Gibson and Cleburne had tried and failed. Who would be the next to try and break the Hornet’s Nest? Having replenished his ammunition supply, Colonel Shaver decided he would try. With his Sixth Arkansas detached by order of General Bragg, Shaver formed his three regiments for another charge on Tuttle’s position. An ominous quiet settled over this portion of the battlefield as the Confederates started their attack. With perfect discipline, Tuttle’s men held their fire until the Southerners were about fifty or sixty yards away. When the order was given, a battery of the Missouri Light Artillery opened with a salvo of shrapnel from its Parrott rifles while the Iowa infantry jerked and squeezed the triggers of their weapons. The dense undergrowth broke Shaver’s line badly and his men’s fire had little effect on the partially concealed enemy.50
Lieutenant Colonel Dean led his Seventh Arkansas toward the Fourteenth Iowa’s position. When about fifty or fifty-five feet away, an Iowan put a Minie ball through Dean’s neck, and he dropped to the ground. Major James T. Martin assumed command of the regiment, which took cover behind trees and brush and raked the Iowa men with heavy musketry.51 Shaver ordered his men to withdraw, but some of the troops were unwilling or unable to disengage and a sharp fire fight ensued, lasting perhaps an hour.52 Shaver managed to pull his men clear of the enemy zone of fire, and upon reporting to General Bragg, he was ordered to fall back and reform. The three regiments were not again engaged that day.
Some of Wallace’s men were gradually cracking under the strain of repeated Confederate assaults. In one instance a Federal hid behind a tree. Other Northerners quickly moved up behind him. Eventually a grotesque daisy chain of thirty or forty men, each fellow clutching the waist of the man in front, swayed behind the tree while officers pleaded and begged the men to resume their places in the firing lines.53
Hosts of Wallace’s men did not crack, however, but kept right on fighting. One Iowa private was told that his brother was dead. Directed by a friend, he soon found the corpse, and placing the butt of his musket beside his brother’s head, he calmly reloaded and fired. Until his regiment was forced to fall back, he stood beside the body, exacting his own measure of vengeance.54
Private Samuel A. Moore of the Second Iowa dropped flat in the roadbed in an attempt to find some protection from a particularly heavy burst of Confederate gunfire. A big hulking private lay down by Moore’s side. The rather diminutive Moore, in a very abstract fashion, remarked to the newcomer, “You are a great big, strong, muscular man and I am a little bit of a fellow, and lying down upon your right and the balls coming from that direction, they would pass directly over my body and take you about in the middle.”55 An increasing number of Federals were being struck by Southern buckshot, the pellets spreading out and striking at random.56
While Gibson, Cleburne, and Shaver tried to drive the Federals from the Sunken Road, other Confederate troops were moving to attack Hurlbut’s command in the Peach Orchard. With the Second and Third Brigades, Brigadier General John Stevens Bowen and Colonel Winfield Statham, along with Brigadier General John C. Breckinridge, advanced along the Eastern Corinth Road. Guided by General Johnston, the Kentuckian deployed his two brigades in the wooded terrain. Under Johnston’s personal supervision, Bowen arranged his brigade in a double line with the First Missouri (Bowen’s old regiment) under Colonel Lucius Rich and the Second Confederate Regiment under Colonel John D. Martin in front, with the Ninth and Tenth Arkansas regiments, Colonels Isaac Dunlop and Thomas Merrick, in support. Bowen’s men formed en echelon about one-half mile behind Jackson’s Brigade line, his men having already shed their knapsacks in preparation for fast moving. Jackson’s Brigade was to his right, with Statham’s to his extreme left.
Confederate gunners brought two batteries forward to support the Reserve Corps, unlimbering their pieces on the south side of the Locust Grove Branch. Captain Alfred Hudson commanded the first battery, the Pettus Mississippi Flying Artillery, with two 3-inch rifles and two 12-pound howitzers. The second battery, the Watson Louisiana Flying Artillery, was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Beltzhoover.57
As Breckinridge’s batteries moved into position, sharp fighting continued on the left of the Peach Orchard, where Chalmers’ and Jackson’s brigades were steadily pressing back Stuart’s and McArthur’s commands. When Bowen’s men attacked, Jackson’s Brigade joined in with it, the two units complimenting each other’s efforts. The brunt of the Confederate advance fell on McArthur’s already battered Ninth, Twelfth, and Fiftieth Illinois posted east of the Hamburg and Savannah Road and Pugh’s left flank regiments, the Forty-first and Twenty-eighth Illinois, supported by the four 6-pound smoothbores and two 12-pound howitzers of Battery A, First Illinois Light Artillery.58
When Bowen’s Rebels stormed from the woods on the south side of the Peach Orchard, Pugh’s riflemen blazed away, sending a shower of lead slugs into the oncoming Confederate battle line while Hurlbut’s two batteries added to the din as they hammered the charging Confederates with exploding shells and solid shot. As the Southerners approached closer, Union gunners shifted to canister, spraying the Confederates with thousands of small metal balls.59 The momentum of the attack was slowed by Union fire. Bowen’s Arkansas regiments, green troops armed with old flint lock rifles, were unable to advance across a shallow ravine in front of McArthur’s position. Union fire was so heavy and accurate that the Arkansans’ regimental organization fell apart. Most of the men ceased trying to advance and began returning the Federal fire. Breckinridge and Bowen, with their respective staffs, rode up and down the south side of the ravine trying to persuade the men to advance. General Johnston rode up, a tin cup in his right hand that he had picked up as a souvenir in a Union camp earlier. He began speaking to the soldiers, saying, “Men of Arkansas, you who boast of using cold steel, don’t waste your ammunition, … come and show us what you can do with the bayonet.”60 Encouraged by General Johnston’s words and his calm, cool appearance, the troops responded to their officers’ efforts to rally them and soon moved into the ravine. Quickly crossing it, they charged straight on for McArthur’s men,61 forcing the Illinoisans back.62
The Union batteries shelling Bowen were themselves on the receiving end of accurate fire from the Confederate batteries of Withers’ and Breckinridge’s forces. A private in Lieutenant Peter Wood’s Battery A, First Illinois, was torn open by a 6-pound shot through his body. Private Ed Russell lived just long enough to utter the usual last words of a dying Civil War soldier, “Tell them I died like a man at my post.”63
Laing’s Second Michigan Battery was repeatedly hit by Confederate fire, and two more of his gunners were wounded. Lieutenant A. F. Arndt’s horse was shot from beneath him, while another officer’s horse was also struck. Laing was forced to order his men to limber up and move the battery some distance to the rear.64
Meanwhile, Statham’s Brigade advanced to support Bowen’s left. Colonels William Preston and Thomas Jordan accompanied Breckinridge’s advance and put Captain Arthur Rutledge’s Tennessee Battery, four 6-pound smoothbores and two 12-pound howitzers, in position to act as support for the advance.65 Statham’s Brigade had suffered some casualties al ready, but not from enemy fire. One lieutenant in the Fifteenth Mississippi, nervously fiddling with his revolver, shot himself through the hand; another member of the Fifteenth was accidentally stabbed in the thigh by a bayonet.
For hours Statham’s men listened to the sounds of heavy firing, the men gradually growing more tense as they awaited their turn to move into action. Actually going into battle, much of this tension dissipated, but some of the soldiers watched with interest wounded Southerners and Union prisoners walking toward the Confederate rear. Here and there Statham’s men stepped lightly to avoid treading on the mangled bodies, some still breathing, scattered along the line of advance. Union cannoneers began dropping rounds on the brigade, but it moved steadily onward.66
From left to right Statham’s Brigade consisted of the following regiments: Colonel David H. Cummings’ Nineteenth Tenn
essee, Major William F. Brantley’s Fifteenth Mississippi, Colonel Frank Schaller’s Twenty-second Mississippi, Colonel John Murray’s Twenty-fifth Tennessee, Colonel Joel Battle’s Twentieth Tennessee, and Lieutenant Colonel Ephraim Lytle’s Forty-fifth Tennessee.67
To get to Pugh’s brigade, Statham’s men had to cross several small hills. As the Southerners moved steadily on, reaching the crest of the last of these hills, the Federals opened fire.68 After some initial confusion, the Confederates again moved on, but Union fire inflicted grave casualties. In the excitement the Forty-fifth accidentally shot the left wing of the Twentieth Tennessee.69 Troops of the Fifteenth Mississippi, harassed by the Federals’ deadly fire, took cover be hind trees, brush, disabled wagons, or whatever they could find. Within seconds, six members of Company I were killed or wounded. Some of the men fired their muskets so fast that their weapons fouled, forcing the users to pick up weapons from the dead and wounded.70 As Statham’s men appeared along the edge of the Peach Orchard field, the divisional batteries hammered them with canister and shrapnel.71 Statham’s men continued on, climbed the fence on the south side of the field, and halted to dress their ranks. Laing’s and Brotzmann’s gunners tore great gaps in their ranks, but the Southerners quickly filled them. Officers shouted and waved their hats in the air as the brigade started across the field.
Union officers on the far side told their men to hold their fire. The only sounds heard were those of cannon going off and the tramping noise made by the advancing Confederate line. A few of Logan’s Illinoisans could not restrain themselves any longer. Their fingers closed on the triggers of their rifles, and a Confederate officer crumbled to the ground. Seconds later, the Federal line erupted in a thunderous crash of rifle fire, the black powder smoke swirling about and obscuring their vision as they reloaded.72
The Confederate at tack was stalled, but the Southerners poured such a heavy fire into the Forty-first Illinois that Hurlbut sent word to Logan to move over to their support. As Logan’s men made the transfer, the Third Iowa and Twenty-eighth Illinois were slightly re-aligned to close the gap created in Pugh’s line.73
The Forty-fifth Tennessee moved forward, straight for the Forty-first Illinois, but was promptly driven back. Lytle’s men then tried another advance, only to be again repulsed. Joel Battle’s men no longer tried to advance, but simply held their position while firing at the enemy.74
Despite the appeals of their officers, the Forty-fifth Tennessee refused to charge again. Many of the soldiers continued shooting at Pugh’s men from behind trees and rails, but they would not attack as a unit. General Breckinridge rode over to General Johnston complaining, “General, I have a Tennessee regiment that won’t fight.” The always sensitive and patriotic Governor Harris, who was with General Johnston, broke in, “General Breckinridge, show me that regiment.” Riding over to Lytle’s men, the Governor of Tennessee appealed to the soldiers’ pride and patriotism, but with only partial success. Then General Johnston rode over. With a few well chosen words, he revived the enthusiasm of the men,75 and led by General Johnston, Breckinridge, and the governor, the Tennesseans quickly moved forward, driving back Pugh’s left regiments, the Forty-first and Thirty-second Illinois.76 The right of Pugh’s brigade held fast in the face of the assault mounted by Statham’s left wing. The Iowans and Illinoisans sustained heavy casualties, but they continued firing through the thick clouds of smoke that covered their position until their officers made them stop. The smoke cleared, and the Federals cheered as they saw Statham’s men retiring.77
To sit quietly waiting for an enemy army that does not show up was not an easy duty for a man of Colonel George Earl Maney’s temperament. A native of Franklin, Tennessee, a veteran of the Mexican War, and a prominent Nashville attorney before Fort Sumter, Maney was originally captain of the First Tennessee, Company C, in May 1861. Under his leadership, the regiment took part in various actions in western Virginia before being ordered to return to his native state in February 1862.78 The regiment reached Chattanooga, where five companies were loaded on board a train be longing to the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Unfortunately there was no room for the other five companies, and they were left behind in the town on provost duty.79
After faithfully watching for Buell’s army several hours, Maney received a welcomed order from General Beauregard to rejoin the main army. The First Tennessee Regiment, or Battalion, was soon marching toward the battle area. Upon reaching the edge of the battlefield, the Tennesseans passed by fat and badly wounded Colonel Mathias Martin of the Twenty-third Tennessee, who was acting as an aide to General Cleburne. The colonel called to the First, “Give ‘em Hail Columbia. That’s right, my brave First Tennessee. Give ‘em Hail Columbia.”80 With the wounded colonel’s good wishes ringing in their ears, the First Tennessee continued until they reached General Breckinridge’s Division, with which Cheatham had linked what was left of his brigade after the morning’s repulse at the Hornet’s Nest. Reporting to his immediate superior, Major General Franklin Cheatham, Maney was ordered to attack Hurlbut’s position in the Peach Orchard.
General Cheatham instructed Maney to pick whatever other units from his brigade he wanted to go in with him, and the colonel selected the Ninth Tennessee; and he asked for the Nineteenth Tennessee from Statham’s Brigade. It was quickly arranged that the Nineteenth would accompany the colonel in his attack, and about 2:30 p.m., while the rest of Statham’s men still traded shots with the Northern men, the three Tennessee units started across the Peach Orchard toward Hurlbut’s center.81
Perhaps Private Tom Harrison of Colonel Maney’s First Tennessee thought back to the day nine months earlier when his grandmother strapped his knapsack on his back and told him to “go and never surrender or turn traitor, and do not come back until the war is over, whether it be in victory or defeat.”82 In this charge, Harrison and his fellow Rebels would drive all the way if possible.
As Maney started forward, Gladden’s former brigade, now commanded by Colonel Daniel Adams, began pressing the Federal right. Unfortunately one of Lauman’s riflemen shot Colonel Adams in the side of his head, permanently blinding his right eye.83 Colonel Z. C. Deas became the brigade’s third commander that day, and he immediately moved for ward to support Breckinridge and Cheatham. A vicious action, lasting many minutes, developed with Hurlbut’s division, ending with the Federals being pushed back.84
With Maney pressing in the center, Deas on the left, and Statham and Bowen on the right, Hurlbut’s division began to gradually give way. But it was Maney’s charge that broke the back of the Federal position. With the Ninth Tennessee in the center, the First on the left, and the Nineteenth on the right, Maney stormed from the woods out onto the Peach Orchard Field, heading toward the sector of Pugh’s line which was defended by the Third Iowa and Twenty-eighth Illinois. In the Peach Orchard, Maney’s men encountered some of Statham’s troops “retiring before a destructive fire.”85
There was so much powder smoke over Pugh’s position that his men had trouble spotting Maney’s advance. Unable to ascertain Pugh’s exact position, the aggressive Maney ordered his men to halt and lie on the ground. He gave the order to fire, and from this prone position, the Southerners blazed away in the general direction of the Federals. When the Northerners returned their fire, the canny colonel was able to ascertain their exact position and approximate strength. Before the Federals could reload Maney ordered his men to their feet, and the Rebels quickly moved forward again.86 As the momentum of their advance picked up in the Orchard, Minie balls ripped into their ranks, drop ping men right and left, but the Confederates’ battle blood was up; and, with wild Rebel yells, the Tennesseans tore into Pugh’s line.87
In the face of the Confederate attack, Pugh’s right wing withdrew, as did Brotzmann’s Battery, which was forced to abandon a 6-pounder and two caissons.88 The rest of Statham’s Brigade quickly moved for ward in hot pursuit.89 Hurlbut was falling back, but Confederate losses were heavy, including General Albert Sidney Johnston.
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As the troops of the Fourth Division fell back, many of them paused and reloaded their rifles and fired at the oncoming Confederates. One Union source said three fleeing Yankees turned around and, observing a mounted and obviously important Confederate officer in the distance, quickly loaded their muskets, and discharged them in his direction.90 Battery A, First Illinois Light Artillery, claimed that a shot from one of their 12-pound howitzers killed General Johnston.91 Whether the fatal bullet was fired by a soldier deliberately aiming to pick off a Confederate officer or whether it was simply fired at random by a running Federal, General Johnston was hit.
The mortal wound from a slug tore the popliteal artery in Johnston’s right leg. It was a severe wound, but not necessarily a fatal one. The general could easily have stopped the bleeding himself with a simple tourniquet, if only he had been aware of the seriousness of the injury. In the excitement of the moment and in the flush of victory, the general failed to pay much attention to the deadly red trickle running down his leg.92
Throughout much of the day, Johnston’s personal physician, Dr. D. W. Yandell, had accompanied the general across the battlefield, but when they rode upon a large cluster of wounded soldiers from both sides, the Kentuckian ordered Dr. Yandell to assist them. Before riding off to other duties, Johnston remarked to Dr. Yandell, “These men were our enemies a moment ago, they are our prisoners now; take care of them.”93
Just before the fatal incident, the Confederate commander spoke to Governor Harris, and Johnston showed him where a musket ball had torn his shoe. A concerned Harris asked, “Are you wounded? Did the ball touch your foot?” The general simply replied in the negative and told Harris to carry an order to Colonel Statham. One of General Johnston’s aides, Captain Leigh Wickham, remained with the general while Harris was on his errand. A few minutes later, Wickham heard the thud of a slug striking an object. Seconds later, he noticed blood dripping down General Johnston’s leg, and remarked to the general about it. But the commander seemed unconcerned. Colonel Theodore O’Hara, the famed Southern poet and adventurer, rode up at this time and observed the blood. The author of The Bivouac of the Dead turned around and galloped for a surgeon.94
Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 Page 24
