The age-herald., 1902-04-06

1 Tha agony waa soon over. No army Of | men who ever marched into battle could l withstand such terrific fire as that which these brave Southerners faced in that aw- | ful charge that has become memorable as second only to that of Pickett and his matchless brigade of veterans at Gettys- l burg The confederates were forced to retire and this was the last charge and 1 last attempt made by them to find rest l ing place upon the banks of the river on that day. They realized that the army l of Grant was not to tbe driven Into the Tennessee River that April Sunday.
 The crisis was past General GranI rode along the lines and encouraged his
 men, assuring them that If they held out until the night came victory would be
 theirs in the morning. Thus encouraged many q faint heart and many tired arm
 was strengthened and renewed and the ranks fought on with desperate and in-
 vincible spirit that finally sent the Con-
 federates back to the lines occupied by
 the Union troops in the morning, and l that night they slept in the tents that | Grants army had used the night before.
 At this time the division of General Nell son's the advance of Buells army, ap-
 peared on the banks of the river, and all most at the same time General Wallace appeared upon the field with his 5000 fresh l troops. Thus Wallace came Nelson came. and night came. but none of them l in time to be of any service to Grants 1 tired soldiers except night.
 From my own knowledge of the ground traversed by these contending armies. and from the best information have been able to obtain from those who helped to
 bear the brunt of battle on that bloody l field, and from those who have written
 of it. there Is no truth more evident to
 my mind than that General Grant, if he l had been favored with two hours more l of daylight after the defeat of Beaure- gard s column in the charge across the ravine and the arrival of General Wal
 lace's division upon the field would have driven the Confederates back from
 the river and gent them scattering on
 their way to Corinth. That Beauregard
 was defeated when night came there Is
 absolutely no doubt and only nightfall
 prevented Grant, with his 5000 fresh
 troops from turning what seemed at one
 time inevitable and disastrous defeat into complete victory. During the night the
 division of General Nelson was ferried
 across the river and was assigned to a position on the left of Grants line Gen eral McCooks and General Crittenden'S divisions of General Buells army came up
 on transports from Savannah and were l given position for the next days contest.
 General Grants line on Monday morning was formed with General Wallace and his division on the extreme right, General Sherman was next to Wallace on his left,
 then McClelland then came Hurlbut, Nell son was on the extreme left next to the river; Crttenden was next to Nelson on the right; McCook came next and formed the extreme right of Buells command. l Grants old army thus formed the right l and Buells the left wing of the new line 1 of battle, and these positions were main- l tained during the entire day. General Grants purpose was to be on the offen
 sive, and to attack the enemy early in the morning. With that object in view he directed Wallace to throw out a strong line of skirmishers as soon as it was suf iciently light to see and to keep his en- tire division well up to the skirmsh line. The other divisions were to advance in the same order. and attack the enemy as soon as he could be located and his po- | sition defined. This was done and Wal lace was not long in finding the South erners, and the second days fight began. Within half hour from the first firing in the morning the contest had again spread in every direction. and both the right and left wings were actively en- gagged along their entire front. The Con federate forces were, however, not so anxious to fight their way to the rivers bank as on the previous day, having had an experience of what they might again expect if brought under the powerful guns of the Tyler and Lexington, whose 1 black hulls steamed slowly up and down the stream, keeping careful watchfulness l for any signs they might be able to gather as to the exact location of the en- emy in the dense forest which stretched away to their right. The Confederates were not lacking in activity and they were met by the endorsements of Buell., to- 1 gether with the unwearied soldiers of yesterday, with an energy they certainly could not have expected. At o'clock the
 fighting was as desperate, the firing as terrific, and the loss of life as dreadful as | on the day before. It now became evil dent that the Confederates were avoiding
 the extreme of the left wing and endeav- | bring to find some weak spot in the lines by which to turn the Federal force and
 create an irrevocable confusion. It Is
 wonderful with what perseverance and
 determination they adhered to this pur-
 pose. They left one point but to return to 1t immediately, then as suddenly
 would by some masterful stroke of gener- alship direct a most vigorous assault upon Some division where they fancied they
 would not be expected. The fire of the | Union lines on this second day was as
 steady as clock work, and notwthstand-
 ing the superior generalship of the South
 erners and the dash and courage dis
 played by them, they were unable to cause the Federal line to waver at any
 single point. and 1t soon became evident to them that the task they had undertaken
 was a hopeless one. They knew that l they had met their master. and 1t was now a matter settled beyond dispute that
 victory would alight upon the banners of the Union army. The Federal commander saw his advantage and followed it up in magnificent style. The Confederates lost | faith in themselves; they could not be rallied, they could not hold their ground
 and they slowly retired with their faces l to the Northerners, and fighting every step as they went back. Their hope and
 energy appeared to diminish steadily, and
 soon gave evidence of demoralization
 They were making but little fire and the
 Union army soon knew that Beauregard
 was in full retreat toward Corinth
 Thus ended the two days battle of
 Shiloh Was it defeat for Grant? Ger
 tainly not. Was 1t victory? Some have
 asserted that 1t cannot be so considered. | But the facts these: Johnston and
 Beauregard left Corinth with the avowed
 purpose of destroying Grants army be-
 fore Buell. could reinforce 1t. They at | tempted to drive Grant Into the Tennes- see River, and the matter ended in their | being driven off the field and back to Cor inth. Certainly they were defeated in their purpose. But 1t cannot be claimed that Grant gained decisive victory. If l the Confederates were defeated so bao- l ly on Monday as to turn their retreat | into a rout; or if the killing of Johnston | the repuses of the great army which their last spasmodic efforts had been con- centrated and the defeat of Beauregard | whom they looked upon lnVincible