The daily gazette., 1881-03-19
"WE'RE WHIPPED p

THE THRILLINo SIGHT WITNESSED BY
BUELL's ADVANCE AT SHILOH.
e. Hannaford in the PhIia. Weekly Times.
Nelson was never debonair on duty.
The scene at the landing (which has
never been adequately described and per-
bsps never will be- was we'll fitted 20
excite the scorn and indignation OF such
a combative nature as his; yet it may
we'll be doubted whether, ii he were
alive to-day, he would not wish to ex-
pung from bis official report the harsh
statement that he finally "asked per-
mission to open Eve upon the knaves."
"Get out Of the way, you d--d
cowardsl" he exclaimed, furiously, as
the frantic throng pressed toward boat
whence one OF his favorte regiments was
debarking. "Get out of the way! II you
won't fight yourselves, lot these men of
that will Men, follow me !"
81 shall never forget" says DIR. Brad
ford again, "lhe forming line on the
bluff at PittsbuIg Landing. doubt
whether on any other battlefield of the
war any set of men ever formed under
just such circumstances. Most of our
batteries gone, a thousand wagons gone,
nearly all our tents gone;our entire force
seemingly driven into twelve or fifteen
acres of ground; the enemy pressing on
with batteries and musketry in front
and cross fire of cannon from above,
aud ten Thousand panic.stricken man
out OF the fight crying: 'We're whipped"
The battle Is losln Its no use TO form!'
They're driving us into the rlver,' etc.
In this terrible extremity the command
fell quickly and orderly into line and, at
the word, moved gallanlly forward. l
could not resist the temptation of riding
my iron-gray close up 10 the lines and
crying out, Bully for the Sixth Ohiol'"
Gas we landed" wrote Colonel
Grose, with pardOnable enthusiasm to
his wife, Immediately after the battle,
there were at least fifteen thousand
of Grants panic-strickeE troops who
had thrown away their arms and were
pressing to get on board the boa s,and
as my regiment marched ur the hlll
we would hear he towards say to my
men, You will get it = you will
come back = You will see = and many
other such expressions ; yet our men
went bravely up and formed
in line of battle, Generals Buell. and
Nelson with me. While forming the
heavy fire "f the enemy was passing
thick and fast around us. Poor While
was struck by canister shot and be, b
his legs were torn off, and about the
same time a staff officer ten feet in
front of the line, on horse, between
General Nelson and myself, had his
head shot off by cannon ball, and fell,
a ghastly sight, before my regiment,
at seeing which few of our men near
est the scene fell back few steps, but
as soon as commanded them to dress
up the line, they did so promptly, and
obeycd the command to forward,
march, in line of battle. We moved
off about one hundred yards to sup
port one of our retreating batteries,
and there We opened up a severe fire
on the approaching enemy, which,
think, was the first evidence the rebels
had that the advance of Buel's army
was arriving. The fire of our Iegi-
ment checked the enemy for the plight
and, as everybody here says, turned
the tide of battle and saved Grants
army"
Every survivor of the Tenth Brigade
will recall how the shocking death of
General Grants aid, as mentioned by
Colonel Grose, was talked about for
weeks afterward, and the more because
the same, or nearly simultaneous dis.
charge, shot away the saddle from un-
der Lieutenant Graves, a volunteer aid
of General Nelson, and then went
plunging over the bluff, producing the
widest CONSERVATION among the fugi-
tive thousands there herded. 1t can
not but strike one as singular, there
fore, to know how completely this
CHASTITY Incident was ignored by the
contempnraneous accounts of Shiloh.
Byron's famous satire on military glory
defined it as being killed in battle and
having ones name mispelled in the
official gazette. But what shall we
say of this case, where brave man
met the most tragic of deaths, and his
name-nay, even his fate-Sas not so
much as limited ?