The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-02-04

command of the troops in the field. AL
though nominally in command, General
Grant was utterly ignored and was not
allowed to see one of the reports of
General Buel, or of his subordinates in
that battle, and did not see them until
they were published by the war depart
ment long after the event. In conse-
quence of his treatment by his superior
officer, before and after the battle, he
never made report of this en-
gagement, beyond what was con-
tanned in letter written Immediately
after the battle, informing Halleck
that an engagement had been fought
and announcing the result. When
General Grant was restored to his
command, about the middle of March, he
found it on the Tennessee river-part at
Savanna, on the east side, General Lew
Wallace at Crump's Landing, few miles
south on the west side, and a part at
Pittsburg Landing on the same side, five
miles further south. He made his
headquarters at Savanna, at which place
General Buel had been ordered to join
him. He had sent all the troops to
Pittsburg Landing and intended to make
that place his headquarters as soon as
Buel had arrived. He spent the day
at Pittsburg, returning to Savanna in
the evening. Skirmishing had been so
continuous at the front from about the
Sd of April that he remained on the
field each night until an hour when he
felt that there would be no danger of
an attack before morning. On the night
of April 4th the general was trying to
get to the front, where firing had been
heard. The night, he says, was i'm
penetrably dark, with the rain pour
ing in torrents; nothing was visible to
the eye except as revealed by frequent
flashes of lightning. Under the cir
cumstances he had to trust to his horse,
without guidance, to keep the road.
While returning to the landing, his
horse slipped and fell, with the generals
leg under his body. The extreme soft
ness of the ground saved him from a
severe injury. AS it was, his ankle was
so severely hurt that his boot had to be
cut off and for two or three days after
he had to go on crutches. The generals
partial disability and the severe physi-
cal suffering he endured while con-
Quoting this battle were not, we be-
lieve, known by the public. General
Buel was expected at Savanna Tuesday
morning, April 6. He arrived Saturday
evening but did not report to General
Grant, and the latter was not aware of
his presence till some time afterward.
He was intending to take an early
breakfast and ride out to meet Buel
before going to Pittsburg, but while at
breakfast the sound of the Confederate
guns was heard, and, sending hasty
note to Buel, he hurried to the front.
He had not been sure that Crump's
Landing might not be the point of at
tack, but the purpose of the enemy
was then unmistakable, and an order
was dispatched to General Lew Wal
lace to march his division at once to
Pittsburg Landing, by the road nearest
the river. The Confederates, number
ing about forty thousand, under Gen
ara1 Tohnctnn -, ~ Of
battle led by brave and skillful gener-
ais, had moved up from Corinth by
forced marches and begun the attack
at early sunrise. The Union forces,
numbering twenty-five thousand, were
posted on ridge protected on either
flank by small streams. General Sher-
man held the right at Shiloh church
and General Prentiss the left center,
with General Stuart on the extreme
Confederate plan was, by sudden,
determined, headlong movement, to
turn or crush the Union left, cut off re-
treat to the river, throw Grant back on
the creek which protected his right,
and compel him to surrender. The
Confederates arrived near the ground
Saturday afternoon, April 5, and dis
posed their forces for the attack. The
country was densely wooded and ia
vored secrecy of motion. All was ella
ton in the rebel camps. OF the night
before the battle, on the Confederate
side, Colonel Johnston gives this bril-
liant picture: "The sun set on Saturday
evening in cloudless sky, and night
fell calm, clear and beautiful. Long
before dawn the forest was alive with
silent preparations for the ensuing con-
test, and day broke upon a scene so
fair that it left its memory on thou
sands of hearts. The sky was clear
overhead, the air fresh, and when the
sun rose in full splendor the advancing
host passed the word from lip to lip
that it was the sun of Austerlitz. -"
"To-night we will water our horses in
the Tennessee" was General Johns
toms exultant boast. With such prepa-
rations and such inspiring omens, the
first line of battle, in the early morning