Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-05-10
DEBORAH wINNEsHIEK COUNTY IOWA WEDNESDAY

should have pressed the advantage
gained at Pittsburg Landing. A short
march would be made and then in
trenchments thrown up at night,
the army sleeping en- its arms and
kept in a state of constant alarm,
which in the light of subsequent
events seemed to have been quite
unnecessary. General Halleck had
arrived at Pittsburg Landing April
18th and assumed command of the
army in the field. Ten days later
General John Pope reached there
with an army of 10000 men who
! had just captured Island Number
Ten, on the Mississippi river. These
troops with the Army of the Ohio
under General Buell. and the Army
of the Tennessee, under Grant made
an effective force of 10000 men,
which far out numbered those under
command of Beauregard, who stood
ready to evacuate Corinth just as
soon as Halleck was ready to make
vigorous assault on the place.
One day as we were advancing in
line of battle, confronted by heavy
skirmish line, little incident which
was over in a moment startled me
and one or two others who happened
to notice it. When marching in line
of battle the Orderly Sergeant's S
place is at the head of his company,
but the moment the command is
given to halt, he drops back in the
rear of the line. On the occasion
referred to l was marching in my
place as usual, when the order to
halt was given and | stepped back.
Now it requires but an instant for
the gap to fill when forty or fifty
thousand men are marching in line,
especially where the ground is rough
and broken as was the case at that
time. / had no sooner stepped back
and a little to one side than bull
let whistled through the vacancy,
cutting a twig in two which was
exactly in line where l had stood,
and would have entered my body at
the left breast. 1t was little thing
to be sure, but it turned some very
white faces in my direction for the
moment. What We are prone to call
little things, are sometimes among
the mightiest forces of the universe
in determining the destinies of the
world.
Inasmuch as our brigade which
was now composed of the Second
and Seventh Iowa, the Union Brig
ade" made up of fragments OF the
Eighth, Twelfth and Fourteenth
Iowa regiments which had escaped
capture at Shiloh, and the Fifty-sec-
ond Illinois, was destined TO spend
many months at Corinth, which
place was later to become the scene
of one of the great battles of the
war. | take the liberty to quote
from the Memoirs of General Grant
as to its location and the care with
which it might have been taken, had
General Halleck pushed things:
"Corinth, Mississippi, lies in south
westerly direction from Pittsbure
Landing and about nineteen miles
away as bird would fly, but prob
; ably twenty-five by the nearest wa
gon road. 1t is about four miles
south of the line dividing the state
of Tennessee and Mississippi, and at
: the junction of the Mississippi and
Chattanooga railroad with the Mo-
bile and Ohio road which runs from
Columbus to Mobile. From Pitts
burg Landing to Corinth the land
is rolling, but at no point reaching
an elevation that makes high hills
to pass over. In 1862 the greater
part of the country was covered with
forest, with intervening clearing'
and houses. Underbrush was dense
in the low grounds along the creeks
and ravines, but generally not 81
thick on the high land as to proven
men passing through with ease
There are two small creeks runninE
from north of the town and connect
ing some four miles south, wher'
they form Bridge Creek, which emp
ties into the Tuscumbia river. Cor
= inth is on the ridge between thes
streams and is naturally stronj
defensive position. The creeks al
insignificant in volume of water, bu
the stream to the east widens out II
front of the town into a swamp, i'm
passable in the presence OF an enemy
: On the crest of the west bank o
this stream the enemy was strongl
intrenched. Corinth was valuabl
> strategic point for the enemy t
hold, and consequently a valuabl
one for us to possess ourselves of. w
: ought to have seized it immediatel