Thomas Vineyard - Battles of the Civil War

Meanwhile the Union army was gathering at Pittsburgh Landing, under the command of General Grant, and by April 5th numbered 40,000 men. Grant's plan was to attack the Confederates at Corinth, within a few days, and at this time was little expecting an immediate battle, and had left his army in command of his subordinate officers, and on the night of the 5th was some miles down the Tennessee from where his army was encamped.

In the meantime Johnston was moving on the Federals at Pittsburgh Landing, and on the night of April 5th encamped within a mile of the Federal lines.

At the break of day Sunday, April 6th, the Confederate battle-lines moved from the woods on the surrounding hills, and the greatest battle yet fought in the Western Hemisphere was at hand.

General Grant was at breakfast when he heard the roar of the cannon, and made haste by boat to take charge of his army.

General Hardee led the first Confederate attack against the outlying division of the Federals under General Benjamin Prentiss, of West Virginia. Very soon a Confederate attack was made all along the Federal line, led by Bragg, Polk and Breckinridge. A determined stand was made by the Federal division under General W. T. Sherman, but was finally pushed back after inflicting great slaughter to the Confederates. About two and a half miles from the Landing, in a grove of trees, stood a log church, known to the country people as Shiloh, at which they gathered on Sunday to worship, but on this particular Sunday the demon of war reigned supreme, and it goes without saying that the regular service on this fateful Sunday was dispensed with. About this church the battle raged furiously. Near the same was a dense undergrowth, which was held by General Prentiss until late in the afternoon of the 6th, when his entire division was surrounded and compelled to surrender, after repulsing the Confederate attack time after time with great slaughter. This spot has since been known as the "Hornet's Nest."

It was near this place that General Albert Sidney Johnston received his death wound while leading his troops, and in his death the Confederates suffered irreparable loss. He was struck in the leg by a minie ball, and if surgical attention had been given him at once his life would have been saved.

It is the belief of many that the death of Johnston changed the result at Shiloh. Beauregard succeeded to the command and continued the battle. The utter rout of Grant's army was saved only by the gunboats in the river. Beauregard gave orders to suspend operations until morning.

The Confederates were left in charge of the field on the first day and were in good hope of victory. But ere long their hopes were mingled with fear, for Beauregard had been expecting General Van Dorn with 20,000 men to reënforce him, but he had not arrived. On the other hand, Generals Buell and Wallace arrived during the night with 25,000 fresh troops to reënforce Grant. Everyone knew the battle would be renewed at the dawn of day. At the break of day, April 7th, all was astir on the field of Shiloh, and the dawn was greeted with the roar of the cannon and the rattle of the musketry.

The Confederates were at a great disadvantage as Van Dorn had not arrived, and they were confronted by Grant's overwhelming numbers. Shiloh church was again the storm center, and was used by Beauregard as his headquarters.

During the afternoon Beauregard became convinced that the battle was lost, and ordered a retreat, which was skillfully made, for he maintained a front firing-line, and the Federals did not suspect his retreat for some time.

The Federals were left in possession of the field, while Beauregard's troops were wading through mud on their way to Corinth.

Nothing yet on the American continent had ever been witnessed by any human being that would equal the agony and woe that was endured on this retreat; the road was almost impassable, and the Confederate army, extending along this road for six to eight miles, was struggling along through a downpour of rain, which, ere long, as night hovered over them, turned to hail and sleet. There were wagons loaded with wounded, whose wounds had not yet been attended. The wounded that died on the way were left by the wayside.

Some days after the battle Beauregard reported to his government at Richmond as follows: "This army is more confident of ultimate success than before its encounter with the enemy."

In his address to his soldiers he said: "You have done your duty. Your countrymen are proud of your deeds on the bloody field of Shiloh: Confident of the ultimate result of your valor."

The two days at Shiloh were astonishing to the American people. Bull Run was a skirmish in comparison with Shiloh. The loss on each side was more than 10,000 men. General Grant said that after the battle there was an open field so covered with dead that it would have been possible to walk across it in any direction stepping on dead bodies without the foot touching the ground.

This proved a great victory for the Federals, as it left them in full possession along the Tennessee and in the surrounding country.

After the battle of Bull Run the Union army was broken up and unorganized. General George B. McClellan was called to Washington to take charge of the army, and in the beginning days of 1862 he found himself in command of 200,000 men. He set about to organize this army and fit them for service. Presently public opinion grew restless, and the North became tired of "All's Quiet Along the Potomac."

About the middle of March McClellan moved a large portion of his army on transports down the Potomac to Fortress Monroe. On April 5th he moved up the Peninsula toward Richmond. He met with a Confederate force under General Magruder near Yorktown, who fell back on Williamsburg as the Union army advanced. At Williamsburg he met a large Confederate force under General J. E. B. Stuart, D. H. Hill and Jubal Early. The Confederates were finally dislodged and forced to retreat by the advance divisions of McClellan's army under Hooker, Kearny and Hancock, who occupied Williamsburg.

The Union army continued their march, and on May 16th reached White House, the ancestral home of the Lees, which is twenty-four miles from Richmond. On every side were fields of grain, and were it not for the presence of 100,000 men, there was the promise of a full harvest.

Great confusion reigned at the Confederate capital on hearing of the advance of McClellan's army. The Confederate army, known as the Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston, was arrayed against McClellan's army, known as the Army of the Potomac. And thus was arrayed against each other two of the greatest and best equipped armies that had ever confronted each other on the field of battle. It was now imminent that this would be the beginning of a series of battles between the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia, ending three years thereafter at Appomattox, where the veterans in gray layed down their arms, in honor, to those in blue.

Between these two armies lay the Chickahominy River, which at this time was overflowing its banks on account of recent heavy rains. McClellan ordered his army forward May 20th, and a large division under General Naglee succeeded in crossing the river, and took up a position on the south side of the stream. General McClellan, however, was expecting to be reënforced by McDowell from Fredericksburg with 40,000 men.

General Johnston, discovering the divided condition of McClellan's army, believed that the time had arrived to give battle. At this time "Stonewall" Jackson, with his army, was in the Valley of Virginia, and was seriously threatening Washington. The authorities at Washington deemed it necessary to recall McDowell and thus prevent him from reënforcing McClellan, which proved to be a very serious disappointment to him. McClellan ordered two divisions of his army to advance. One, commanded by General Casey, stationed itself at Fair Oaks farm, and the other, under General Couch, entrenched itself at the cross-roads near Seven Pines, which derives its name from a clump of pine trees, from which the battle fought here derives its name.