The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-04-27
The Horrors OF War.

AS the peoples III the sea.
----->> >-<----
The Horrors of War.
; We give below extracts from let
ter written by Col. John P. Pryor to
the Memphis Argus, after an ex-
animation of the battle field of Shiloh:
The (Shiloh) church building has
been torn down; only few of the
old oaken logs, out of which it was
built, and the conglomerate sand and
gravel blocks of stone used as foun-
dation-stones, are left to mark the
spot where the Methodists of that
neighborhood, before the battle, were
wont to worship. It was taken to
pieces, I understand, by the Federal
soldiery, long encamped around it
after the fight, and all the available
timber about it carried off to the
North by enterprising Yankees, to
be manufactured into Shiloh walking
canes, and other saleable ssnemen-
toes" and 'ttrophies" of the great
struggle.
reached the Southwestern boun-
dairy of the battlefield precisely in
the centre of the line upon which the
Confederates formed before going
Unto battle. That line was formed
upon the crest of o ridge running
from the Northwest to the South
east-from the direction of Purdy
stretching away toward Hamburg.
This ridge overlooks and commands
almost the entire field 1t is seven
OF eight miles long, and from its
crest, advancing to the Northeast,
{ lShe descent is nowhere very precipi-
: tous, and few hundred yards from
the summit of the ridge the ground
becomes almost level, and spreads out
into vast plain three or four miles
wide and from four to five miles long.
On this grand and gently descending
plateau, with the dip toward the
river, the principal part of what we
call the Battle of Shiloh was fought.
ION either wing" and all along the
river line, the ground lis more or less
PERCEPTIONS. Covered, as nearly the
whole field now is, with soft, thick
carpet of dark green grass and clover,
[ think it is the most beautiful battle
field I have ever seen. True, there
are great many unsightly dead trees,
and still more unsightly and sadly
neglected graves, (of which more
anon,) but the ground. for miles on
miles in all directions, is nearly level,
and is now of that deep emerald hue
which generally only a we'll advanced
wheat field presents at this early sea
son.
[ saw but little of the field on
Wednesday evening, but on yester-
day, having obtained two guides, in
the persons of Mr.. McMullen, of
Hamburg, and Mr.. Hargroves, who
resides on the field, l spent seven
or eight hours in visiting all the points
of greatest interest, and in noting
particularly the places where the fight
had been hardest, and where there
had been pretence Of burying vast
numbers of brave men-particularly
Confederates-who fell or the 9th
and 9TH of April, 1852. wrote you
some weeks ago from the battlefield
Of Corinth, giving all account of the
condition of the Confederate and
Federal dead ON that field. 1t was
bad enough in all conscience, as you
and all yonr readers will remember;
but for shameful neglect, and dis
honor to the gallant men who per-
ished in what they believed to be a
just and noble cause, it was nothing
compared to what I saw yesterday
and the day before on the field OF
Shiloh. The war, during its progress,
presented many horrible as this. l
saw where hundreds of Confederate
dead had been rooted out of their
shallow coverings-I cannot call them
graves their flesh eaten by the hogs,
and their bones lying scattered and
broken and trampled upon in every
direction. It transcends anything
recorded in civilized history; it al
most transcends belief. I was told
by some of the people residing near
that the hogs fed SO long in this way
upon carrion that the pork of the
neighborhood became so Offensive il
could not be eaten; and, to this day,
; some of the ladies' informed me they