After the capture of
Fort Donelson in 1862,
General Grant prepared to push towards
Corinth, an important position at the intersection of the
Charleston and
Memphis,
Mobile and
Ohio railways.
Possession of that point would give the
National troops control of the great railway communications between the
Mississippi and the
East, and the border slave-labor States and the
Gulf of Mexico.
Passing up the
Tennessee River, the main
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166]
body of
Grant's troops were encamped, at the beginning of April, between
Pittsburgh Landing, on that stream, and
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Map of the Shiloh campaign. |
Meeting-house, in the forest, 2 miles from the river bank.
General Beauregard, under the supreme command of
Gen. A, Sidney Johnston, was straining every nerve to resist this movement.
He confronted the Nationals near Shiloh Meeting-house, where he was assisted by
Generals Pope,
Hardee,
Bragg, and
Breckinridge.
With these expert leaders the
Confederates had come up from
Corinth in a heavy rainstorm, in separate columns, and so stealthily that they were within 4 miles of the
National camp before they were discovered by
Grant's sentinels.
There they halted (April 5) to await the arrival of
Van Dorn and
Price, who were approaching
Memphis with a large force from
Central Arkansas.
The Confederate army now numbered about 40,000 men.
Grant had made his headquarters at
Savannah, on the
Tennessee, and he there continued until the first week in April, having very little apprehension of an attack from the
Confederates.
General Sherman's division was just behind Shiloh Meeting-house.
General Prentiss was encamped across the road to
Corinth, with
General McClernand's division behind his right.
Their three divisions formed the advanced line.
In the rear, near the river, lay
General Hurlbut's division and that of
General Smith, under the command of
Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, of
Illinois.
General Stuart's brigade, of
Sherman's division, lay on the
Hamburg road, and the division of
Gen. Lew. Wallace was at Crump's Landing, below
Pittsburgh Landing.
Such was the
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Battle of Shiloh. |
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167]
disposition of the
National army on Sunday morning, April 6.
Buell had been marching very tardily across
Tennessee in the direction of
Corinth.
Hearing of his approach,
Johnston resolved not to wait for
Van Dorn and
Price, but to strike the Nationals before
Buell's arrival.
At a council of war (April 5) that made this decision,
Beauregard said: “Gentlemen, we sleep in the enemy's camp to-morrow night.”
Almost the first intimation of the near presence of the
Confederates was the wild cry of pickets flying into camp, and the sharp attack upon
Sherman's troops by
Hardee's division, before daylight had fairly appeared.
It was a surprise.
Screaming shells dashed through the forest and bullets whistled among the tents.
The Confederates had rushed into the camp, driving half-dressed, half-armed soldiers before them, dealing death and terror in every direction.
Prentiss's division was next attacked; his column was shattered, and he, with a large portion of his followers, were made prisoners, his camp being captured by the
Confederates.
The struggle soon became general, and for ten hours the battle raged with varying fortune on both sides.
Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, of the Nationals, and
Gen. A. S. Johnston, of the
Confederates, had been killed.
On both sides the slaughter was severe, and the
National army was pushed back to the river, then brimful with a spring flood.
The day was fairly lost to the
Union troops.
All the
Union camps were occupied by the
Confederates but one—that of
General Wallace, of which
General MacArthur was now in command.
In the rear of this the smitten army had gathered at twilight, in a space not more than 400 acres in extent, on the verge of the river.
They could be pushed back no farther.
Beauregard telegraphed to
Richmond a shout of victory.
The
Nationals were in a most perilous position.
A single vigorous blow then given would have justified this shout.
Beauregard gave feeble ones that were parried by two gunboats on the river, which had just arrived, and by a hastily formed battery on the shore.
That evening the van of
Buell's army also appeared on the opposite side of the river; and at midnight,
Gen. Lew. Wallace, who had been detained by misinformation, arrived.
In the morning twilight (April 7)
Wallace's troops opened the battle anew on the
Confederate left, where
Beauregard commanded in person.
Others soon joined in the battle, and it became general all along the line.
The Confederates fought gallantly, but were speedily pushed back by a superior force.
When they perceived that all was lost, they fled in the direction of
Corinth, in a blinding storm of rain and sleet, and halted on the heights of
Monterey, covered in their retreat by a rear guard of 12,000 men, led by
General Breckinridge.
The Confederates had lost over 10,000 men in the engagement and retreat.
Fully 3,000 died during the flight to the heights of
Monterey.
The National loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners was about 15,000.
The slain on the battle-field were buried; the dead horses were burned.
The hospital vessels sent down the
Tennessee were crowded with the sick and wounded.
Beauregard's shattered army fell back to
Corinth, and
Grant was about to pursue and capture it, when
General Halleck, his superior in rank, came up and took the chief command, and caused the army to loiter until the
Confederates, recuperated, were ready for another battle.
