It was a trying ordeal for the Fifteenth Iowa, for the unit had only completed its organization at Keokuk on February 22, and lacking muskets and equipment, the regiment had been able to do very little training.4 They were issued weapons, .58 caliber Springfield rifles, March 26, but had not had a chance to practice using them before embarking for Pittsburg Landing.5 Their march to McClernand’s line was something of a night mare, as the in experienced Colonel Hugh Reid galloped up and down the line on his horse yelling somewhat confused orders to his men. The lieutenant colonel, William Dewey of Sidney, Iowa, also rode up and down the line, unleashing a prodigious flow of swear words at the soldiers. Occasionally he paused and reined in his horse to “take some consolation through the neck of a pint bottle.”6 Passing the usual crowd of stretcher bearers and stragglers on the road, the regiment reached the battle line to the south and east of Hare’s brigade camp.
The ten companies started deploying as Confederate skirmishers began hitting them with musketry. Some of the Iowans promptly shot back. Forty-year-old Colonel Reid rode up and sarcastically yelled, “Cease firing; there is not an enemy within two miles of you!”7 As if in answer to his remark, a Confederate sniper sent a ball through the colonel’s neck, plowing a deep furrow and causing him to fall from his horse.
Major Belknap rode over and asked his fallen superior officer how badly he was hurt. The half stunned colonel replied, “I am killed. Tell my wife I died fighting gloriously.”8 Within a few minutes, how ever, Colonel Reid was on his feet and resumed command of the regiment for the rest of the day.9
The Fifteenth Iowa, along with its sister regiment the Sixteenth on its flank, soon was fully deployed for action, and enthusiastically fired at the distant Southern snipers.10
McClernand ordered a counterattack, and just about 12:00 noon, Federal troops began moving forward. Only part of the division responded to the attack order, Hare’s brigade standing purely on the defensive, except for his detached Eleventh Iowa. The Eleventh, Twentieth, Forty-third, Forty-fifth, and the Forty-sixth Illinois, of Veatch’s brigade, the Eleventh Iowa, Thirteenth Missouri, plus a detachment of forty men belonging to the Seventieth Ohio, under Henry Philips, regimental adjutant, in addition to McDowell’s three regiments, advanced to the attack.11
The counterattacking Federals hit Bushrod Johnson’s Brigade, now commanded by Preston Smith, and sharply pushed it back.12 McDowell’s brigade advanced on McClernand’s right, but it suddenly halted as it ran into Confederate reinforcements, R. T. Trabue’s Brigade of Breckinridge’s Reserve Corps. The counterattack broke up into two separate engagements, that on the right between McDowell, with a few loose bodies of Federal soldiers aiding him, and Trabue’s Brigade, which was supported by scattered Confederate units, and that on the left between McClernand and the remnants of his division, which attacked and drove back Preston Smith’s Brigade plus a few assisting Confederate troops from other units.
Trabue’s Brigade consisted of the Third Kentucky, Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Anderson, Fourth Kentucky, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Hynes, Fifth Kentucky, Colonel Thomas H. Hunt, Sixth Kentucky, Colonel Joseph Lewis, Thirty-first Alabama, Lieutenant Colonel Montgomery Gil breath, Fourth Alabama Battalion, Major James M. Clifton, Tennessee Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel James M. Crews, Kentucky Cavalry Squadron, Captain John H. Morgan, and the artillery batteries of Captain Edward Byrne and Captain Robert Cobb.13
As the battle began Breckinridge ordered Colonel Trabue to move forward in the rear of Polk’s Corps. The colonel proceeded some distance when he received a note from Breckinridge ordering him to move up on Polk’s left. Executing this order caused his brigade to run into long range fire from a Federal battery. Union gunners fired many rounds into the brigade but caused few casualties. Governor George W. Johnson of Kentucky and Colonel Robert McKee, both acting as military aides to Trabue, had their horses killed by this fire. The governor grabbed a musket and joined with the Fourth Kentucky as a simple volunteer private.
A courier from General Beauregard reached Trabue and the latter, in response to new orders, detached the Third Kentucky, Fourth Alabama, Crews’ Battalion, and Byrne’s Battery to the right to support Brigadier General Patton Anderson. The brigade was further weakened when an unidentified officer from another unit borrowed Cobb’s Battery without Trabue’s knowledge, leaving the brigade without artillery. Trabue resumed his forward movement without further incident, but about noon he observed Union troops in front of him. The Confederates frantically deployed in line of battle just as McDowell’s brigade and the Thirteenth Missouri hit them.14 Trabue’s line of battle was from left to right the Fourth Kentucky, Sixth Kentucky, and the Fifth Kentucky, with the Thirty-first Alabama in reserve, while McDowell’s arrangement from left to right was the Fortieth Illinois, Thirteenth Missouri, Sixth Iowa, and Forty-sixth Ohio.15
Worthington’s Forty-sixth Ohio poured a deadly volley of rifle bullets into the Fourth Kentucky, wounding Lieutenant Colonel Hynes. Major Thomas Monroe, Jr. took command. Cautioning the inexperienced Kentuckians to aim low, Monroe gave the order to fire.16
For over an hour, the two brigades exchanged volleys of musketry while bits and pieces of other regiments joined with both commands. The Fortieth Illinois had forty-six men killed and many wounded. Colonel Hicks rode up and down in front of his men encouraging them. One of Trabue’s men put a bullet through the colonel’s horse, spilling the rider to the ground. The Yankee colonel stumbled to his feet and was immediately hit in the left shoulder by a musket ball. His orderly and several soldiers picked him up and carried him to the rear to obtain medical aid.17
All four Union regiments were badly hurt by the heavy firing. Lieutenant Colonel Joseph St. James of the Thirteenth Missouri was carried off the battlefield mortally wounded, while several company commanders were also wounded. The regimental major was struck in the chest by a bullet, but he escaped without a scratch, thanks to his iron body armor. Badly jarred by the blow, he withdrew from the field, leaving Colonel Wright alone to manage the regiment.18 Colonel McDowell rode over to the Sixth Iowa, but his horse was killed and he was knocked sense less.19
Union artillery opened on Trabue’s men, but within a few minutes Captain Cobb returned from his unexplained excursion and took a position on Trabue’s right. His four 6-pound smoothbores and two 12-pound iron howitzers quickly began dropping projectiles on the enemy battery. Federal gunners changed their sights and began raking the Kentucky Battery. A shell exploded in the battery, killing two of the Confederate gunners. The same round tore off another cannoneer’s hands. The wounded gunner stood there with his bleeding stumps and calmly remarked, “My Lord that stops my fighting.”20
The Federal battery’s next shell exploded in the Fifth Kentucky’s ranks, killing three men and ripping off the leg of a fourth. Several color bearers dropped from Union fire, including youthful John Green, who had a musket ball glance off his “hard head.” Recovering consciousness on a stretcher while being carried to the rear, Private Green insisted on returning to the firing line declaring, “There is too much work here for a man to go to the rear as long as he can shoot a gun.”21
Additional Confederates units, fragments of both Russell’s and Cleburne’s brigades, filtered toward Trabue. R. M. Russell brought part of the Eleventh Louisiana, the Twenty-second Tennessee, plus Venable’s Fifth Tennessee of Stewart’s Brigade. Colonel Ben Hill, of Cleburne’s Brigade, brought up what was left of his Fifth Tennessee, and another of Cleburne’s regiments, the Twenty-fourth Tennessee, also joined the fight.22
McClernand’s counterattack on Preston Smith’s and Pat Anderson’s brigades overlapped on the Trabue-McDowell fight. The Eleventh and Twentieth Illinois approached close enough to Cobb’s Battery to hit it with musketry, killing or wounding most of the men and horses. The Illinoisans silenced the guns, but they failed to occupy the battery position.23 The momentum of McClernand’s push carried the Union soldiers back to and be yond the First Division’s headquarters, but their losses mounte
d rapidly. Lieutenant Colonel Pease of the Forty-ninth Illinois and Lieutenant Colonel Richards of the Twentieth Illinois were both wounded, and casualties among all ranks ran high. Many Union soldiers ran out of ammunition and the Confederates in front of McClernand showed no sign of breaking.24
Around 1:00 p.m., troops from Anderson’s Brigade moved up to support Trabue, and with these additional reinforcements, the colonel ordered an all out charge with fixed bayonets.25 The regimental commanders received Trabue’s order and passed it to the company commanders. Bayonet blades were quickly attached to the men’s muskets and the Confederates moved for ward on the double-quick. After gallant resistance, Worthington’s Forty-sixth Ohio broke under the bayonet charge and it headed for the rear.26 Sherman rode up and ordered the Sixth Iowa to fall back, and the rest of the brigade quickly followed. The Confederates moved out in pursuit, thus turning McClernand’s right flank.27 Retracing their steps, McClernand’s men fell back to the Jones’ Field position, from where they had started.28
McClernand’s counterattack delayed the Confederate advance during the early afternoon, but afterwards there were no more fresh Union troops to commit on the right. Basically McClernand’s and Sherman’s divisions and Veatch’s brigade were reduced to a confused mass of individual soldiers and pieces of regiments. Many soldiers dropped their guns and headed for the rear. In the search for safety, knapsacks, overcoats, and everything with weight was dropped to the ground as excess baggage. Some soldiers simply collapsed, to exhausted and panic-stricken to flee further. Cavalrymen rode in all directions, shouting at the top of their lungs and waving sabers at the fugitives, while officers coaxed and begged the men to stop fleeing. Stray cannon balls and shells tore through the trees, clipping limbs, which sometimes fell on the stragglers. The rear of the Union right presented a scene of disaster and defeat.29
Still McClernand, Sherman, and some thousands of Union soldiers fought on at their new position. The Federal right was mauled, but not routed. Just a few hundred yards to McClernand’s left, the Union situation looked much better, for at the Hornet’s Nest Prentiss’ and Wallace’s men repulsed charge after charge.
The Southerners opened the afternoon’s activities at the Hornet’s Nest with an assault by Gibson’s Brigade, part of Ruggles’ Division. After their unfortunate accidental en counter with Stewart’s Brigade, Gibson’s men moved to the right under orders from General Bragg. The brigade deployed in the wooded terrain where the Eastern Corinth Road crossed the Hamburg-Purdy Road. From left to right Gibson deployed the Fourth Louisiana, Colonel Henry Watkins Allen, Thirteenth Louisiana, Major Anathole P. Avegno, First Arkansas, Colonel James F. Fagan, and the Nineteenth Louisiana, Colonel Benjamin L. Hodge. After arranging his men, Gibson, in obedience to Bragg’s orders, moved forward toward the section of the Hornet’s Nest held by remnants of Prentiss’ division.30
In good order the four regiments surged toward General Prentiss’ position, although receiving heavy Federal musketry and artillery fire. In the dense undergrowth, the Confederates’ formation was broken and the Southerners accidentally fired into each other. Fagan sent word to Captain H. M. F. Favrot of the Delta Rifles for him “For God’s sake to cease firing, that we were killing his men and he was killing ours.”31 Prentiss’ riflemen raked the men from Louisiana and Arkansas with Minie balls, while Hickenlooper’s four guns belched shrapnel and canister.32 Confused and disorganized, the brigade fell back several hundred yards, where the officers started re forming the men.
Losses for the Confederates were extremely heavy in the first charge. Twenty-eight year old Captain Edgar Martin Dubroca, Company C, Thirteenth Louisiana, presented the goriest spectacle in the brigade. An exploding shell had burst in the ranks of his company, killing six men and splattering their brains and blood all over the swarthy captain.33
Within minutes Gibson led his brigade forward again, across the wheat field and into the heavy brush in front of the Hornet’s Nest. This time Prentiss’ men reserved their fire until the Confederates were within twenty-five or thirty yards of the road. Suddenly an extra long row of flashes appeared from the roadbed area. Dozens of Southerners crumbled under the volley, and the brigade faltered. The Federals frantically poured powder and rammed slugs down the barrels of their rifles to rake Gibson’s men with another volley and then another. The Fourth Louisiana started the charge in two lines, but the intense undergrowth broke the lines so badly that some of the men in the rear actually fired into those in front. The grimly determined Louisianans, unable to press forward, emptied their muskets into the thick clouds of blackish smoke that marked the Federal lines.34
Captain John Bunyon Taylor, Company I, Fourth Louisiana, was mortally wounded,35 and Captain John T. Hilliard, Company G, was killed. Gray-eyed twenty-nine year old Captain William F. Pennington, Company C, a former bartender from Lake Providence, Louisiana, was also wounded. His Shiloh injuries were not nearly as embarrassing as those he sustained on January 28, 1863, when he was beaten up. Drunken Second Lieutenant Daniel McArthy, Company D, was one of the men who took part in this attack.36
The Thirteenth Louisiana advanced over fairly easy terrain, maintaining two lines, with about fifty yard intervals between them. But Union fire proved too much for the Thirteenth, and Major Avegno gave the command to fall back. In the confusion some of the men failed to get the word and continued firing into the Hornet’s Nest. Eventually everyone was notified, and the troops retired to an old cowpen.37
Hodge’s Nineteenth Louisiana became entangled in the heavy brush. Unable to make out the Union position, Hodge was forced to order his men to stop charging and return the Federals’ fire. Observing that his gun fire was having little effect on the Federal position, Hodge reluctantly gave the order to withdraw, having lost about fifty men in the attack.38
Fagan’s First Arkansas fared no better in the tangled undergrowth and in the face of Prentiss’ stubborn defense. The colonel escaped unhurt, but his lieutenant colonel, John B. Thompson, fell mortally wounded with seven balls through his body.39
All four regiments withdrew beyond effective range of Union fire. They then regrouped for a third try. Although most of the Confederate fire was aimed blindly, it was not totally without effect, for Prentiss’ casualties slowly but steadily mounted. Among those who fell was the officer who had first discovered the Confederates and had brought on the action, Major James Powell. The former regular army officer was mortally wounded,40 and died that night.41
Inside the Hornet’s Nest, the normally straight-laced private Leander Stillwell, Sixty-first Illinois, was so overcome by the sight of his comrades dropping around him that he indulged in some “wicked profanity.” Stillwell was so shaken by the enormity of his “sin” that he held his breath, expecting “summary punishment on the spot.” Nothing happened, however, so Stillwell kept on shooting Rebels.42
Some of Gibson’s men quickly prepared blanket stretchers to carry their wounded off the field, while Colonel Allen, Fourth Louisiana, went over and talked to General Bragg, who was watching the operation. Allen asked the general for artillery support, but Bragg was unable to provide it. As Colonel Allen started to ride back to his regiment, Bragg remarked, “Colonel Allen, I want no loitering now.”43 Allen quickly rejoined his men, and Gibson ordered another charge. Unfortunately in the excitement, the colonel failed to notify Hodge. The Nineteenth was slow in starting. Bragg noticed the Nineteenth was not moving, and he dispatched a staff officer to order Hodge for ward. The Louisianan agreed to charge, but he told the staff officer that he “thought it impossible to force the enemy from this strong position by a charge from the front.”44
For a third time the brigade advanced, and for a third time was quickly stalled by the terrain and enemy fire. Gibson’s men took cover where they could find it, and fired at the enemy position for about sixty minutes.45 Colonel Allen was hit in his face, and Colonel Fagan’s horse was killed. Finally Gibson gave the order to withdraw to Barnes’ Field. The brigade, as a unit, was not enga
ged any more that day.46
Not all of Gibson’s men fell back on the main body, however. Having good spots from which to snipe at the Federals, some of the Louisianans continued firing into the Hornet’s Nest. Private James G. Muggar, Company G, Thirteenth Louisiana, was one of these determined troopers. He fired at Prentiss’ men until a ball struck him in the eye, blinding him, although temporarily. Another Louisiana soldier carried Muggar to safety.47 Recovering from his in jury, Muggar was later able to rejoin his regiment and he fought until he was captured in 1864.48
Even as Gibson’s men attacked the left side of the Hornet’s Nest, other Southern troops attacked the right opposite the Duncan Field. A little just before 1:00 p.m., Cleburne, with what was left of his Sixth Mississippi and Twenty-third Tennessee, supported by the Eighth Arkansas of Wood’s Brigade, opened fire on Sweeny’s brigade. The Southerners quickly became involved in a fire fight with Sweeny’s skirmishers. Troops from the Seventh Illinois captured some of Cleburne’s men and sent them to the rear under heavy guard. Federal skirmishers retired on their position, and Cleburne disengaged his battered little command.
The Sixth Mississippi, now commanded by Captain W. A. Harper, was so thoroughly disorganized by its earlier losses that Cleburne ordered it off the battlefield. He then ordered the Twenty-third Tennessee to fall back and regroup and, if possible, to link up with the rest of the brigade.
Left without a command, Cleburne encountered Hardee, to whom he gave a report of his actions. The Third Corps Commander directed Cleburne to organize Confederate stragglers and to reassemble the fragments of Confederate units which were roaming aimlessly around behind the front.49
Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 Page 23
