William Boynton, Sherman's Historical Raid

[39] Johnston, was, according to their own reports and admissions, forty-five thousand strong, had the momentum of attack, and beyond all question fought skillfully from early morning till about 2 P. M., when their commander-in-chief was killed by a Minie — ball in the calf of his leg, which penetrated the boot and severed the main artery. There was then a perceptible lull for a couple of hours, when the attack was renewed, but with much less vehemence, and continued up to dark. Early at night the division of Lew. Wallace arrived from the other side of Snake Creek, not having fired a shot. A very small part of General Buell's army was on our side of the Tennessee River that evening, and their loss was trivial.

During that night the three divisions of McCook, Nelson, and Crittenden were ferried across the Tennessee, and fought with us the next day (7th.) During that night, also, the two wooden gun-boats, Tyler, commanded by Lieutenant Gwin, and Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk, both of the regular navy, caused shells to be thrown toward that part of the field of battle known to be occupied by the enemy. Beauregard afterward reported his entire loss as ten thousand six hundred and ninety-nine. Our aggregate loss, made up from official statements, shows seventeen hundred killed, seven thousand four hundred and ninety-five wounded, and three thousand and twenty-two prisoners; aggregate, twelve thousand two hundred and seventeen, of which twenty-one hundred and sixty-seven were in Buell's army, leaving for that of Grant ten thousand and fifty. This result is a fair measure of the amount of fighting done by each army.

And this of an army that occupied three-fourths of the line of battle on the second day, and carried it steadily forward till victory was attained! Instead of this last unworthy sentence, General Sherman might have had the fairness to say that, as Grant's force for the first day's fight consisted of five divisions, aggregating about thirty-two thousand men, and as Lew. Wallace's division, about six thousand strong, came up for the second day's fight—while Buell had only one brigade in action after 5 o'clock the first day, and only three divisions of eighteen thousand men the second day—the losses of each army were about in proportion to their respective numbers, and the time each was engaged. But it has never heretofore answered General Sherman's purpose to state the facts about Buell's army at Shiloh, and now he is attempting to perpetuate exploded errors.

The statement that General Grant made no official report of the battle of Shiloh is a good illustration of the careless