Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862

by Edward Cunningham

  Between 1:00 and 1:30 p.m., Nelson’s brigades moved out, following the guide’s directions. General Nelson dashed up to the head of the column, telling Colonel Ammen to follow.28 Ammen’s brigade led the way, Colonel William Grose’s Thirty-sixth Indiana in front, followed by Lieu tenant Colonel Frederick C. Jones’s Twenty-fourth Ohio and Lieuten ant Colonel Nicholas Anderson’s Sixth Ohio in the rear. Colonel Sanders’ men, Buell’s Twenty-second Brigade, followed behind Ammen’s force, while Colonel William Hazen’s Nineteenth Brigade brought up the rear. The Fourth Division had approximately eight miles to march in order to reach the point where the transports would presumably be waiting, and the journey was necessarily a rigorous one, considering the poor state of the path.

  General Nelson, mounted on his large and powerful bay, and accompanied by part of his staff, quickly left the column behind. Somewhere along the road Nelson ran into one of Grant’s aides, who handed him a written message from the general which read as follows:

  You will hurry up your command as fast as possible. The boats will be in readiness to transport all troops of your command across the river. All looks well, but it is necessary for you to push forward as fast as possible.29

  A short distance from the Tennessee River, Nelson received a second courier from General Grant. The newcomer was riding Grant’s own mount and had a verbal message that the Fourth Division should press forward with all speed or the fight would be lost.30 On orders from Nelson, his men started moving forward on the double-quick, but soon had to abandon the swift pace due to the extreme muddiness of the roadway. At last Ammen’s Bluecoats debouched into a clearing opposite Pittsburg Landing.

  After leaving Savannah aboard the little steamer, accompanied by his chief of staff, Buell proceeded up the river only to be halted by a descending steamer, which came alongside and delivered Grant’s early morning order, which had been dictated to Rawlins and sent wandering all over the area until finally it came into Buell’s hands at this time. Nearing the Landing, Buell could make out large numbers of fugitives fleeing from the battlefield. Indeed the mouth of Snake Creek was full of them swimming across.

  About 1:00 p.m., the little steamer tied up at Pittsburg Landing and Buell went hunting for Grant. Informed that the general was on his headquarters boat, tied up only a few yards away from his own steamer, Buell quickly went on board and found his superior in conversation with several members of his staff. After exchanging salutations, Grant remarked that he had just come in from the front, and he held up his scabbard to show Buell a dent made in it by a Rebel projectile.31 Buell inquired as to the progress of the battle, and he requested his senior to send some steamers to Savannah to pick up Crittenden’s division, which would be coming into Savannah shortly. The conference then ended, and the two men parted, Grant and several staff officers riding off in one direction while Buell walked up hill in another.32 After separating from Grant, Buell busied him self trying to create a little order at the Landing, but with only limited success.33

  When Nelson’s men reached the point opposite Pittsburg Landing, the last big dramatic moment in the combat at Shiloh was rapidly approaching. It was around 5:00 in the afternoon, or a little earlier, when the first of Ammen’s men reached the point. The Hornet’s Nest was just yielding, and Prentiss’ and Wallace’s men were already trying to retreat to the Landing. Having reached the point some minutes earlier, Nelson was already busy trying to round up some transports. Several stern-wheel steamers were lying along the eastern bank, laden with fugitives from Grant’s army, and the captains had no enthusiasm about risking their boats on the dangerous western side of the river. Moments passed while Nelson cursed and harangued the reluctant river sailors; but by threats and appeals, the saltwater sailor finally persuaded several of the steamboat captains to agree to take his men across. Nelson, Colonel Grose, and part of the Thirty-sixth Indiana boarded the first steamer, while Ammen was ordered to quickly follow with the rest of his brigade about 5:40 p.m.34

  Nelson climbed ashore at the Landing and began pushing his way through the horde of stragglers crowded at the Landing. He quickly found Buell and Grant, who were anxiously awaiting him. To Grant, Nelson saluted, and in his own inimitable style proclaimed, “Here we are, General, we don’t know many fine points or nice evolution, but if you want stupidity and hard fighting, I reckon we are the men for you.”35

  Buell immediately ordered the late arrival to deploy his men along the position, remarking, “You have had the advance throughout the march and here, General, is your opportunity. There is still one hour left in which to decide this fight.”36

  Pushing their way through the numerous stragglers, Grose and his men quickly moved out to help support the beleaguered last position of Grant’s army. By this hour, with less than one hour’s light remaining, the scene at the Landing, and indeed the entire battlefield, was one of utter and complete confusion. Many thousands of Union soldiers were standing around the Landing in utterly abject panic, some of them attempting to hide from the occasional stray Southern projectiles that came flying over, while others attempted to beg their way on board what they supposed to be the safety of the various steamers. Many of Grant’s steamers had been gradually filled with wounded soldiers, rendering them unavailable for any other duty for the moment; but this made no difference to the panic-stricken Bluecoats. Several steamers were compelled to slip their lines and swing out into mid channel in order to avoid being swamped by the horde of crazed men. One hysterical Union officer threatened the pilot of the Minnehaha with his revolver in an attempt to make him take on board the officer’s soldiers, but the boat’s pilot resolutely refused to yield, thus saving his ship from being overrun.37

  Not all of the wretches gathered at the Landing had completely lost their sense of duty. Here and there one of Grant’s officers went about trying to rally the men, sometimes asking the fellows why they did not rejoin their units. The usual reply to his question was, “I can’t find it [the regiment].” One officer wandered about delivering a frenzied Fourth of July tirade, reminding the men of the honor of their various states, their mothers, their homes, and a list of other inducements; however, the only reaction to his speech was an occasional remark to the effect that it was a very good speech.38

  When the Sixth Ohio started to disembark, a crowd of the rabble tried to climb on board their boat, blocking the men’s debarkation. Nelson went dashing down into the middle of the crowd, shouting, “Get out of the way, you damned cowards! Get out of the way! If you wont fight yourselves, let these men off that will. Sixth Ohio, follow me!”39

  Even as the first of Nelson’s men climbed up the Landing to hold the line, sharp fighting had broken out along the last Union position. Chalmers’ and part of Jackson’s brigades moved up in front of Grant’s position and opened up with a fairly strong burst of fire in preparation for assault. Webster rode up and down behind the Union line shouting encouragingly, “Stand firm, boys; they can never carry this line in the world.”40 General Grant rode along the lines, urging the men to keep up a steady fire on the Confederates.41

  One of General Grant’s scouts, Captain Irving Carson, rode up to the general, reported, and then started riding away. His horse had taken no more than two or three steps when a cannon shot tore off that officer’s head, except for the chin, spattering Grant with bits of brains and blood, leaving him rather messy but unhurt,42 al though the shot went on to rip the saddle of W. Preston Graves, a volunteer aide to Nelson. General Sherman, who was directing things on the Union extreme right, also had a very narrow escape. Captain J. H. Hammond was holding the reins of Sherman’s horse while the general mounted. A bullet ripped the reins two inches from Hammonds’ fingers and only inches from the general’s head.43

  Even with Nelson’s arrival Grant’s situation was still serious. Much of his army was disorganized, and many of his soldiers were roaming around, trying to find their units. One incompetent officer roamed around, adding to the con fusion, claiming General Grant had surrendered
and the battle was ended. When asked how he knew the fighting had ended, the officer replied that he had seen the troops lined up and laying down their arms. Fortunately most of the battle hardened veterans took the report with a grain of salt.44

  Around 6:00 p.m., Chalmers and Jackson actually attacked over the rugged terrain. Grant’s weary infantry fired into the oncoming Confederate infantry, while Webster’s guns joined in with shrapnel and canister. Chalmers’ advance was covered by the 3-inch rifles and 12-pound howitzers of Gage’s Alabama Battery, but in the face of the massed Union artillery, the Southerners found the going difficult. Observing the Confederate advance, Lieutenant Shirk of the Lexington ordered his gunners to open fire on the advancing Southerners. In ten minutes the navy cannoneers sent thirty-two rounds into the Confederates with excellent effect.45

  Right in the middle of the attack the Thirty-sixth Indiana went stumbling into position along Webster’s line, with orders to support Stone’s First Missouri Battery K, (the rest of the regiment having been ferried over on a second steamer). Before the Indianans could be deployed, a Confederate projectile killed an enlisted man, the first casualty suffered by Buell’s command in the Battle of Shiloh. Grose quickly arranged his men in the proper position and then immediately opened up with heavy musket fire on Chalmers’ Mississippians. The four hundred odd Indianans got off some fourteen or fifteen rounds per man at the oncoming Mississippians, having one man killed and one wounded from the return fire.

  Gage’s Alabama Battery was knocked out by Federal artillery fire, thus depriving the Southerners of artillery support at the very height of the attack. In the face of the fire from Webster’s guns, the Tyler and Lexington, Grant’s infantry, and Buell’s Thirty-sixth Indiana, along with the incredibly poor terrain, Chalmers and Jackson were forced to withdraw.46

  It was now after 6:00 and the sun was slipping perilously low along the horizon. From his headquarters in the rear, General Beauregard sent his staff officers to the various corps commanders with instructions to break off operations and withdraw to the captured enemy camps for the night.47 He did not know that reinforcements were al ready reaching Grant’s army, and assumed the Con federate army would be able to resume the action on Mon day morning, still facing the same men beaten on Sunday. Since a night action was dangerous, and assuming that the enemy was completely beaten, Beauregard is sued this order, there by laying the ground work for one of the bitterest controversies of the Battle of Shiloh, and indeed of the Civil War.

  For a century, critics have maintained that the Creole forfeited a magnificent opportunity to completely destroy Grant’s army—one more assault and the Federals would have been driven into the river and captured. Such an opinion completely ignores the existing situation on the Shiloh battlefield on late Sunday evening, April 6, 1862. It was nearly 5:30 p.m. before General Prentiss and his troops, as well as General Wallace and his men, were finally rounded up after falling back from the Hornet’s Nest.48

  The Confederate army was badly disorganized and only Withers’ troops were able to cross the rough terrain toward Grant’s last position and make anything like an organized attack. Other Rebel units were only able to peck away slightly at the Union’s last position. With sunset falling at 6:25 p.m., there simply was not time to organize the sort of attack needed to blast Grant’s soldiers out of what amounted to a very strong defensive position. It is true that Grant’s men were somewhat dispirited by their frequent reverses, but the arrival of Colonel Ammen’s brigade strongly boosted the morale of Grant’s soldiers, giving them the feeling that they were no longer isolated.

  One of the biggest obstacles to Beauregard’s ordering a strong attack on the Webster position was the very confused state of his various commands, most of which were badly separated.49 It would have taken Beauregard at least an hour or probably longer to have collected enough infantry and artillery to have risked an attack on the Landing. Time simply ran out.

  At the time of the battle, many participating Confederates believed Beauregard gave the withdrawal order due to the presence of the Lexington and Tyler, whose fire had begun to take considerable effect on the Southerners as they approached closer to the river.50 Al though he did not cite the gun boats’ fire as a reason for the withdrawal, Beauregard did mention it in some detail, indicating that it may have subconsciously influenced his decision.51

  The Creole’s order to break off the action did not actually end the fighting, for isolated skirmishing went on for the next fifteen or twenty minutes of light, when the curtain of darkness ended the day’s carnage. In these remaining minutes, part of the Tenth Mississippi, of Chalmers’ Brigade, swung way around to the right, crossed the big pond just off the river, and began sniping at the Federal gunboats. Shirk’s and Gwin’s gunners fired a few blasts from their big guns at the Mississippians, who hastily beat a retreat in the direction of the Indian mounds.52

  One other interesting controversy arose out of the last few minutes of the day’s battle. Did Nelson’s arrival save General Grant’s army? The answer to this must remain problematical. Grant’s admirers and friendly biographers, and even some serious scholars such as the late Kenneth P. Williams, maintained that Grant could have held out that evening without the arrival of Ammen’s brigade.53 The Comte de Paris, an eminent French historian, was of the opinion that the arrival of Buell’s troops saved the last Union position from being carried by Chalmers’ and Jack son’s at tack.54 Among Grant’s soldiers, a majority seem to have believed the position could have been held with out the arrival of Ammen’s brigade,55 but there were some who gave these troops credit for saving the day. One of Grant’s soldiers, Andrew Hickenlooper, re marked that the arrival of Buell’s troops “changed the fate of the battle.”56 Whatever Grant’s men thought of the situation, Buell’s troops remained convinced that their arrival saved the Union army.57

  But it would be some time before the Shiloh controversies began in earnest. As darkness settled over the battlefield Sunday night, April 6, 1862, the soldiers were more concerned with finding something to eat and drink than in bothering about discussing the fine points of who saved whom. Thousands of Rebel soldiers believed the main battle was over. As soon as dawn came, they would simply make one more brief push and destroy what was left of Grant’s army. It was a relaxing and pleasant thought to lie down and sleep with.

  Chapter 14

  Buell, Grant, and Beauregard

  IT HAD BEEN A long and bitter thirteen hours, but at least most of the Southern army could take some feeling of joy in the knowledge that they had won. But at Confederate headquarters there was one group who felt only sorrow. Albert Sidney Johnston was dead.

  The hero of Monterrey, the Mormon expedition, the Texas troubles, and the man who had led them to Shiloh lay wrapped in a muddy army blanket. General Beauregard had relieved Johnston’s staff officers of any duties so as to allow them to take charge of their fallen leader’s body. However, they remained with the Creole until about 9:00 p.m. that evening, when it was obvious the fighting for the day was completely over. Some of the men attempted to get a little sleep, while others sat around talking. But at dawn the next day, Colonel William Preston and the other members of the staff started for Corinth, the beginning of a long, sad journey.

  In Corinth, the staff took their beloved leader’s body to the William Inge house, the structure that had served as Johnston’s headquarters during his stay in the little Mississippi town. The door to Johnston’s quarters was jammed, but a staff officer quickly forced it open, and soon the general’s body was placed on the bed in the room.

  Mrs. Inge and a neighbor lady ushered the distraught officers out and began cleaning the face and uniform of the fallen commander. As Johnston had ridden from Corinth only three days earlier, Mrs. Inge had given him two sandwiches and a piece of cake to eat during his journey to the front. While washing the mud and blood away, she found one of the sandwiches and part of the cake in his coat pocket. One of the Inge neighbor’s daughters, Miss Eugenia Pol
k, entered the room and took two locks of hair from Johnston’s head, one of which she sent to his widow, Eliza.1

  Johnston’s staff then accompanied the body to New Orleans, arriving on April 9, to be met at the railroad station by Governor Moore and General Lovell. The corpse was borne to the New Orleans city hall, where it lay in state for two days before being laid to rest in the Monroe family tomb, at the suggestion of Mayor John T. Monroe. After some years, the body was removed and taken to Austin, Texas.2

  General Johnston and his staff were not the only ones traveling south on the road, toward Corinth. As soon as the Hornet’s Nest fell and Prentiss’ and Wallace’s men were all rounded up, the Southerners immediately began sending the unfortunate captives en route to Corinth, where they could be handled more easily. The first batch of prisoners headed down the road to Mississippi even before darkness ended the day’s fighting.

  The captives and their captors traveled but a few yards when a shell from one of the gunboats came whistling over. Everyone, Blue and Gray alike, scrambled for cover as the big shell burst about sixty feet from the road. No one was hurt, and the men were soon on their feet, sloshing through the mud again. After marching a short distance, the troops settled down to camp for the night.

  On Monday morning the prisoners and guards rose about dawn and started off without bothering with the formality of a breakfast, for the simple reason they had no food. At about 5:00 p.m., the column reached Corinth and the prisoners were assembled in front of the Inge house, where Johnston’s body had been cared for earlier in the day. One Confederate housewife remarked to the prisoners, “Well, Yanks, this is pretty good work our boys have done for a breakfast spell.” One Union prisoner answered her, “Mother, I hope before dinner you will have cause to change your mind.”3