Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-09

memorials and with monuments is the
work of the state commissions. A good
beginning has been made and much more
has been planned for in this direction.
Massachusetts, was the first to send
commission; 1t made the first appropria-
tion for n monument ana mas the honor
of holding the first dedication exercises
in the park.
The battlefield of Shiloh will always
stand forth in the history of the Civil
War as the field of blunders and as the
death place Of Albert Sidney Johnston,
the Confederate general who had planned
the battle and was the only one who
could have conducted 1t successfully for
his side, who was stricken early In the
fight.
Shiloh will also be remembered. for 1t
was there that Grant made his name
known. He, though clearly beaten early
in the aght, plucked victory from defef
and fought the bloodiest and most ds,-
perate conflict that had then been waged
thus far in the war.
On January l. 1852, General Johnston
was in command of all the Confederate
forces of Tennessee and Kentucky and
was occupying a line of defense from
Columbus, KY, through Forts Henry and
DoneIson to Bowling Green, KY, whore
he had his headquarters. At the same
time the Union forces in that section
were the Departments of the Missouri
y ii Ohio, commanded by Generals Hal
leck and Buell., respectively. The former
had his headquarters at st. Louis and
the latter at Louisville, Ky. Generals
Halleck and Buell. for sometime had been
canvassing plans for an attack upon the
Confederates and the former was desir-
GUS of having the government place him
in supreme command.
In the meantime General Grant OBJ
tained permission to attack Fort Henry.
Aided by Commodore Foote Grant cap
tured the fort on February 8, and then
moved on Donelson, taking 1t, with lo,OOU
prisoners, on the 18th.
This achievement of Grants brought
his name into prominence, and incidental
" brought down on his head the wrath
of Halleck, who, on pretext unworthy
of him, suspended him.
Johnston, with his line broken in the
center, retired and formed new line
on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad
and the Union troops at once began to
move down upon him. On March IL the
Union forces in that section were turned
over to General Halleck, who then re-
stored Grant to a command and later
April 5-gave him command of the entire
Army of the Tennessee.
General Buell. was ordered to join the
Army OF the Tennessee for an advance
on Corinth, when the unexpected hap
pened. General Johnston when he fell
back after the loss of Forts Doneison
and Henry had been reinforced and on
March 90 he consolidated all the COM
mands into one army-the Army OF the
Mississippi-of which he assumed COM
mand. When he learned Of the move
ment Of the Union troops and OWNED
the meaning he determined to assume
the offensive and on April 8 ordered his
troops forward to Mickey's, eight miles
from Pittsburg Landing, with the inten-
ton of attacking Grant at sunrise on
the 9th.
Heavy rains, bad roads, ETC., delayed
the arrival at Mickey's until the night Of
the 9th, but the troops took position, for
the attack was planned for the following
morning. In the meantime, however, there
had been more or less skirmishing In the
neighborhood, but the real fighting began
early Sunday morning and lasted until
Monday afternoon, when the Union troops
were heavily reinforced by Buell. and
the Confederates retired to Corinth and
the Union army to its camps occupied
before the battle.
The heaviest blow to the Confederates
when while personally directing the move
ments of his reserves, General Johnston
was struck by mimic ball and instantly
killed 1t was Johnston who had planned
the battle and he could have probably
brought about different result, but fate
decreed otherwise, and though Generals
Bragg and Ruggles fought their men with
skill and courage all through the next
day, the day was lost to them.
The battlefield Of Shiloh was created
into a public park In order that ''the
armies OF the Southwest which served in
the Civil War, like their comrades Of the
Eastern armies at Gettysburg and those
of the Central West at Chickamauga,
may have the history of one Of their
memorable battles preserved on the
ground where they fought" With those
words begins the act that Congress passed
in 1894, and the commission appointed
began Its work the following year.
To visit the various battledelds and read
the stories told upon the markers OF iron
and stone will be the privilege accorded
to future generations. and. as they read,
they will learn that the bitterness OF the
war has gone forever; that the North
and the South stand now under one nag
and yet honor those who fought for the
rarfnc1nlan fhov fhouQht were rlCht-