The National tribune., 1900-06-14
THE SITUATION AT SHILOH.
Grants Army Suffered Severely, but the
Rebels Could not March Over Them.

| neUclS VUulu uOG Mdl Gil ONcI 4uC"
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: Comrade
d. P. johnson, writing about Shiloh on
Sunday evening as his regiment ap-
preached the battlefield, says that but for
the Seth Ind, Grants Army of the Ten
nessee might all have been killed or cap
| tured and the victorious rebel army gone
North and captured Nashville and Louis
vile.
This assertion certainly is far from we'll
judged. 1t reminds me of the posters the
rebels put up after they had captured Big
Shanty, Ga, Oct. 3. 1864; it was the day
Hood assaulted Sherman's communica-
tions on his campaign invading Tennessee.
| The posters read:
"Yanks, how do you like fanking? We
are going to flank Sherman out of his
boots. We are going to capture Nashville
and Louisville. We are going to drain the
Ohio River and burn the gunboats and
carry the war into the North"
If, as Comrade Johnson says, Grants
troops were driven back to the Landing,
why in the name of all that is reasonable
did not the rebel commander with his 100
cannon knock everything into smith
Greens? 1t were possible to do so if things
existed as Johnson and many others of
the Army of the Cumberland have said.
l find that the commander of JohnSOnS )
regiment reported only eight men killed.
including those lost in its struggle going
up the hill Sunday evening and its all-day
fight on Monday.
We get at the true situation by reading
Col. Jacob Ammen's report. He says the
Both Ind, after taking position on the line
Sunday evening, was aSSailed less than a
quarter of a mile from the Landing. He
says further that the 9th and 9th Ohio
crossed the river, and on arriving at the
top Of the bank the 2ith was ordered by
Gen. Grant to repair to n point one-half
mile to the right on a part of the line
Ifsnlf tor nnI Inv t,n ln
WAS held in reserve. This does not show
that Grants army was a mass Of fugi-
tives, rs many of Buelfs men would have
YOU believe; nor that Ammcn's Brigade
had Il desperate struggle on its arrival
During the conflict, including Monday,
Ammcn'S Brigade lost only II men killed
distributed hetwccn the 36th ind, eight; +;
9Th Ohio. two. and 9th Ohio. five. Why,
my dear C0ri-adc. IIuIIhut'S Division had
as Iiiany men killed and wounded as Am
mrr had in his brigade.
We ki:pw HOW hy reading the report
mentioned fast that part of the line to
viii: II .ilIi!:itu w"S objected was at least
Il h#f milo ont We know also that the
bridge by which Lew Wallace was to
cross Snake Creek was i'll orr hands; 1t
was absolutely necessary that the Con
;edeIatcs should have possession of this
bridge hclo.e Gen. Wallace could be pre-
clUdcd from reinforcing us. Hence it is
evident to the minds of military critics
that The Army Of the Tennessee was not
in the desperate straits that many have
assD; ted.
The correspondents at the Landing were
responsible for false reports sent North;
they rot these gai hled reports from the
SkHikegs Who lined the bluffs. ! dare say,
however. that there were not more al
Shiloh diam ut amy ether great battle. |
may be safe III saving there were less. If
thr:e were more. how could it be possible
for Grants army to maintain such a fight
for 10 hours as il did AGAINST superior
IuIIEers in addition to its losses?
While Sherman, Wallace and Prentfss
We're considerably broken, IIurlbut and
McCiciEand held complete organizations.
McCicrnand formed seven distinct battle
lines during Sunday. As | have said be-
fore. ] have access to the records of the
War Department, and repeat that it is re-
corded IN these volumes that the Army of
the Tennessee suffered greater regimental
losses than were reported at Stone River
Gettysburg or Chickamauga.
There are comparatively few living or
the thousands Of Union men who partici-
pated in that desperate struggle of Sun
day. OF the leaders, Prentiss and McCler-
nand only survive; the latter is nearly 90
years of age.
Col. Fox says of the 9th III. that 1t
maintained the longest struggle in one po-
sition at Shiloh and suffered the greatest
loss or any regiment IN one battle during
the war. The 41st H. was ordered to its
support, then the 32d Ill. / have not for
gotten, as we went to their assistance, |
that they retrcated through our ranks to
get ammunition, and that they came back |
as defiant as ever. Col. Logan said he |
feared the retiring would cause his men |
to break, but they filled up the gaps. |
suppose men were never placed in a hot |
ter situation.
Pardon me if / speak of myself on this |
occasion. ] was high private, it so hap |
pened, in the front rank. The man next |
to me on the right and left was killed |
my gun was knocked out of my hand by |
a bullet or small shat coming from an |
oblique direction. Col. Logan faced the |
three left companies to the left oblique to |
meet this fire.
The COnfedcrates seemed determined to |
force us back from this position. A. S. |
j Johnston, commanding the rebel forces |
came TO that part Of the line, and seeing |
the situation said, after brief conference |
with Gen. Ereckinridge: Men, they offer
stubborn resistance here. | shall have to |
put the bayCnet to them. | will lead you" |
1t was III this charge that Johnston re-
cciyed his dcathwound
On account Of having exhausted our |
we were compelled to Weld |
our position in the face of superior nIim- |
bcrs that were not 30 PAGES from us. So |
desperate WIS it for the Confederate |
troops at this spot that they gave il the |
name Of the Hornets Nest" |
II is part of the report of the Adjutant-
General of Illinois that Johnston fell in |
front OF the sd Ill.-IOHN II. PALMER,