The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1884-07-24
THE QUESTION OF sURPR1sE.

Comrafe ]. Hinson, Mcnashs, Wis, writes:
The writer was senior Lieutenant and in COM
mand Of The detachment q the signal Corps At
tsehed To Gen. Nelson's division az shiloh the
detachment consisting Of four Lieuienauts aud
eight enlisted men. OF Tie detachment wa~n Lieu
tenant short of stature but long Of language, and
coubtless a word p" fly spoken had many times
served him good purpose Arriving with the Cen
eiai, IA advance Of the troops the hank u the
INef opposite 70 where the battle was in progress
the detachment was divided leaving two officers
and four men with The General, and the others
crossed the river on steamboat, reporting 10 Gen.
Buell. on the field for orders which were speedily
telegTaphed 10 Gen. Nelson on the other side Our
station was on the high hank Of the river in the
midst OF the great crowd Of stragers who troubled
US a good deal by getting in our way. To avoid
them we cleared a circular space Of about 50
feet IN diameter and pressed guards from among
the straggiers. who were only too glad TO have
excuse 10 be there and to our short Lieutenant
was delegated the duty of keeping the space clear
while the writer sent and received messages.
II was while receiving message that Gems. Grant
ana Buell. rode down to the river TO see how
Nelson's troops were getting along, and Gen
buell., either by accident knowledge of our pres
eIee, rode on 20 one side. while Gen. Grant rode
into the very center OF cur working space and de-
hberately stopped his horse to take look across
the river, the guards doubtless recognizing the
commanding General and offering protest. Just
at this moment our Lieutenant. turning suddenly
from another direction, caught sight OF horse and
bootleg, and visions OF Struggling cayalrymen
who had already troubled him gathered up before
him, and he marched squareiy up to the horse, and
addressing the bootleg said . Git out of the way
herei amt you got no sense. Don't you see you're
The Commanding General looked down and saw
an officer in staff uniform, who seemed for some
reason, very anxious to have him git out of the
way and apoogizing Ia a very quiet manner
rode over beside Gen Buell.. The Lieutenant
astoHsshed at the apology, followed the line of
vision from the bootleg upward, and found he had
been addressing Major General, and for once IN
his life he had nothing TO say. He admits there
was surprise at Shiloh.
S. c. Allen, Co. II, eth Ill, Fort Dodge. Iowa
uphoids the honor of his regiment as follows:
well remember the morning when the first rat
tie of musketry WAS heard by our regiment the
Sth Ill. the field of Shiloh Most OF the men
were cleaning their muskets and aeeouterInents
for inspection, which was 10 take place az a. m
Two of our men had been excused from inspection
and had been gone about an hour, fishing in Owl
Greek, and we did not see them again until we re-
turned TO camp Monday night Smart BOYS En-
| think It was after O'Clock when we heard the
hrIng. We at first thought II pickets discharginz
their muskeis, but it was too heavy for that and
nearly all Of in front our camp listen
ing TO and discussing the firing. While watching
we saw courier coming al full speed from towards
Shiloh Church (SheTtnzn's Headquarters directly
10 our Brigade Headquarters, when the long roll
was beaten by Drum-Msjor Pay. don't thin there
was shot or shell that came within hearing distance
of our brigade until we moved well To the front Our
regiment WAS under command Of Cspt. DenisOa
Co c. who tu-sed over the command 10 Can't
HoYey, Co X when first under FIRE and vanished
frona our view, and we never saw him again Our
first line was formed on the west side Of the field
~ i-sciIl-s AIeEE- " 2 re-
NAMED for about half an hour, and linen moved
by the left flank passing about - or loo
rods in the rear Of Shiloh Church. and formed cur
line on "A road about one-half or three-quarters Of
a mile east Of the church We lay there for nearly
an hour before we were under fire, when we lost
quite a number of men, including Capt Hovey
We lost our first man (wOandedj long before we
reached this point. shot through the leg with =
stray ball, IN the woods northeast Of the church
near the camp Of Col. Marsh's brigade After the
first round or two We fell back eight or ten rods
and formed a rev line and repulsed all attempts on
our line.