The age-herald., 1902-04-06


 crates. who seemed to be fighting with
 more and more determination, and who
 were doubtless cheered and encouraged by
 their early success. The Union center
 gave unmistakable symptoms of giving
 away, for it was sorely pressed, and the
 fortunes of the day appeared to be
 against them, when General Hurlbuts 8
 division was ordered to It's support and
 well and bravely was this duty performed.
 Hotter and hotter grew the contest; fercer and fiercer grew the struggle
 Each man fought as if success or defeat depended upon his own individual effort charge after charge was made upon the Confederate lines to regain the ground
 they had lost, but the gallant Southern
 CTS stood firm as a rock, and though the Federal artillery often struck down their
 ranks and left fearful gaps in their col umns they manifested no trepidation nor did they waver for a moment. The living
 supplied the place of the dead. The force Of the Confederates appeared to be in-
 creasing and where the greatest havoc
 was made there the strongest opposition
 was shown. The light of the sun was ob-
 scured by the sulphurous smoke and the ground became moist and slippery with human gore. The atmosphere trembled
 with the shock of the armies and the earth shook with the thousands and tens
 of thousands of warning foes. Never had men fought more bravely than these men fought. Never was there staked upon mans valor consequences so vital as rest ed upon these men in this battle, and each any every man on both sides realized
 his individual responsibility.
 At 2 o'clock in the afternoon General Wallace with his division had not yet | appeared upon the battlefield. He should
 have been there two hours previously | had he followed General Grants orders
 sent to him in the morning. At this time
 the cause of the Federals looked dark 1 enough; Grant was becoming soicitous
 and was constantly looking for Wallace's
 arrival. At last he dispatched Colonel | McPherson, afterward a maJor-general,
 and who was killed in front of Atlanta.
 with orders to find Wallace and hurry
 him forward. McPherson found him on l the road leading from Crump's Landing l to Purdy, and farther from hte battle 1 field than when he left Crump's Landing
 in the morning. General Grant had or 1 dered him to come to Pittspurg Landing i by the river road and for a long time 1t
 was not explained why Wallace had taken
 the road to Purdy, which led directly
 away from the scene of the battle. Fin | ally General Wallace explained that the
 order he received in the morning was to 1 join the Federal force on the right of the I | have led him to the position occupied by | the right of Shermans division in the
 morning. Ignorant of the fact that the Union lines had fallen back he was
 marching to join Sherman Had he taken
 the river road as Grant intended he would
 have been upon the battlefield at the noon hour and the story of Shiloh might not
 have comprehended more than one
 days battle. His failure to appear forced
 General Grant to bear the whole brunt
 of the first days battle without any aid from the 5000 men under Wallaces com mand. It was night-fall when he ap- peared.
 At o'clock in the afternoon the bal ance of victory was varied. It now in- clined to this side. and now to that. Here the Federals gained an advantage, and there the Confederates. Advance was fol- lowed by retreat, and success by repuse. At this point the Union forces drove the enemy back and were driven back in re- turn. Success was continually shifting
 but never settled Hope and fear, joy and
 sorrow, seized the soul of the contending hosts by turn, and every hour seemed to contain month of emotion. About this | time, while leading a charge at the head | or brigade General Albert Sidney John
 ston was struck by a bullet ana received
 the wound from which he died shortly | after have been told by one that was
 present that Johnston's wound was not | necessarily fatal and that had he receiy-
 ed proper care and attention at once, he 1 would have recovered, but he was not the | man to give up, and he continued at the head of the brigade until ne reiI exhaust | cd and died from the loss of blood The | news or Johnston's death spread with
 lightning rapidity through the Confeder-
 ate lines, and brought consternation and
 almost disaster to them, for their hopes | were upon him, and every man had un- 1 bounded confidence in his ability to lead them to victory. The command now de-
 volved upon General Beauregard who
 was next in rank and who was also invin- cible because of the great victory he l had won at Bull Run. Once Beauregaru l had grasped the situation gotten we'll in 1 hand and restored order to the Confeder- | ate lines he ordered an advance and soon
 the battle was being waged if anything
 more fiercely than ever The artillery 1 beloved and thundered, and the dreadful
 echoes went sweeping up and down the
 river and the paths were filled with the | dying and the dead. The sound, I am | told by eye witnesses, was deafening, the | tumult indescribable, and the carnage aW- l ful. No life was worth a farthing for he | who lifted his musket this moment fell | the next a stiffening corpse. Wonder a
 fresh regiment rushed bravely forward |
 charge of grape and canister would send | the foremost rank bleeding 70 the earth | While heaps of corpses lay upon the ground, and fixed eyes stared at the sur
 rounding strife with the awful stare of death. But who cared for it? Death was
 not to be thought of then. Only to do | and to win victory was in the thoughts 1 of those men. though death was in the | air. and blossomed like a poisoned plant | on every foot of soil
 It was the purpose of General Beau
 regard to put his army in possession of | Pittsburg Landing-to destroy Grants army and drive 1t into the Tennessee
 River. The cost in human life was not | for moment to be considered nothing
 was to be considered save the one object | that he had started to obtain. At this juncture General Grants forces occu-
 pied not more than 400 acres, nearly two
 miles nearer the river than the lines he | occupied in the morning. In front of his | left was deep ravine opening into the | Tennessee River. In order to get to the | landing the Confederates must cross this | ravine; before they could drive Grant
 into the river they must face the Union | lines on the brow of the hill on Grants ! side of that ravine.
 l The Tennessee River was high and had | backed the water up into the ravine un- | til there was quite a depth in this bot 1 tom There was no chance for cavalry
 or artillery to cross 1t. On the brow of | this ravine Colonel Webster of Grant S
 staff had accumulated about fifty pieces
 of artillery ranged behind temporary em- 1 bankments in the form of crescent. To | the right of this artillery was General 1 Hurlbut's division, and on his right was