s order to advance, Colonel Preston Smith quickly out distanced the rest of the brigade, unaware of General Johnson’s mishap. His five hundred odd remaining Tennesseans behind him, Smith led the One hundred fifty-fourth across the wooded area heading straight for Raith’s position at the crossroads, slashing the Illinoisans with musketry and with fire from the single gun of Polk’s battery, in charge of Sergeant J.J. Pirtle, that had kept up.21

  Smith was already sharply engaged with Raith’s command when Stewart’s regiments came up to support him. McNeeley’s Thirteenth Arkansas moved up to support Pirtle’s gun, some of his men assisting the gunners in shifting firing positions. The Thirteenth did some sharpshooting with the Illinoisans, but was not heavily engaged, losing only six men. Lieutenant R. A. Duncan, Company A, was wounded, and two sergeants and three privates were killed.22

  Venable’s Fifth Tennessee advanced on Smith’s right, but quickly retired in the face of extremely heavy fire.23 This left it up to the Thirty-third and One hundred fifty-fourth to do the job. After raking the Northerners with musketry, Smith’s and Campbell’s regiments charged, driving the Federals back from the crossroads, the One hundred fifty-fourth taking two guns.24

  General S.A.M. Wood’s Brigade passed through Raith’s brigade camp, trading shots with McClernand’s skirmishers. Informed of the strength of the Purdy Road position, Wood halted his brigade, rearranged his regiments, and angled them for a charge to the left. His new dispositions from left to right were the Ninth Arkansas Battalion, Eighth Arkansas, Twenty-seventh Tennessee, Sixteenth Alabama, Forty-fourth Tennessee, Fifty-fifth Tennessee, and the Third Mississippi Battalion. General “Sam” notified Hindman of the situation and the divisional commander immediately ordered Shaver’s Brigade to support Wood’s Brigade in an advance.25

  Wood’s Southerners headed straight for Marsh’s brigade. The batteries on both sides banged enthusiastically away, but the infantry held their fire, saving the all important first shot for maximum effect at close range. Some of Marsh’s enlisted men grumbled about the decision, muttering, “Why don’t our officers give the command to fire?” But the officers waited. As the strain mounted, a few nervous fingers tightened on triggers, and occasional puffs of smoke spurted from the line of waiting Blue infantry. One hysterical officer in the Forty-fifth Illinois screamed, “Cease fire, those are our troops.” An irate private in Company A yelled back at him, “The hell they are! You will find out pretty damned soon they are not.”26

  The Gray regiments moved in closer until finally the Federal line erupted in a deadly volley of musketry. The Southerners quickly
returned the fire. Large numbers of men on both sides fell to the ground or clutched torn parts of their bodies. For at least five minutes the soldiers of Marsh’s and Wood’s brigades simply stood in line and cut each other to pieces. Burrows’ six rifles spewed death into the Gray lines, but the Confederates fought back savagely. Burrows and twenty-five of his men were wounded and four others killed by the musketry. Seventy battery horses were cut down by the deadly fire.27

  If the fire from Marsh’s men was not bad enough, the Confederates suddenly found themselves being mauled by musketry from Rebel troops in the rear, who mistook Wood’s left regiments for Federals. Colonel Patterson ordered his Eighth Arkansas to take cover on the ground or behind trees. The shots from the rear soon ceased, and Patterson’s men quickly scrambled to their feet and poured a blistering fire into the Eleventh and Twentieth Illinois.28

  Losses in all of Wood’s units except Hardcastle’s Battalion, which was not engaged, were heavy. Colonel Christopher Williams of the Twenty-seventh Tennessee fell with a bullet through his heart. Lieutenant Colonel B. H. Brown of the same regiment dropped with a severely fractured leg. Many enlisted men and junior officers, including Captain Isham G. Hearn, Company E, were killed outright. The Confederates, how ever, resolutely continued firing into the men from Illinois.29

  Union losses were even heavier, especially in field officers. Colonel Haynie and Lieutenant Colonel William Sanford, Forty-eighth Illinois, were both badly wounded, and the regiment began to gradually give ground.30 The Twentieth Illinois was the next to crack, and then the Eleventh, having lost two commanding officers (Lieuten ant Colonel T.E.G. Ransom and Major Garrett Nevins badly wounded in less than five minutes, plus a third or more of its other personnel), broke and headed for the rear. The Eleventh had sustained 329 casualties at Fort Donelson two months earlier and was still pitifully under strength.31 The Forty-fifth followed its sister regiments, and the Confederates followed the retreating Federals.32

  Although Wood’s men had routed an entire brigade, their fight was actually only half over. Immediately behind Marsh’s abandoned position lay a second Federal brigade of fresh troops, many of them combat veterans: Veatch’s brigade of Hurlbut’s division.

  When Hurlbut was first notified of the attack on Sherman that morning, he immediately dispatched Colonel James C. Veatch’s brigade to reinforce Sherman’s left.33 Lieu tenant J.C. Long of Hurlbut’s staff brought Veatch the news of his assignment.34 Bugles blew and drums beat, and soon Colonel Veatch’s four regiments were on the road to the front. It was a long walk, and the brigade met “crowds of stragglers skulking to the rear, …a humiliating sight.” The Fourth Division’s men shouted curses and insults to the stragglers, who retorted with a wide variety of excuses for their conduct. Sometimes the brigade saw two and three able bodied men carrying or helping along one slightly scratched Federal soldier.35

  Veatch’s orders were to deploy his brigade behind the camp of the Seventeenth Illinois, to the right of the Review Field, but by the time the marching Federals reached the bordering area, Confederate infantry was already approaching the Illinois camp site. Veatch wisely decided that to attempt to take his assigned position would mean a disaster, and besides there were Federal troops (McClernand’s) between him and the camp. The forty-two year old veteran of Fort Donelson deployed his men behind Hare’s brigade. An officer, claiming to be acting under Sherman’s orders, rode up and told Veatch to move to the right. The Federals slung their rifles over their shoulders and moved to the right to some uneven ground directly behind Marsh, where the regiments were deployed again. From left to right Veatch’s command consisted of the Twenty-fifth Indiana, Lieutenant Colonel William Morgan (Veatch’s old regiment), Fourteenth Illinois Colonel Cyrus Hall, Forty-sixth Illinois, Colonel John Davis, and the Fifteenth Illinois, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Ellis.36 The brigade took position on a slight rise in the ground, in front of which was a hill.37 They were less than thirty yards be hind Marsh.38 Veatch apparently thought he was be hind part of Sherman’s division, for there is no record of him communicating with either Marsh or McClernand. When Marsh’s men broke, the pursuing Rebels occupied his position and kept on after the retreating Yanks. Veatch’s men had difficulty in opening fire for fear of shooting their own people fleeing ahead of the Confederates. To add to the problems, Burrows’ surviving battery horses broke loose and stampeded through Veatch’s lines, routing Company A, Fourteenth Illinois.39

  Lying on the ground or sheltered behind the numerous trees, the Northerners fired at will into Wood’s men.40 But the Con federates, stimulated by their victory and probably not realizing they were facing a fresh Federal force, kept right on coming. Some of the Federals lit out for the rear, “not to return un less drove at the point of a bayonet.”41 The fleeing troops from Marsh’s brigade swept over Veatch’s position, disrupting his line completely and seriously disordering the Fifteenth and Forty-sixth Illinois.

  About the same moment, Smith’s One hundred fifty-fourth Tennessee crashed through the crossroads, driving back Colonel Raith and turning Veatch’s right flank as well as the Eleventh Iowa’s. Some of the Tennesseans started shooting into the Fifteenth Illinois’ right companies, while General Wood’s determined soldiers strongly peppered the Northern regiments from infront.42 Lieu ten ant Colonel E. P. Ellis caught a ball in an arm, but he continued to lead the Fifteenth until another musket ball tore through his heart.43 Moments be fore, Major William Goddard was killed while admonishing the Fifteenth to “stand firm; stand your ground…. Take good aim.”44 All but two of the company commanders and more than one hundred in the ranks fell in the deadly crossfire, but still the regiment held.45

  The Sixteenth Alabama and the Twenty-seventh Tennessee swarmed over Burrow’s Battery, abandoned now, save for the dead and wounded men and horses. A Confederate sergeant planted the “Stars and Bars” over the battery, but he was immediately shot down by Fifteenth Illinois riflemen.46 Finally in the midst of such confusion, the Fifteenth could stand no more, and its members headed for the rear.47 The Forty-sixth was next to crack. Colonel Davis’ men were hit by heavy and accurate fire which killed or wounded eight company officers and many en listed men. Among the casualties was former militia man John Musser, captain of Company A. When the Confederates charged, the twenty-nine year old officer sheathed his sword, grabbed a musket, and began firing until a Southern bullet caught him in the leg. Musser was transported to Quincy, Illinois, by means of a hospital ship, and his leg was amputated. He died April 23, leaving a wife and two children. Major Benjamin Dornblaser was among those wounded at this time. A musket ball, which he carried the rest of his life, hit him in the left shoulder joint of the arm. Davis finally ordered the regiment to fall back to prevent its annihilation.48

  Confederate infantry, probably from the Fourth Tennessee, turned Veatch’s left flank so the Twenty-fifth Indiana was subjected to a deadly two-way fire. Lieutenant Colonel Morgan ordered his men to fall back, but as they started the execution of his command, he was shot through the leg. Major John Foster took over the command and managed to withdraw part of the regiment to comparative safety in the rear. It was a fighting retreat, many of the men pausing to load and fire every few yards.

  Seeing everyone else pulling back, Colonel Hall decided to do likewise. His men headed for the rear in complete confusion, but the colonel managed to collect some of them and linked up with Foster. Some of the men did not hear the order to fall back and were left behind and were overrun.49

  With a little assistance from other units, Wood’s command had defeated two enemy brigades, rolling them pell-mell, but the price was dear and Wood was among the casualties. The noise of battle frightened his mount and the general was flung to the ground with such force as to disable the brigade commander for more than three hours. The temporary loss of their commanding officer, plus the confusion engendered by their successful attack, threw the Southerners of this brigade into a complete state of disorder, the remnants of the various battalions and regi
ments wandering off in all directions.

  Major Samuel Love, the Twenty-seventh’s last field officer, was not with the command. He was taking part in an operation on another part of the field, and the regiment was low on ammunition. The captains marched the surviving men to the rear,50 where they met General Beauregard. By the general’s orders Lieutenant Colonel Ferguson took command of the Twenty-seventh. Collecting ammunition from the supply wagons, the lieutenant colonel distributed cartridges to the Tennesseans and ordered them to “rest and refresh themselves with coffee, etc.” He later turned the command over to the senior captain, but it was three hours until the regiment was ready to go back into action.51

  If Wood had broken through, the rest of the Confederate push against McClernand’s position had met with only a little success. General Alexander Stewart became involved in the assault in a rather peculiar fashion. In response to orders from a staff officer, Stewart moved his brigade over to the left, and then forward. But Colonel R. P. Neely failed to hear the order, and the Fourth Tennessee wandered to the right. Stewart led his three other regiments across a small stream and ordered them to lie on the ground to protect themselves against enemy fire until he could ride back and locate Colonel Neely. While he was gone, Hardee and then Ruggles came by and ordered the three regiments to join in on the attack at the crossroads. Finding the Fourth, Stewart led them to where he assumed the rest of his brigade was waiting. Finding the regiments gone, he had little time to ponder the matter, for one of General Bragg’s staff officers rode up and ordered Stewart to storm a Federal battery located in the northwest corner of the Review Field. Stewart told his men what Bragg wanted done and asked if they could do it. The men replied, “Show us where it is; we will try.”52

  The battery in question was that of Captain Edward McAllister. It had been dropping 24-pound shells on the Fourth Tennessee for several minutes, causing the soldiers to take cover on the ground. The bursting shells killed Captain John Southerland, Company G, and several privates also. Major John F. Henry was mortally wounded. It was about eight hundred yards to McAllister’s position, but the Tennesseans scrambled to their feet and double-quicked forward slightly to the left, and then straight on for the battery. The big guns belched flame, smoke, and death as the exploding projectiles tore nasty gaps in the advancing lines. Wood’s and Shaver’s brigades were attacking at the same time, thus much of the infantry fire was diverted from the Fourth Tennessee to the other units; however, the Tennesseans were struck by rifle fire from the Forty-fifth Illinois and Thirteenth Iowa of Hare’s brigade.53