The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1888-01-19
SHiLOh'S BATTLE FIELD.
A Visit to the Scenes OF the Civil Wars
Most SanSuinary Conflict.

4
see, lies twenty miles northeast OF
Corinth, Miss. The Tennessee river.
flowing north, is on the east of the
ground over which the battle was fought;
Snake creek, with its continent. Owl
creek. forms the northern, and Lick
creek the southern, limit of the battle
field proper. The ground on the west
is broken into high ridges and deep
valleys. 1t was covered for the most
part, at the date of the battle, with q
heavy growth of forest trees. Towards
the river the surface is more level. but
cut. in some places into deep gorges. 1t
was up one of these-called Dilrs
Branch-that the gunboats fired dur
ing the battle.
The road to Pittsburgh Landing is
little changed since the day we marched
out from Corinth. 1t is hard to repeo-
pie this country highway, so quiet and
pastoral now, with moving army; to
realize that it was once crowded from
one end to the other with soldiery; that
artillery, wagon-trains and ambulances
! blocked the way. 1t seems an age since,
burning with high hope" we went
out to that fatal field made rankly
fertile with the blood of men," Every
mile of the way is marked by some
remembered incident. Beneath the
spreading branches of n. wild-cherry
tree, which still stands near the edge
of an old field, we bivouacked with
comrade the first night out. At Monte
rev we saw General Albert Sidney
Johnston ride along the lines; and a
little further on. staff officer rode
back and showed us the battle-fag of
our corps. At Lick creek, we met the
first prisoner; he had been captured in
little affair with the cavalry. Bold
and defiant he sat his horse, and gave
back to the boys las good as they
sent" in the way of "chatf." Further
on, the last bivouac for many brave
men, where we lay within rifle shot of
the enemy's lines. silent and waiting
for the dawn of that "woful Sabbath
morning" which came at last, and
with it the call to arms. Down through
the woods, en- echcLOn, moved the gray
lines. Then came the Struggling fire
from the pickets, the whiz and sharp
spat of bullets, and then the roar OF
musketry, the thunder of artillery, the
shrek Of hurting shells, the whir of
grape and canister. the hiss of Mimic
balls, the cry of the wounded, the wild
shouts of charging lines, and above all
rose an ever-thickening cloud of blue
and sulphurOus smoke, out of which
rushed riderIess horses, and men man.
gleG and bleeding were borne, and the
earth beneath it was thickly strewn
with the dying and the dead.
To-day, after twenty-five years have
rolled away, we looked down into this
Valley of the Shadow of Death-where
sleep for all time 1.-The unreturning
brave" Beloved with the foliage OF
waving forests, golden and bloody red
with the dyes of autumn, and glorified
by the sunlight of a perfect autumn day,
it stretched far away, and seemingly
swept on to where, bathed in purple
haze, distant hills lifted their heads be-
yond the shining river. quiet and
peaceful now, as if that dreadful and
deadly drama had never been enacted
there. Yet before us lay Shiloh,
Spring and Church; the Duncan
Field; the old Peach Orchard; the
Suuken Road and Hornets Nest;
and the dreadful hollow" on Till
mans Branch-each with its separate
story of frightful carnage, fierce assault
and heroic resistance.
Many changes have taken place since
the battle Every piece of the old
church has been Carried away by relic
hunters, and a new one has been built
where it stood. The pastor of the
original church was one Wolf, by name.
History is silent as to whether he was
the kind of Wolf one would wish to
keep from his door; but evidently this
particular Wolf was kept from his own
door-if he WAS tho least bit afraid of
"villainous saltpetre''-for while, at
least.
The Spring where thousands who arc
now gone beyond the All-quiet River
once quenched their thirst is as dry Us |
the Duncan Field is a.
the Peach Orchard is n thing
of the past; the old Sunken Road is en-
tirely disused. and the'red brush" that
grew so thickly at the Hornets Nest,
- ,,o, ,,,o,raJ jouy,, b,- tho Jo,JI,,
shower of missiles from each side, has
again overgrown the ground. The
wood where General johnson was
wounded has been cut bare of timber,
and the spot where he died is now
marked by small cedar-tree, growing
in the midst of a cotton field. The tree
which stood where gallant Wallace
Tell has been made into rails, and only
The uprooted stump remains. The limits
Of the battlefield can be made out by
scars of shot and shell. which still show
IN the trees. The bullets have been
mostly cut out, thousands of them hav-
ng been gathered and sold. and thou
sands collected by relic-hunters.
The National Cemetery is beautifully
situated Oh high bluff overlooking
he river. At the front gate-occupy-
ng the place of honor-is the grave of
Henry Burke. 1.-The Drummer Boy of
celebrated in song and story;
md all around him lie his comrades
Who fell on that dark and bloody
all. In all, 1896 inter-
nents were made in the cemetery. of