The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-01-06
NEW SERIES mo. So $50.

: I tJi6l 4 IlT-i.i -'s-'7r - = 1917
them waited till near noon for BuelPs troops to
get up abreast, when the entire line advanced
and recovered all the ground we had ever held. |
/ know that with the exception of one or two 1
compared with that Of April s,
I never was disposed, nor am Inow, to quest q
ton any thing done'by Gen. Buell. and his ar \
my; and know that approaching our field of
battle from the rear, he encountered that sick
ening crowd of laggards and fugitives that ex-
cited his contempt and that of his army, who
never gave full credit to those in the front line,
who did fight hard, and who had at 4 r. NJ,
checked the enemy, and were preparing the
next day to assume the offensive remember
the fact the better from General Grants anec-
d0te of the DonnelsOn battle, which he told me.
then for the first time-that at, a certain peri.
.Od of the battle, he saw that either side was
ready to give way If the other showed bold
front, and he determined to do'that very thing,
to advance on the enemy, when, as he prog
nosticated, the enemy surrendered. i At Ar.
N. of April 6, he thought the appearances
the same, and he Judged with Lew. Wal
lagos fresh division, and such of our startled
troops as had recovered their equilibrium,
he would be, justified in dropping. the de-
fdnsive and assuming the offensive in the
'ders before knew Gen. Buell's troops were at
the river. admit that was glad Buell. was
there, because knew his troops were older
than ours and better ,systematized and drilled.
and his arrival made that certain which was
before uncertain. / have heard this question
much discussed, and must say that the officers
OF buelfs army dweit too much on the STAN
pede OF some OF our raw troops, and gave us
little credit for the fact that for one whole day,
weakened as We were by the absence of Buells
army long expected, of Lew. Wallace's diyis.
ion, only four miles off, and of the fugitiyes
from our ranks, we had beaten OF our assail-
ants for the time At the same time our Atmy
OF the Tennessee have INDUCED in severe critf.
cism at the slow approach of that army which
knew the danger that threatened us from the
concentrated armies of Johnston, Beauregard
and Bragg, that lay at Corinth. In war like
this, where opportunities for personal proWess
are as plenty as blackberries, to those whoseek
them at the front, all such examinations should
be frowned down; and were it not for the mill.
tary character of your journal, I would not
venture to offer correction to o very popular
error.
will also avail myself of this occasion to
correct another very common mistake in attrib.
uting to Gen. Grant the selection of that bat.
tie-held! 1t was chosen by that veteran soldier,
Maj Gen. Charles F. Smith, who ordered my
division to disembark there, and strike for the
Charleston Railroad. This order was subse-
quently modified by his ordering Hurlbut's di-
vision to disembark there, and mine higher up
the Tennessee to the mouth of Yellow Greek,
to strike the railroad at Bunsville. But floods
prevented our reaching the railroad, when Gen,
Smith ordered me In person also to disembark
at Pittsburg Landing, and take post we'll out,
80 as to make plenty of room, with Snake and
Lake creeks the TANKS of camp for the grand
army of invasion. &c.,. .....
1t was Gen. Smith who selected that field of
battle, and it was well chosen. On any other
we surely would have been overwhelmed, as
both Lake and Snake creeks forced the enemy
to confine his movements to q direct front at
tack, which new troops are better qualified TO
resist than where TANKS are exposed to real or
chimerical danger. Even the divisions of that
army were arranged in that camp by General
Smiths orders, my division forming, as 1t
were, the outlying pickets whilst eClernand's
and Prentiss' were the real line of battle, with
w. II. L. Wallace in support of the right
wing, and Hurlbut of the left Lew. Wallace's
division being detached. All these subordinate
dispositions were made by the order of Gen.
Smith, before General Grant succeeded him
TO the command of all the forces up the
tennessee headquarters at Savannah. If
there were any error In putting that army
on the west side of the Tennessee, exposed
to the superior force of the enemy also assem-
bling at Corinth, the mistake was not Gen.
Grants-but there was no mistake; It was
necessary that q combat, fierce and bitter, TO
test the manhood of the two armies, should
come of, and that was as good Is any. 1t was
not then question of military skill and STRAIT
egy, but of courage and pluck, and I am con-
vineed that every life lost that day to US was
Necessary; for otherwise at Corinth, at Men,
phis, at Vicksburg, we would have found
harder resistance, had we not shown our ene-
mics that, rude and untutored as we then were,
we could fight as well as they. '.. :,
Excuse 30 long letter, which is very un-
usual for me; but of course my life Is liable to
cease at any moment and happen to be
witness to certain truths which are now be-
ginning to pass out of memory, and form what
ID called history. :. -, ~. = -
l also take great pleasure in adding that
nearly all the new troops that at Shiloh drew
from me official censure have more than re-
deemed their good name among them, that
very regiment which first broke, the Fifty
Third Ohio. Colonel Appen. Under another
leader, Col. Jones, it has shared every cam.
paign and expedition of mine since, is with
me now, and can march, aud bivouac and fight
as we'll as the best regiment in this or any
army. Its repatution now is equal to that of
any from the State of Ohio. I am, with re-
spect, yours truly, r.t .-. ..
W. t. SHERMAN, Maj. Gen.