Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-01-25


TIE February Century magazine con
came exceedingly interesting accounts @
t1c battle Of shiloh or Pittsburg LAND
lugb By Gen. Grant on the National sid
ana by a son Of Gen. Johnston on that O
Che COnfederates. A few brief extract.
rem the article by Gen. Grant Will give
the -eader an appetite for the account il
detail
TIE skiTmishing in our front had beer
SO continuous from about April up tC
the determined attack that 1 remained on
The Leld each night until an hour when ]
felt there would be no further danger
before morning. In fact, on Friday. the
4rE, ] was very much Injured BY my
horse falling with me and on me while !
was trying to get TO the front, where
firing mad been heard. The night was
one NJ impenetr3ble darkness, with rain
pouring down IN torrents; nothing was
visible 10 the eve except as revealed bv
the frequent flashes % lightning. Under
l1ese circumstances / lad to trust 10
the -H--e. without guidance, 10 keen the
roa.. ! lad not gone far, however, when
/ mes Gen. W. u. /. Wallace and Gen.
ltL-1 lGi0rel) Mcpherson coming from
tL. direction Of the front. they said all
T15 quiet 50 far as the enemy was con-
ce-Le1. on the way back 10 the boat nv
horses feet slipped from under him. and
1@ --ll itn my leg under his body. The
eE-1 softness of the ground, from the
excessive rains o. the few pre- @ linz
da- 20 doubt saved mo from a severe
-n E and protr3ctea laucness. As It
l-1 my ankle was very much injured /:
50 -L--L SO, that my boot had TO be cut
IN Daring the HaIt.-, and for two or
three days after, I was unable to walk
except Nltl e. U-Cles.
stan IFas directed 20 90 back and order
tre-. H8llace % march Immediately to
'.-l burg, by the road nearest the river.
tar-, Baxter made a memorandum Of his
y.ie. About I p. M, not hearing from
81 -ee. and being much in need of rein
f0recn-rts. / sent two more of my staff,
Coz. Mcpherson and Capt. R0Wley, TO
brlr aim up with his division.
lob was a log Westinghouse. some
two three miles from Pittsburg Land
InZ. md ON the ridge which divides the
waters Of snake and Lick creeks, the
former emptying into the Tennessee Just
u0--a 1f Pittsburg Landing. and the lat
ter s9ush. Shiloh was the key to our pO-
sitl1u- and was held Jv sherman. HIS
-iSon at that time was wholly raw. no
mart II iteyer having been in an engage
ment. but ] thought this deficiency was
morz than made up by the superiority OF
the commander. McCiernand was on
SEerLlau-s left, with troops that had been
ENGAGED at Forts Henry and DOnelsOn,
and were therefore veterans as far as
Western troops lad become such at that
staEl 0s the war. Next 10 McCIer nand
came Prentiss, with raw division, and
on The extreme left Stuart, with one
brigade Of Sherman's division. Hurlbul
was ID rear of Prentiss, massed, and in
reserve At the time Of the onset. The di-
vision IF Gen. {. +. smith was on the
right and in reserve.
The position Of our troops, as here de-
scri1eG, made a continuous line from Licb
creek. On the left, to Owl breek. a branch
OF Stake creek, on the right, facing nearly
SOIlI. and possibly little west. The
water II all these streams was very high
at tne time, and contributed TO protect
our tanks. The enemy was compelled
therefore, to attack directly in front. This
he di1 with great vigOr, infilcting heavy
losses On the Federal side, but suffering
much heavier on his own.
Ire Confederate assaults We're made
with such disregard Of losses on theiI
own side that our line of tents soon fell
into their hands. The ground on which
the battle was fought was UndulatIng,
eavilv-timbered, with scattered clear
ms. ne woods giving some protection
70 the troops on both sides. There was
also considerable underbrush. 4 number
az E-LEalALS were luduE UN LuG ElGAl1 u
turn orr right flank, where sherman was
posted, but every effort was repulsed
with heavy loss. But the front attack
was Kept up so vigorously that, to pre-
vent the success of these attempts to get
on our TANKS, the Federal troops were
compelled several times TO take positions
20 the rear. nearer Pittsburg Landing
When the firing ceased at night the Fede-
raj liua was more than mile in rear OF
the position it had occupied in the morn
ing.
In one of the backward moves. on the
Sta. tue division commanded by Gen
Preltiss did not fall back with the others
This left his TANKS exposed, which
enabled the enemy to capture him, with
about 1900 Of his officers and men.
With this single exception, fOI
a few i1inutes. after the capture of Prem
tiss a continuous and UnbrOken line was
maintained all day from Snake creek OF
its tributaries on the right to Lick creek
or the Tennessee on the left, aUOve Pitts
bur. There was no hour during the day
when there was not heavy firing and gen.
orally hard fighting at some point on the
IIne, bat seldom at all points at the same
sine. II was a case of Southern dash
against Northern pluck and endurance.
Later in the war, while occupying the
country between the Tennessee and the
Mississippi. / learned that the panic in
the Confederate lines had not differed
much from that within our own. Some
Oftbe country people estimated the strag-
giers from JOhnstOns army as high as
20,Coo. OF course this was an eXaggera
ton.
TIE situation at the close of the first
dav was as follows: Extending from the
tor cd the bluf Just south of the log house
which stood at Pittsburg Landing, Col. j.
-. Webster, of my staff, mad arranged
q reTaaoe 90 u-ff1fnrrr fnnfnu
south. or up the river. This line of artil-
lery was on the crest Of a hill overlooking
"A deep raVinC opening into the Tennessee,
HUrlbUt with his division intact, was on
the right Of this artillery. extending west
and POSSIBLY little north. Nc
CieruanG came next I'm the general
line. looking more TO the west. Sherman
came next. his right extending to Snake
creek. All three divisions We're, as a
matter OF course. more or less shattered
and depleted in numbers from the terrible
battle Of the day. The division of W. ii,
T.. Wallace. as much from the disorder
arising from changes OF division and
brigade commanders. under heavy fire
rs from any other cause, had lost its or
ganizati0u, and did not occupy place IL
the line as a division. Prentiss' com
maud was gone as a division, many OF 1t;
members having been killed, wounded, OF
c9Dtured. But IL had rendered valiant
service before its final disposal. and had
contributed Il good share to the defense OF
Shiloh.
Gen. Lew Wallace arrived after firing
had ceased for the day, and was placed
on the right. Thus night came. Wallace
came. and the advance of Nelson's di
vision came, but nOne-eXcept night-ir
time 10 &c Of material service to the gal
liant men who saved Shiloh on that trs
dav. against large odds. BuelPs loss Oh
the first day was two men killed and one
wounded. all members of the Seth Indiana
Infantry. The presence of two or three
regiments OF his army on the west banE
before iung ceased had not the slightest
effect il preventing the capture Of Pitts
burg Landing.
20 confident was l before firing had
ceased on the 9th that the next day would
bring victory to our arms II we could only
4ake the initiative, that | visited eacl
division commander in person before any