West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-03-20
THE BATTLE OF SHILOH.

lions Ionnocted with this importlAt {
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ne WIhtUllN which the conscientious
historian hu- to ONcr2OW. i, get:inr az
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''"'"' '"' one 10y T'h'rM Nrant, the
other 10y Ioiuurl William Preston John
Stou, a son ui General Johnston. and nu
the ,taCl of J,n,rsop D,,i- p,,,...,.....
of c,,,, L t,ll
''' "'h'I
'"' Non''"''"''' SIZE Not only
Is thrH interpretation of the aims and
purposes of the comhataut~. and i'm their
estimate of the significance and result
OF the first day battle. DO they differ.
but i'm their account, of events. even i'm
minor details. Thus Colonel Johnston
credit, Grant with am army of %, 600.
nearly 10000 of whom were eilcctivcs.
while he allow, the Confederate com
mander 10000, of whom but 10000
were available for combat General
Grant ON the contrary, gives the entire
strength OF the Federal army at SS. 600
OF whom not more than 25. 600 were i'm
line ON the first day OF course Gen
oral Grant $ statement OF his own forces
Is official and conclusive: but the fact
illustrates the di~cr,paucic, of history.
The battle OF Shiloh was one of the
great battles of the war II was great
whether estimated hN the number OF
men engaged i'm IL hN the character OF
the Generals commanding. by the de,-
pcratc nature of tho conflict. by tho nm
certainty of the result during the whole
of the first day, or by the consequences
which cnsued from the Coufrdpt.ot, do
feat and which might have cusucd from
Federal defeat The Confederate au-
thorites have alway, insisted that Cen
eral Grant was virtually beaten at the
end OF the first day fight, and that
noshing saved his army but the death
OF General Johnston, and the consc-
quent change OF commanders Gcner-
al Grant was freely charged at the time
with being intoxicated, and severely
criticised for putting undisciplincd men
at the front without carthworks The
newspaper correspondents had General
irentlSS division surprised and capt
ured at the very beginning of the fight.
Some OF these then current errors are
corrected, so far as we know for the first
time officially 10y General Grants pa
per. General Grants horse fell ON him.
and nearly disabled him, two days be-
fore the battle. The raw lcyics were
put at the front purpoScly, General
Grant trusting 10 their commander.
General Sherman. TO compensate for
their mcNpcrlcncc-a trust rcpo ed not
In vain And General Prcnii,,' divis-
on fought bravclv and effectively
throughout the day and were not capt
urcd I'LL after four o'clock in the after
noon.
ne man OF Northern prciudices will
read General Grant paper and will
bui glance at Colonel JOhnston's. The
man OF southern prcJudi 'es will console
hlmsclt with Colonel Johu-tOn convic-
ton that the battle OF Shiloh was won
on the first day and wa. lost on the
second only because the Confederate
commander was Killed The impartial
historian, accepting the ycracity, bat
not necessarily the Judgment. of both
authors viii compare thc two papers TO
f'ach a truc understanding Of this mo-
mcntouS battle. and VIII find iu General
Ir;lhl IS frank confession Of his misap-
prehcnSion OF the strength of the Con
lederacN. and iu Colonel Johnston IS
disclosure OF the divided counsel, In the
Confederate army the two clues TO the
true interpretations Of the events oi the
day
"jp 10 the battle OF Shiloh says
General Grant -. as well a- thousands
OF other citilcu,, believed that the re-
DeiiI"n against the bOvcrnmcnt would
"a I.. .Uf frr.s