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

/ shifMAsHeTs IN the morning as soon as
they could see, and push them forward
until they found the enemy, following with
! their entire divisions in supporting dis
| lance, and to engage the enemy as soon as
| found.
l was glad, however, to see the rein
! iorcements of Buell. and credit them with
] doing all there was for them TO do.
The advance on the morning OF the TIN
! developed the enemy in the camps Occu-
| pied by our troops before the battle be-
I gan, more than a mile back from the
| most advanced position OF the COnteder-
ates on the day before. 1t is known now
! that the enemy had not vet become IN
! formed Of the arrival OfBuelPs command.
| Possibly they fell back TO get the shelter
OF our tents during the rain, and also TO
/ get away from the shells that were
dropped upon them by the gunbOats every
fifteen minutes during the night.
The position Of the Federal troops on
the morning Of the eth was as follows:
Gen. Lew Wallace on the right. sherman
to mis- left; then McClernand. and then
Hurlbut. Nelson, OF BuelFs army. was
on the extreme left, next to the river:
Crittendcn was next in line after Nelson.
and on his right; McCOOk followed. and
formed the extreme right OF Bueirs COM
mand- Ny old command thus formed the
right wing, while the troops directly un-
der buell. constituted the left wing Of Jhe
army. These relative positions were re-
tanned during the entire day. or until the
enemy was driven from the field.
In a very short time the battle became
general all along the line. This day every
thing W3s favorable 20 the Federal side.
we now had become the attacking party.
The enemy was driven back all day. as
we had been the day before, until finally
he beat precipitate retreat.
shiloh was the most severe battle
fought at the West during the war, and
but few in the Ea { cqualed ii for hard.
determined fighting. ! saw an open field.
in our possession on the second day. over
which the COnfederates ihad made repeat
ed charges the day before. so covered
with dead that it would have been posi-
bic 10 walk across the clearing in any
Z direction, stepping on dead bodies. with
Z cut foot touching the ground. On our
side lie leraIs and C)nfederates were min
/ gled together IN about equal proportions:
! but on the remainder Of the field nearly
| all swere C0nfederates. On one part.
/ which had evidently not been plOWed Tor
/ several years, probably because the land
was poor, bushes had grown up. some to
| the height Of eight or ten feet. There was
Z not one Of these left standing unpierced
/ by bullets. The smaller ones were all
! cut down.
Contrary to all my experience up to
/ that time, and to the experience of the
\ army was then commanding. we were
! on the defensive. We were without in
1 trenchments or defensive advantages of
I any sort, and more than half the army
/ engaged the first day was without eX-
| perience or even drill as soldiers. The
Olncers with them, except the division
| commanders, and possibly two or three OF
| the brigade commanders. We're equally
inexperienced in war. The result was
Union victory that gave the men who
achieved it great confidence in themselves
ever after.
The enemy fought brayely. but they
had started ont 20 defeat and destroy an
army and capture position. They failed
i'm both. with very heavy loss in killed
and wounded. and must have gone back
discouraged and convinced that the
Yankee was not an enemy to be
despised.
Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston
commanded the Confederate forces until
disabled by a wound in the afternoon of
tue first day HIS wound, as ] understood
aiterWarQ, was not necessarily fatal, or
even dangerous. But he was man who
would not abandon what he deemed an
important trust in the face % danger, and
consequently continued i'm the saddle,
commanding, until so exhausted by the
loss OF blood that he had to be taken from
his horse, and soon after died. The news
was not long in reaching our side. ana.
suppose. was quite an encouragement 10
the Federal soldiers.
THE OTHER SIDE.
William Preston Johnston, son of the
/ Confederate General, Gen. Albert Sidney
Johnston, tells his side OF the story i'm the
same issue Of the Century. A few short
extracts follow:
Grant has been severely criticised for
placing his army with the river at its
/ back. But he was there to take the
! initiative. He had the larger army, under
] Of n 0fararaf 1ra
| pecting Buell. daily, and the ground was
/ admirable for defense Indeed, his posi-
/ ton was a natural stronghold.
/ He had an army of 5000 men in camp,
I nearly $4,000 of whom We're electives.
I Buell. was near at hand with 81, 200 more,
| and Mitchell was moving against the rail.
| road. not far distant, with an additional
force Of $4,000. In all, Grant had 100000
| electives. Opposed to him were $4,000
Confederate troops, less than 10000 of
| whom were available for combat. Gen.
/ JOhnstOn's aggregate was 10000 men, OPP
! posed TO about 100000 FedeTals in all, but
/ the effective forces were as above.
Such was the position on April >, when
/ Gen. Johnston, learning that Buell. was
! rapidly approaching, resolved TO advance
next day, and attack Grant before his ar
/ rival. His general plan was very simple
in outline. 1t seems to have been to
! march out and attack the Federals by
I
| cisive test. and TO crush Grant utterly or
lose all in the attempt; this effected, to
/ contend with Buell. for the possession of
! Tennessee, Kentucky, and possibly the
/ Northwest
Gen. Be2uregard also, it seems, had
/ plan, which, however, must have differed
| widely from that of Gen. Johnston. as it
was evidently tentative in its nature-'a
/ reconnaissance in force with a retreat
| on COrinth as one Of its features-and
| which admitted the possibility Of finish
/ ing on Monday battle which had to be
| won on Sunday or never. This was not
I in any sense Gen. JOhnstOn's plan. and
/ much useless discussion has arisen from
1 a confusion of the two. But, as Gen.
/ Johnston intended to fight, and did fight,
| on his own plan as long as he lived. the
/ battle may be considered his until Beau
! regards order of retreat, about D O'Clock
/ Sunday evening. substituted 1.-The recon-
/ naissance in force in place OF the deci-
/ sive test of victory or defeat.
The order was to attack at O'Clock on
the morning Of Saturday, the 9TH; but the
| troops were not in position until late that
/ afternoon. All day Friday the advancing
/ columns had pushed on over the tangled,
| miry roads, hindered and embarrassed by
| a pelting rain. After midnight a violent
storm broke upon them as they stood I'M
| deT; arms in the pitch darkness, with no
I shelter but the trees. From detention Dy
the rain, ignorance of the roads, and
/ confusion produced by the order of
march, some divisions failed to get into
line, and the day was wasted.
The sun set on Saturday evening in
clOudless sky, and night fell calm, clear
and beautiful. Long before dawn the
I forest was alive with silent pre- paratiOns
! for the ensuing contest, and day broke
/ upon a scene so fair that it left its men,
DRY on thousands OF he arts. The sky was
clear overhead, the air fresh, and when
the sun rose in full splendOr the advanc-
M host passed the word from lip to lip
that it was the 'sun of AusterlitZ."
Gen. Johnston, usually so .self-cOn-
tanned, felt the inspiration Of the scene,
and welcomed with eXultant JOY the long
desired day. His presence inspired all
who came near him. His sentences,
sharp, terse and clear, had the ring of
victory in them. Turning to his staff as
he mounted, he exclaimed: "TO-night we
/ will water our horses in the Tennessee
river" Ii was thus that he fOrmu ated