78 Ambrose, Seventh Illinois, 47; Payson Shumway Diary, March 26-April 2, 1862, Payson Shumway Papers, Illinois State Historical Library; Engelmann to his wife, Mina, March 31, 1862, Engelmann-Kirchner Papers, Illinois State Historical Library; Morton, “Opening of the Battle of Shiloh,” 10.
Chapter 6
1 OR 10, pt. 1, 78, 79.
2 || For a history of the U.S.S. Cairo, see Edwin C. Bearss, Hardluck Ironclad: The Sinking and Salvage of the Cairo (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1966).
3 OR 10, pt. 1, 83; R. R. Hancock, Hancock’s Diary or A History of the Second Tennessee Cavalry With Sketches of the First and Seventh Battalions (Nashville: Brandon Printing Company, 1887), 138; ORN 22, 785.
4 OR 10, pt. 1, 83, 84; Fleming, “The Battle of Shiloh As A Private Saw It,” 134, 135.
5 OR 10, pt. 1, 84-86.
6 Ibid., 10, pt. 2, 80, 94.
7 W. Wemple to J. D. Gillett, April, 1862, Gillett Family Papers, Illinois State Historical Library; Adolph Engelmann to his wife, Mina, March 25, 1862, Adolph Engelmann Papers, Illinois State Historical Library.
8 OR 10, pt. 1, 396. General Bragg’s figures for the action are slightly at variance with Beauregard’s. The chief of staff maintained that the army had only 39,598 officers and men as of April 3. Ibid., 398.
9 Watkins, Co. Aytch, 20-39.
10 OR 2, 57-59.
11 Tennesseans in the Civil War, 1: 177, 185.
12 OR 7, 108.
13 Tennesseans in the Civil War, 1: 309.
14 Byers, Iowa in War Times, 485.
15 Morton, “Opening of the Battle of Shiloh,” 10.
16 George O. Smith, Brief History of the 17th Illinois Infantry, Manuscript, 1913, Illinois State Historical Library.
17 Grant, Memoirs, 190.
18 OR 10, pt. 1, 112; D. W. Reed, The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1902), 60.
19 Ibid., 58-61; Throne, Cyrus Boyd Diary, 25.
20 OR 10, 2, 84.
21 Ibid., 10, pt. 1, 112. Departmental returns show that on March 31, Grant had a total of 64,586, including Lew Wallace’s command and the garrison at Savannah. He had 34,582 effectives at Pittsburg, 7,534 at Crump’s, and 2,083 at Savannah. His sick list on March 31, numbered 9,459 for his entire command. It is unlikely that the ratio of sick and other absentees appreciably changed in the six days before April 6. On the morning of April 6, Grant’s fighting strength was increased by the arrival of a number of personnel returning by steamer from leave at home. A considerable number of Federals on the regimental sick list gallantly rejoined their units and fought through the day. Mrs. W. H. L. Wallace to her Aunt Mag, April 29, 1862, Miscellaneous Collections, Shiloh National Military Park.
22 Byron Abernethy (ed.), Private Elisha Stock well, Jr. Sees the Civil War (Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1958), 11-13; Daniel Harmon Brush to his father, April 6, 1862, Daniel Harmon Brush Papers, Illinois State Historical Library.
23 OR 10, pt. 2, 381. For several days atleast some Confederate elements had been under order to be ready for an offensive push. A. H. Mecklin Diary, March 29, 1862, Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
24 Wyeth, That Devil Forrest, 60.
25 Roman, Beauregard, 1: 270-272.
26 Thomas Jordan and Richard Pryor, The Campaigns of Lieut.-General N. B. Forrest, and of Forrest’s Cavalry (New Orleans: Blelock and Company, 1868), 108. In later accounts of the Battle of Shiloh, written many years after the war, Jordan intimates that General Johnston was unenthusiastic about the proposed offensive, and that it was only his strong urging to the general which resulted in the affirmative decision. Jordan was undoubtedly sincere in his belief, but he was probably reading something into Johnston’s natural concern, which was simply not there. Battles and Leaders, 1: 594, 595; Thomas Jordan, “The Campaign of Shiloh,” 270. If Johnston hesitated, it is perfectly understandable. Despite the work of the past two weeks, the army was still only partially trained and incompetently supplied with materials. J. C. Breckinridge to Braxton Bragg, April 1, 1862, William Palmer Collection, Western Reserve Historical Collection, Western Reserve Library; A. H. Mecklin Diary, March 28, 1862, Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
27 OR 10, pt. 2, 387.
28 Jordan, “The Campaign of Shiloh,” 270, 271.
29 OR 10, pt. 2, 393; P. G. T. Beauregard to William Pres ton Johnston, March 9, 1877, Mrs. Ma son Barret Papers, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University. Many of the ac counts of the Battle of Shiloh say the Confederates planned to attack on Saturday. For a refutation of this see Williams, P. G. T. Beauregard, 393; Roland, Albert Sidney Johnston, 320.
30 J. C. Breckinridge to Braxton Bragg, April 1, 1862, William Palmer Collection, Western Reserve Historical Collection, Western Reserve Library; W. M. Polk, “Facts Connected with the Concentration of the Army of the Mississippi Before Shiloh, April, 1862,” Southern Historical Society Papers 8 (January-December 1880): 457.
31 William Ed wards, “Shiloh, The Counter Stroke That Failed,” The Quarter master Review 15 (No. 4 1936): 33; OR 10, pt. 1, 392-397.
32 Johnston, Life of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, 558, 559; Roman, Beauregard, 1: 272-276; Jordan, “The Campaign of Shiloh,” 272. For some interesting side lights on the Confederate quarter master department’s problems, see E. B. Carruth, “Disagree able Experiences in War Times,” Confederate Veteran 16 (Au gust 1908): 408.
33 Roland, Albert Sidney Johnston, 319.
34 George Baylor, “WithGen. A. S. Johnston at Shiloh,” Confederate Veteran 5 (December 1897): 609.
35 Ibid.
36 Peak, “A Southern Soldier’s View of the Civil War,” Frank Peak Papers, Louisiana State University Archives; A. H. Mecklin Diary, April 3, 1862, Mississippi Department of Archives and History; Roman, “Memoirs of Shiloh,” Confederate Collections, Tennessee Department of Archives and History; Hugh Henry to his parents, April 10, 1862, Shiloh-Corinth Collection, Alabama Department of Archives and History.
37 Micajah Wilkinson to his brother, April 16, 1862, Louisiana State University Archives; Lemuel A. Scarborough Journal, April 4, 1862, Miscellaneous Collections, Shiloh National Military Park.
38 A. H. Mecklin Diary, April 4, 1862, Mississippi Department of Archives and History; Samuel Latta to wife, April 10, 1862, Confederate Collection, Tennessee Department of Archives and History; Hugh Henry to parents, April 10, 1862, Shiloh-Corinth Collection, Alabama Department of Archives and History; Thomas Chinn Robertson to mother, April 9, 1862, Thomas C. Robertson Papers, Louisiana State University Archives.
39 Micajah Wilkinson to brother, April 16, 1862, Micajah Wilkinson Papers, Louisiana State University Archives.
40 Thomas Jordan said the last of Hardee’s troops did not move into position until just before 3:00 p.m. Jordan, “The Campaign of Shiloh,” 273.
41 Baylor, “With Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh;” Roland, Albert Sidney Johnston, 319.
42 S. H. Dent to his wife, April 9, 1862, Shiloh-Corinth Collections, Alabama Department of Archives and History; Peak, “A Southern Soldier’s View of the Civil War,” Frank Peak Papers, Louisiana State University Archives; Hugh Henry to his parents, April 10, 1862, Shiloh-Corinth Collection, Alabama Department of Archives and History.
43 Edward Munford, “Albert Sidney Johnston,” Mrs. Mason Barret Papers, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University.
44 Roland, Albert Sidney Johnston, 320.
45 OR 10, pt. 1, 86, 87.
46 Henry Wright, A History of the Sixth Iowa Infantry, (Iowa City: Torch Press, 1923), 76, 68.
47 OR 10, pt. 1, 90, 91.
48 Ibid.
49 Ibid., 89-92.
50 Ibid., 91-93; W. D. Pickett, Sketch of the Military Career of William J. Hardee, Lieutenant-General, C. S. A. (Lexington: James E. Hughes, Printer, N. d.), 8; F. A. Shoup, “The Art of War in’62—Shiloh” United Service: A Monthly Review of Military and Naval Affairs 11 (July 1884): 62
. Some of General Cleburne’s Southerners gave the dead Federal an honorable burial just off the side of the road before night fell. Pickett, Sketch of the Military Career of William J. Hardee, 9.
51 OR 10, pt. 1, 90, 91. Colonel Clanton, him self, took Major Crockett in as prisoner. Shoup, “The Art of War,” 3; J. J. Geer, Beyond the Lines: or A Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie (Philadelphia: J. W. Dauyhaday, 1863), 15-28; Mildred Throne, “Letters from Shiloh,” The Iowa Journal of History 52 (July 1954): 241.
52 Jordan, “The Campaign and Battle of Shiloh,” 272, 275; Throne, “Letters from Shiloh,” 241.
53 Campaigns in Tennessee and Kentucky, 115, 116; General W. H. L. Wallace to his wife, Ann, April 6, 1862, W. H. L. Wallace Papers, Illinois State Historical Library; Grant, Memoirs, 172; Jordan, “The Campaign and Battle of Shiloh,” 272, 273; Throne, “Letters from Shiloh,” 241.
54 Morton, “The Opening of the Battle of Shiloh,” 11, 12.
55 Ambrose, History of the Seventh Illinois, 48.
56 General John A. McClernand to General U. S. Grant, April 5, 1862, John A. McClernand Papers, Illinois State Historical Library; Morton, “The Opening of the Battle of Shiloh,” 11, 12.
57 Fleming, “The Battle of Shiloh As A Private Saw It,” 136, 137; Campaigns in Kentucky and Tennessee, 115, 116.
58 Ibid., 116, 117; Fleming, “The Battle of Shiloh As A Private Saw It,” 137.
59 Campaigns in Kentucky and Tennessee, 116, 117.
60 Morton, “A Boy at Shiloh,” 58.
61 OR 10, pt. 2, 94.
62 Ibid., 93.
63 Ibid., 94.
64 John Robertson, Michigan in the War, (Lansing: W. S. George and Company, 1882), 325.
65 Campaigns in Kentucky and Tennessee, 115.
66 Grant, Memoirs, 172, 173; OR 10, pt. 2, 91; Lew Wallace to W. H. L. Wallace, April 5, 1862, W. H. L. Wallace Papers, Illinois State Historical Library; D. W. Wood, History of the 20th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment from 1861-1865, (Columbus: Paul and Thrall Book and Job Printers, 1876), 16. Grant made no effort to re-deploy his troops at Pittsburg, as he certainly would have done if he suspicioned an attack. Sherman’s and Prentiss’ divisions, the two least experienced in the army, were left out in front with a gap between them, while the three comparatively veteran units remained far to the rear. One of Sherman’s four brigades, the Second, under Colonel Stuart, was isolated from the division, as its camp was on the extreme left of the Union Army.
67 Roland, Albert Sidney Johnston, 323.
68 Confederate rumor said the Union army numbered 120,000. Jimmy Knighton to sister, April 6, 1862, Jimmy Knighton Papers, Louisiana State University Library; OR 10, pt. 1, 407; William Preston, Diary, April 5, 1862, Miscellaneous Collection, Shiloh National Military Park.
69 Jordan, “The Battle of Shiloh,” 204. For a complete description of a breakdown into individual units, see Appendix I. The same may be found for the Union army in Appendix II.
70 OR 10, pt. 1, 392-397; pt. 2, 387. William Preston Johnston, Jefferson Davis, and Braxton Bragg later charged that Beauregard deliberately altered Johnston’s plan of attack. It is much more likely that in the confusion at the time that Johnston forgot to give Beauregard the details and the Louisianan simply acted on his own initiative, or that Johnston did give him the details and he simply forgot them. Roland, Albert Sidney Johnston, 321, 322. || Daniel, Shiloh, 120, states that Johnston acted as Beauregard’s “rubber stamp” and “acquiesced to his junior.” Sword, Shiloh, 114, argues that Johnston must carry full responsibility for orders issued in his name. McDonough, Shiloh, 74, states that Johnston’s personality was not strong enough to control Beauregard’s “colossal ego.”
71 Samuel Latta to wife, April 12, 1862, Confederate Collection, Tennessee Department of Archives and History.
72 OR 10, pt. 2, 389.
73 A. H. Mecklin Diary, April 5, 1862, Mississippi Department of Archives and History; Richardson, “War As I Saw It;” Unidentified officer, Seventeenth Alabama Infantry Regiment, April 11, 1862, Shiloh-Corinth Collection, Alabama Department of Archives and History.
Chapter 7
1 Many members of the Twenty-fifth Missouri had taken part in the siege of Lexinngton, Missouri, in September of the previous year. Everett Peabody had commanded the regiment there. Battles and Leaders, 1: 307-313; Monaghan, Civil War on the Western Border, 187-194; Charles Morton, “A Boy at Shiloh,” Personal Recollections of the War of the Rebellion: Addresses Delivered Before the Commandery of the State of New York, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 3rd Series, (New York: 1907), 54. Colonel Peabody was a native of Massachusetts, a Harvard graduate, and a civil engineer by profession. Ibid., 53, 54; Charles Morton, “Opening of the Battle of Shiloh,” 7.
2 Ibid.
3 Joseph Ruff, “Civil War Experiences of A German Emigrant as Told by the Late Joseph Ruffof Albion,” The Michigan Magazine of History 27 (Winter 1943): 294; Morton, “A Boy at Shiloh,” 58. For years standard history works have maintained that the reconnaissance patrol under Major Powell that went out to engage the Confederates, or at least to locate them that morning, consisted of three companies of soldiers from the Twenty-fifth Missouri. This is generally based on the report of the Twenty-fifth Missouri in the Official Records. This, however, is in correct. A detachment from the Twelfth Michigan went with the Missourians on the reconnaissance. Exactly why this was overlooked in the Official Records is not certain. Lieutenant Colonel Humphrey W. Woodyard, Twenty-first Missouri, does mention that the Twelfth Michigan had been engaged about the same time as the Twenty-first. OR 10, pt. 1, 283. Two members of the Twelfth Michigan specifically reported that they were engaged. Private Franklin Bailey, Company D, Twelfth Michigan, wrote a letter to his parents two days after the battle, in which he specifically stated that he and his company had taken part in this operation. Franklin H. Bailey Papers, Historical Collections of the University of Michigan. Private Charles Morton, Twenty-fifth Missouri, stated that two or three companies of the Twelfth Michigan accompanied Powell. Morton, “Opening of the Battle of Shiloh,” 13. The presence of the Michigan troops with Powell’s patrol was also confirmed by Edwin L. Hoburt, The Truth About Shiloh (Spring field: Illinois Register Publishing Company, 1909), 10; William Swinton, The Twelve Decisive Battles of the Civil War (New York: Dick and Fitzgerald, 1867), 105. J. G. Deuprae, “The Noxubee Squadron of the First Mississippi Cavalry,” Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society (Jackson: Mississippi Historical Society (1908), 51: 30, also confirmed this. There is no regimental report for the Twelfth Michigan in the Official Records, and their role in the day’s fighting is not specifically spelled out by any official account. Colonel Francis Quinn, who commanded the regiment, only turned in a brigade report. He said that “several companies were ordered out from the First Brigade.” OR 10, pt. 1, 280. There is a report by Lieutenant Colonel William Graves, which does mention two companies of the Twelfth going out with the patrol. Robertson, Michigan in the War, 325. || Despite the care taken to figure out which troops were involved, Dr. Cunningham confused the road on which the patrol marched. To day, there is no doubt that Powell’s patrol took what is to day known as the Reconnoitering Road, which at the time of the battle was a small field road. We have altered the original text to correct the oversight. See Reed, The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged, 13, 59.
4 D. Lloyd Jones, “The Battle of Shiloh,” War Papers Read Before the Commandery of the State of Wisconsin, M. O. L. L. U. S., (Milwaukee: 1891), 54.
5 Ruff, “Civil War Experiences of a German Emigrant,” 294, 295. || Dr. Cunningham placed the patrol at 200 men, but Daniel, Shiloh, 143, places the number at 400 while Sword, Shiloh, 145, merely says “several hundred” Federals. McDonough, Shiloh, 87, states “less than three hundred men.”
6 Ibid.
7 Campaigns in Kentucky and Tennessee, 138. || Dr. Cunningham again mentioned the patrol marching along the Corinth Road. We have slightly altered the text to correct the statem
ent.
8 || For a third and final time, Dr. Cunningham mentioned the patrol marching along the Corinth Road. We once again slightly altered the text to correct the statement.
9 OR 10, pt. 1, 602, 603; Ruff, “Civil War Experiences of A German Emigrant,” 294; Duncan, Recollections, 51, 52; OR 10, pt. 1, 405.
10 Ibid., 602, 603; Ruff, “Civil War Experiences of A German Emigrant,” 294- 296; Franklin H. Bailey to his parents, April 8, 1862, Franklin H. Bailey Papers, Historical Collections of the University of Michigan. Some dispute exists as to the exact time of the beginning of the battle. The two most frequently mentioned times are 4:55 a.m. and 5:14 a.m. Colonel Johnston, in his biography of his father, mentions the time as being 5:14, making special reference to this, saying General Johnston directed Captain Ed Munford to note the hour of the first sound of the first firing. Johnston, Life of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, 585. Colonel William Preston, on General Johnston’s staff, said that at 5:30 a.m., he heard sharp volleys of musketry along the road on General Hardee’s front. William Preston Diary, extract for April 6, 1862, in the Miscellaneous Collections, Shiloh National Military Park. Other works cite 4:55 a.m. as the hour, notably the extremely scholarly and detailed account of the battle by a participant, and later Shiloh National Military Park Historian, D. W. Reed. Reed, Shiloh, 13. Beauregard’s aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel S. W. Ferguson, said the firing began at 4:55. S. W. Ferguson to General Beauregard, April 9, 1862, Miscellaneous Collection, Shiloh National Military Park. Another of Beauregard’s staff, Numa Augustine, confirmed this. Numa Augustine to General Beauregard, April 10, 1862, Louisiana Historical Association Collection, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University. Lieutenant Shumway, Fourteenth Illinois, said the battle began when “the rebs attacked about 4 A. M.” Shumway to his wife, April 11, 1862, Payson Z. Shumway Papers, Illinois State Historical Library. Edwin Bearss, who performed extensive research on the subject, maintains the sun rose at 5:40 a.m. that morning, citing a letter from E. B. McGeever, Head Reference Section Science and Technical Division, Library of Congress, October 30, 1963. Edwin Bearss, “Shiloh,” Miscellaneous Collection, Shiloh National Military Park. Most of the soldiers’ accounts of the action said the firing began just before dawn, and that the sun rose about the time of the beginning of the skirmish between the two main bodies of troops. This would tend to lend credence to the 5:14 version. Lieutenant C. P. Searle mentioned rising from his rail bed just “as soon as it was light enough to see,” and within minutes he heard the sound of heavy gunfire. Searle, “War Sketches and Incidents,” 330. Lieutenant Dent, Robertson’s Battery, C. S. A., said musket fire began at dawn. S. H. Dent to his wife, April 9, 1862, Shiloh-Corinth Collection, Alabama Department of Archives and History. Private Bailey, Twelfth Michigan, said the reconnaissance party “reached the rebels camp just before day light, they were out to meet us, and began to fire into us.” Franklin H. Bailey to his parents, April 8, 1862, Franklin H. Bailey Papers, Historical Collections of the University of Michigan. Private Lucius Barber, Fifteenth Illinois, said picket firing began at dawn. Barber, Army Memoirs, 51. Theodore Mandeville, Crescent Regiment, said the battle began about 5:30. Theodore Mandeville to Josephine Rozet, April 9, 1862, Louisiana State University Archives. || Daniel, Shiloh, 144, says “about 5 a.m.,” while Sword, Shiloh, 143, sticks to Reed’s 4:55 a.m. time frame. McDonough, Shiloh, 87, says “about five o’clock.”
Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 Page 39