New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-05-08

RhtEoh.
LREom ~ NohIla 60. ]

Shiloh.
From tie Mobile Reafss.-f
The history Of the great battles o. the late VAR
. destined to be fruitful field of controversy for
many years to come. Il has always bepn 40 with
ttesafd 70 engagements between great bodies Of
loops. covering large space Of ground and
marked by variety Of successes and reyersss.
. Most men who participate in a battle heys a
very nnited opportunity of knowing what is Ezss-
ing, except Immediately around them F0r tSivH
reason an actual combatant is generally less capa
Dle oi gglng correct account than a mere SPEC
tsLof' know what volumes of controversy
mess wElsEen upon the subject Of Waterloo and it
won and lost.
In such case as that Of the first Manassas
Iou9ht mostly on open ground and in accordance
with welt-dehned plans both Sides there Is less
room ior di5pate as To- She faets The seme is tfus
to certain extent Of Gettysburg Fredericksburg
and some other decisive engagements
| With regard to Seven Pines the CHieisabopiuy
4 Missionary Ridge, etc, there VIII long 4 a much
/ greater diversity Of statement
But in the case Of the battle Of Shiloh fought
/ in the woods, on broken groand by b dies Of
troops necessarily disconnected and scatter ID, and
/ with change of commanders, and perh aps Of
plans, in the very midst Of the action, it is very
easy to perceive why there should be an ext Faor-
dinary diversity of impressions. Neither a 30Da-
batant nor spectator could grasp the whole q eat
panorama in his comprehension. Indeed, we san
be ascertained.
There has been some controversy Of late on th e
subject originating with an account given bys
writer in SeOtt's Monthly Magazine who ia CON
rbuting some sketches Of the q decisive battIesy
| of the war-a class Of engagements By the way
IN which Shiloh can scarcely be inciuded. This
account has ELECTED reply from the Rev DR.
Tichenor, of Montgomery who was chapIain Of tfes~
18th Alabama regiment, and who 7zas rrHsent and .
participant in the thickest Of the fight.
DR.. Tlchenor gives very graph account nf fFey
operations Of the division ithers'l to which hia
own regiment belonged-especially Of JaeksanIs
brigade. Indeed, his narrative of the events that
occurred on the right of the Confederate lines "a
one of the cearest that we have seen.
After Gen. Grants army had been discomftsd
and driven back to the river with the loss Of their
tents, baggage and great portion of their artiI-
lery after the gunboats had opened fire from the
river, and when it was expected by many that the
final attack would be made, there is much dsereD-
ancy in the statements Of different witnesses Dr..
Tichenor says:
while waiting in momentarY expectation Of
the order to advance and finish the work of that
bloody day the command was given for them to
retire. and these weary heroes fell back beyond
the reach Of the enemy's fire. The impression ia
common that the troops faltered under the fire Of
the gunboats, but it is mistake. Most of them
had been with Bragg at Pensacola, had Witnessed
the grand bombardments between Fort Pickens
and Bragg's batteries, and had become accustomed
TO the sound Of these missiles, and knew by ex-
perience how little danger there was in such huge
masses of iron. Gen. Beanregard has been blamed
for not pushing the victory to completion on
that day; but there is much to be said in defense
Of that ofhcer. He had been in feeble health for
months and was scarcely able to take command
Gen. Johnston was killed in the afternoon and the
whole command thrown unexpectedly upon him.
The information furnished by subordinate COM
lnanders may have induced this decision when a
full knowledge of all the facts would have
prompted him to different course"
These remarks of DR.. Tichenor have elected
some comment from the Memphis Appeal As
Brigadier General Thomas Jordon. late chief of
staff for General Beauregard is understood to be
one of the editorial staff of the Appeal it is fair
to presume that these comments are from his pen.
We quote them, without expressing any opinion
indeed cur information is yet, too limited to form
one-upon the merits of thequestions
The Appeal says:
DR.. Tehenor, in his narrative Of the reasons that
led the Confederatea to fall short of a complete
demolition Of the Federal army on the sth Of April
differ widely, we assure him, from the official
reports of she closing scenes of that day, of ali
the regimental commanders of his own brigade
and Of the brigade and division commanders of his
eOrps-Bragg gs-except General Withers all of
whom unite in, the fact that they maintained the
battle and pressed forward as far as practicable,
until darkness overlook them Some retired then
on their own motion without orders-Others by
orders received about dusk. Gen. 4. *. jackson
himself reports that in the darkness Of the night
which had then fallen upon us, my regiment
became separated from each other,' which shows
that the order oretire, by whomsoever given, had
not been received moment too Soon and could
influence on the end Of that bloody affair The
official reports of subordinate Confederate of
fcers-the persons in immediate command of the
men-shed strong and curious light upon the
attempt that has been so industri0usly made to
show that we failed to gain complete victory the
first day at Shiloh because Gen. Beauregard gave
general order for the troops to be withdrawn.
Such order was given, but not until so late an
hour-nearly nght-as insured that it would not
check practical offensive operations. but would
serve to collect the scattered troops lust as night
setting in ; and the fact is, many of the
regiments not under the eyes of their general
officers had been withdrawn already, as their COM
manders report, without orders. All who desire
an accurate notion of the incidents of that hard
fought, sangninary battle, in which we lost in
killed and wounded fully one-third of our forces,
should read these subordinate reports. Mean
while, the of true history is served by these
contributions, such as DR.. Tichenor has written in
an excellent spirit and candor,