About 4:00 a.m., a steamer carried part of the Sixteenth U. S. Infantry Regiment to Pittsburg, and the men scrambled ashore, pushing back a crowd of stragglers who tried to force their way on the boat. Many of Buell’s regiments had trouble with stragglers at the Landing, but one by one the units of the Army of the Ohio disembarked and were gradually moved into position.34
Buell’s men had a bad time trying to find their assigned positions in the dark, for the ground seemed to be literally covered with Grant’s sleeping soldiers. The new arrivals kept stepping on the sleeping beauties, causing a certain amount of bad language to be exchanged. One Indianan tripped and landed on top of a group of sleeping men. Awakened from his slumber so suddenly, one bruised and startled Federal yelled, “There is a horse lose in camp; he has just passed right over us, and I believe has broke some of my ribs.”35 Another sleeping soldier, possibly a member of the Forty-third Illinois, woke up with a man standing on his leg.36
Besides stumbling over Grant’s sleeping men, some of the new arrivals ran into trees, banging their heads and bloodying their noses thoroughly. In the confusion and darkness, some of Grant’s soldiers accidentally captured General Buell while he was trying to guide some of his troops into position.37
The landing of troops and artillery lasted all night and on into the morning, with the combat strength of the Union forces at Pittsburg steadily increasing. Grant and Buell do not seem to have discussed any coordinated counterattack plan, but by common consent both the Army of the Ohio and the Army of the Tennessee prepared to advance at first light of day.
None of Buell’s regiments had been in a major battle before, although many participated in minor actions in Tennessee, Kentucky, and western Virginia. Troops from the Thirty-fourth Illinois had clashed with John Hunt Morgan’s Confederate Raiders near Nashville in March, while the Fifteenth Ohio had fought in actions at Philippi, Laurel Hill, and Carrick’s Ford, Virginia, and at Woodsonville, Kentucky.38
All of Buell’s regiments were well trained, well equipped, and itching for a fight with the wicked “rebs.” As the sun rose, those of Buell’s soldiers who were already at Pittsburg munched hard tack and drank bad coffee in preparation for what was obviously going to be an exciting morning.
Only a few hundred yards away, Confederate soldiers began waking, up at the orders of their officers. Most of the Southerners were about to get the shock of their lives.
On Sunday afternoon, after receiving Beauregard’s order to withdraw, the Confederate army pulled back an average of one-half mile. Just about every brigade in the Southern army had lost its organizational integrity during the day-long fight, and during the hours of darkness little was or could be done to patch up the various scattered units. At dawn, Monday morning, the Southern army was stretched out in a confused line running from Jones Field to the edge of the Cantrell Field. There was no particular order of battle. Rebel units would fight on Monday in about the order they camped the night before. From right to left, Beauregard’s line of battle was very roughly Chalmers’ Mississippians, some scattered units from the rest of Withers’ Division, the Crescent Regiment, Maney’s First Tennessee, the remnants of Stewart’s Brigade, reinforced by Bate’s Second Tennessee and Tappan’s Thirteenth Arkansas, Cleburne, with fragments of three of his regiments and a large number of stragglers from other commands, Statham’s Brigade, Trabue’s command, Anderson’s command, Gibson’s Brigade (which was in comparatively good shape), Wood’s and fragments of Russell’s Brigade, and Pond’s Louisianans on the extreme Confederate left.
Partly by accident and partly by design, Grant’s army took over the right third of the battlefield, with Buell’s army assuming the responsibility of the center and left. Lew Wallace’s fresh division occupied Grant’s extreme right. Sherman, with fragments of his division, was to Wallace’s left. McClernand had perhaps forty percent of his April 5 effectives in position on Sherman’s left, while Hurlbut’s division held the left of the Army of the Tennessee. The Fourth Division was probably in the best shape of those participating in Sunday’s fighting. Prentiss’ and W. H. L. Wallace’s units simply no longer existed, except as scattered fragments attached to units of other divisions, including some in Buell’s army. Many of Grant’s other regiments were so badly battered that they could not be deployed in the battle line and were held in what was euphemistically called the reserve.39 Nelson’s division, which was the first to land at Pittsburg, held the extreme Union left, while the rest of Buell’s troops were deployed in roughly the same order of disembarkation. Crittenden’s division was on Nelson’s right, while McCook’s division was gradually deployed on Crittenden’s right, as it reached the front.
The giant Nelson, a black plume in his hat, aroused his three brigades well before daylight Monday morning. About 3:00 a.m, he waded through the mud and drizzle to reach Colonel Ammen’s command post at the foot of a large tree. “Colonel Ammens,” Nelson thundered, “you will put the Tenth in motion, as soon as you can see to move at dawn; find the enemy and whip him.” Wheeling his magnificent, if somewhat bedraggled, black horse about, Nelson headed for his Nineteenth Brigade to give the same message to Colonel William Hazen.40
Ammen’s soldiers washed down their breakfast crackers with long gulps of Tennessee River water before falling into line. Two companies from each of the brigade’s three regiments were ordered forward as skirmishers, to develop the enemy’s position.41 Mean while Hazen and Bruce, Nelson’s two remaining brigade commanders, received word of the coming advance and were busy forming their regiments into line.
Nelson dispatched an aide to go tell General Buell that the Fourth Division was ready to go. Just as the sun came up, Buell directed Nelson to start his advance. With Ammen’s Tenth Brigade on the left, Hazen’s Nineteenth Brigade on the right, and Bruce’s Twenty-second Brigade in the middle, the division moved forward into Dill Branch.
Slipping and sliding on the wet grass and gingerly stepping around an occasional bloated corpse, Nelson’s Bluecoats crossed Dill Branch and cautiously ascended the opposite ridge. Most of the men were thoroughly soaked from the night’s deluge, while their breakfast was scarcely filling; but their minds hardly noticed their bodies’ discomforts. The only thing on the soldiers’ minds was: where were the Rebels? At least their percussion rifles would work, despite the dampness.
Mounted on “Old Bob,” Colonel Ammen rode ahead of the brigade, disregarding the spray of water when he bumped stray bushes and limbs. From a few hundred yards in front, the soldiers could hear occasional bursts of firing as the skirmishers encountered Breckinridge’s pickets. The sun was out and started almost immediately drying out the soldiers’ clothing, but it did little good as the troopers stumbled into the still wet bushes.42
To the right and slightly behind the Fourth Division, the Second Division advanced along and parallel to the Corinth-Pittsburg Road.43 Pressing on ward, the Fourth Division crossed a number of deep ravines, passing several of their skirmishers lying dead or wounded from Confederate picket fire. Their feet soaking wet from wading through ankle deep mud, the division passed through Brigadier General J. G. Lauman’s looted brigade camp and then crossed Cloud Field.
As Hazen’s brigade marched a few hundred yards farther in its approach toward Wicker Field, Confederate artillery opened fire upon it, the 10-pound and 12-pound projectiles sprinkling the Federals and spreading some discomfort in the ranks. Buell sent an aide to order Nelson to halt and reconnoiter the position. At the same time Buell directed Crittenden to move up and support Nelson’s right flank.44
Colonel Ammen rode up and down the line to reassure his men, casually telling them, “Now, boys, keep cool; give’em the best you’ve got!”45 Nelson’s and Crittenden’s divisions soon resumed the advance, pushing back the Southern skirmishers to ward their artillery support. Within a few minutes, the two divisions reached the area which Prentiss, Wallace, and Hurlbut had defended so gallantly the day before. The Peach Orchard was directly in front of Nelson’s division, whil
e Crittenden’s right flank overlapped in front of the Hornet’s Nest. In this badly torn up region, the Federals found the Confederates in strength.46
Just beyond the Peach Orchard Field, the Rebels were deployed. Captain Felix Robertson’s Florida Battery, with its four Napoleon guns, was deployed at the southeast edge of the Peach Orchard. At the east end of the Wheat Field, about a quarter mile west of what came to be known as the “Bloody Pond,” was Captain Irving Hodgson’s Fifth Company of the Washington Artillery, with its two 6-pound smoothbores and two 12-pound howitzers. From this vantage point, the Louisianans could sweep Crittenden’s left, as well as Nelson’s right regiments.47
Both Confederate batteries discharged an accurate, steady fire into Nelson’s right regiments, sending them reeling back in disorder. The Fourth Division left its batteries at Savannah for lack of transport, so Nelson had no effective means of countering the deadly fire. In desperation, he sent word to Buell for help. In response, the major general sent Batteries H and M of the Fourth United States Artillery, consisting of two 12-pound howitzers and two 3-inch Rodman rifles under Captain John Mendenhall. The guns and caissons careened wildly as the cannoneers raced up the Hamburg-Savannah Road to assist Nelson.
Mendenhall’s gunners quickly unlimbered their pieces along the southern edge of the Wicker Field, firing round after round of shrapnel and shell at the Confederate pieces. Suddenly another Rebel battery, possibly McClung’s, opened fire on Mendenhall from a distant clump of woods. The Union gunners quickly shifted their guns around to meet their new foe, and a half hour fire fight ensued.48
Taking advantage of the Confederate gunners’ distraction, skirmishers from Colonel Gideon Moody’s Ninth Indiana and Colonel Walter Whitaker’s Sixth Kentucky, both of Hazen’s brigade, worked their way up close enough to pepper the Rebel gunners with rifle fire. The Confederates abandoned several of their tubes, but before Hazen’s men could spike or carry them off, Southern infantry attacked and sent the Federals running back to the main force. Hazen ordered Moody to take his remaining companies and support the retreating skirmishers. The Indianans moved forward a short distance until they came to a rail fence near a cabin. Taking cover behind posts, the Indiana soldiers engaged in a fierce exchange of musketry with troops from Cleburne’s and Stewart’s commands.
Bate’s Second Tennessee and Tappan’s Thirteenth Arkansas moved up and began a heavy fire into the Hoosiers and the rest of Hazen’s brigade. Some of the Second Tennessee took cover behind a large fallen tree, while much of the regiment drew some protection from a slight rise in the ground. The Tennesseans possessed a beautiful flag, presented to them by Miss Matilda Cheney of Galatin County, a relative of Captain Joe Tyree. Corporal Andrew Island rested the flag against a tree while he did some shooting, and Hazen’s sharpshooting country boys promptly riddled it. Indeed, standing or crawling near the flag proved an excellent way to get shot. One Federal Minie ball shattered the stock of Private W. E. Yeatman’s prized Springfield rifle, although he escaped unhurt. After thirty or forty minutes of steady firing, the Hoosiers ran short of cartridges and Moody ordered them to fall back a few yards and take shelter while more ammunition was brought up.49
While the Indianans had their show going, Colonel Walter C. Whitaker and his Sixth Kentucky engaged the Con federate infantry and artillery in the woods north of the Peach Orchard. The Southerners were apparently trying to penetrate a gap between Crittenden’s division and Nelson’s right flank, but their plan was thwarted by Hazen’s quick perception of the situation and his transfer of infantry over to the gap.50
Mendenhall was having his problems with the Southerners. His regular army gunners silenced a force of Confederate artillery, firing on them from the front; but other Southern guns opened up on the Federal battery’s right flank. The Rebels had the range, and the Yankee captain was forced to suddenly disperse his tubes to avoid having them overwhelmed. For perhaps an hour, the regulars and the Confederates traded rounds with indecisive effect. Then soon a new trouble broke out, and Mendenhall was forced to abandon his duel in order to proceed pounding a Rebel infantry assault.
Just to the west of Wicker Field Confederate infantry assaulted Hazen’s brigade. Three companies of the Sixth Kentucky were posted to support the guns while the rest of the Sixth Kentucky, the Ninth Indiana, and the Forty-first Ohio were posted to its right. The regular army gunners poured in round after round of case shot at the Southerners, finally shifting to canister as the Confederates closed in. Hazen’s riflemen discharged a heavy shower of Minie balls at the Rebels, who promptly halted and began firing.
Fearing the Southerners might overwhelm the battery, Hazen ordered his drummers to sound the charge. As the drums beat out the harsh staccato of the charge, his soldiers fixed bayonets and surged forward. The Rebels were forced back, losing several pieces of artillery. After advancing six or seven hundred yards, the attack was finally stalled, as the Southerners made a stand and Hazen was reluctantly forced to order his brigade to fall back to its original position.51
While Hazen was busy with his part of the battle, sharp fighting flared to the left of the Hamburg-Savannah Road. Cautiously advancing to avoid walking into an ambush, Ammen’s soggy soldiers traded shots with retreating Confederate pickets. The men were wet but cheerful, and eager to engage the Rebels. As they moved forward, the men cast cautious glances at the right, in the direction of the heavy fire from Hazen’s engaged brigade. When Menden hall’s tubes let go their first round, the Tenth Brigade enthusiastically cheered. The line of advance was fairly uneven, as the soldiers carefully stepped around the hundreds of dead and wounded soldiers sprawled all around on the ground. Dying men screamed, “Oh God, have mercy! Oh God! Oh God!”52
Finally, as the brigade neared the so-called “Bloody Pond,” the men were brought under heavy fire from two Confederate batteries, one to their right, west of the famous Peach Orchard, and the other, Robertson’s Florida Battery, directly in front of the brigade. As the Rebel projectiles began slicing the Federal ranks, the Northern infantry was ordered to lie down on the ground while skirmishers were deployed forward to scout the ground for Confederates.53
Trying to dislodge two enemy batteries without artillery support was apt to be a nasty business, so Colonel Ammen called a halt to proceedings until some Federal artillery could come up. Fortunately it was not long before Captain William R. Terrill reported to General Nelson with his Battery H, 5th United States Light Artillery, with two 10-pound rifles and four 12-pound Napoleons. Nelson decided to break up the battery in order to afford at least some protection to his entire division. Lieutenant Francis Grunther’s two gun section was dispatched to the right to support Hazen, while the other two sections, West Point trained Lieutenant Jacob Smyser’s and Lieutenant Israel Ludlow’s, were sent to the aid of Ammen.54
Terrill went riding up the Hamburg-Savannah Road, and with a quick sweep of his eyes took in the situation. His gun crews galloped up with their four Napoleons, and were soon in position and enthusiastically firing away.55 After firing a few rounds from his first position, Terrill advanced his four tubes to the edge of the Peach Orchard, where he warmly engaged Robertson’s Battery. The Southerners were temporarily silenced, but they immediately bounced back, for Robertson’s orders were to hold his position “at all cost.”56
Terrill was soon too busy to bother with the Florida Rebels, for Southern infantry was attacking. Screaming like berserkers, Confederate infantry swarmed in, dead ahead at Terrill’s Battery. In the face of the onslaught the Federal battery was withdrawn several hundred yards to a new position, from which it reopened fire at the advancing Rebels. Three times the Southerners charged the battery in its new position, only to be stopped with heavy bursts of canister and rifle fire from the supporting Union infantry. Terrill’s gunners began dropping right and left. Wounded battery horses screamed in pain as Rebel bullets tore their bodies. Several members of the Twenty-fourth Ohio ran over to assist the beleaguered Napoleon gun crews. Finally the Sou
therners charged a fourth time, but Colonel Ammen’s right wing stood firm.
The Confederates had suffered enough. Terrill’s gunners continued hammering as the Southerners suddenly retired. Ammen rode over to talk to Terrill, and to also borrow some binoculars. The Union gunners let go a round from one of the tubes, and the brigade commander’s horse, “Old Bob,” took fright and stampeded away from the battery in the direction of the Confederate infantry. Ammen was finally able to get his mount under control, or the Union army might well have lost the services of a tolerably good brigade commander.57
Confederate infantry also hit Ammen’s left wing, but his sturdy Midwesterners held their ground. Generals Nelson and Buell rode by to investigate the situation and expressed their admiration at the cool way the Federal infantry drove back the Rebels. Finally, Nelson’s division shifted over to the offensive and successfully stormed the Peach Orchard. The Confederate extreme right was badly mauled and dangerously weakened by the Monday morning action.58
The Southerners were still in good spirits and exhibited determined aggressiveness, but they were rapidly being overwhelmed and outfought by the ever increasing numbers of Federal reinforcements.
Chapter 15
Victory?
BY 8:30 A.M., THERE was sharp skirmishing all across Shiloh field, although the heaviest fighting was on the Union left where Nelson was engaged. Gradually General Crittenden’s Fifth Division developed Breckinridge’s battle line, and by 9 or 9:30 a.m., heavy fighting raged along the area defended by Prentiss and W. H. L. Wallace the day before.1
The guns of the Washington Artillery, which had plagued Nelson’s right wing, shifted around to bear on Crittenden’s advance elements. The Kentucky Unionist chose to attack with his Fourteenth Brigade, commanded by Colonel William Sooy Smith, a thirty-one year old West Point-trained Ohioan. Smith had the Thirteenth Ohio, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Hawkins, on the left, the Twenty-sixth Kentucky on the right, Lieutenant Colonel Cicero Maxwell, and the Eleventh Kentucky, Colonel Pierce Hawkins, in reserve. The Fourteenth Wisconsin, Colonel David Wood, was attached to the brigade, and it fought to the right of the Twenty-sixth.
Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 Page 30
