GENERAL BEAUREGARD'S REPORT. every attempt he made with his heavy column in that quarter of the field; on the left, however, and nearest to the point of arrival of his reinforcements, he drove forward line after line of his fresh troops, which were met with a resolution and courage of which our country may be proudly hopeful. Again and again our troops were brought to the charge, invariably to win the position at issue, invariably to drive back their foe. But hour by hour thus opposed to an enemy constantly reinforced, our ranks were perceptibly thinned under the unceasing, withering fire of the enemy, and by twelve, meridian, eighteen hours of hard fighting had sensibly exhausted a large number, my last reserves had necessarily been disposed of, and the enemy was evidently receiving fresh reinforcements after each repulse; accordingly about one P. M., I determined to withdraw from so unequal a conflict, securing such of the results of the victory of the day before as was then practicable. 357 tion warily observing our movements. Arranging, through my staff officers, for the completion of the movements thus begun, Brigadier-General Breckinridge was left with his command as a rear guard to hold the ground we had occupied the night preceding the first battle, just in front of the intersection of the Pittsburg and Hamburg roads, about four miles from the former place, while the rest of the army passed to the rear in excellent order. On the following day General Breckinridge fell back about three miles to Mickey's, which position we continued to hold, with our cavalry thrown considerably forward in immediate proximity to the battle-field. Unfortunately, towards night of the 7th instant it began to rain heavily; this continued throughout the night; the roads became almost impassable in many places, and much hardship and suffering now ensued before all the regiments reached their encampments. But despite the heavy casualties of the two eventful days of the 6th and 7th of April, this army is more confident of ultimate success than before its encounter with the enemy." "About two o'clock, P. M., the lines in advance, which had repulsed the enemy in their last fierce assault on our left and centre, received the order to retire; this In a later portion of his report, Genwas done with uncommon steadiness, and eral Beauregard, after complimenting vathe enemy made no attempt to follow. rious officers and men of his command, The line of troops established to cover thus speaks of the conduct of others: "As this movement had been disposed on a a contrast to the behavior of most of the favorable ridge commanding the ground army who fought so heroically, I allude of Shiloh church; from this position our to the fact that some officers, non-comartillery played upon the woods beyond missioned officers, and men, abandoned for a while, but upon no visible enemy, their colors early in the first day, to piland without reply. Soon satisfied that lage the captured encampments; others no serious pursuit would be attempted, retired shamefully from the field on both this last line was withdrawn, and never days, while the thunder of cannon, and did troops leave a battle-field in better the roar and rattle of musketry told them order; even the stragglers fell into the that their brothers were being slaughranks and marched off with those who tered by the fresh legions of the enemy." had stood more steadily by their colors. In the unsurpassed heroism of this great A second position was taken up about a engagement there were thus examples of mile in rear, where the approach of the failure and delinquency on both sides. In enemy was waited for nearly an hour; no army are all equally brave and resobut no effort to follow was made, and on- lute; nor could it be expected that the ly a small detachment of horsemen could vast forces hastily gathered from civil be seen at a distance from this last posi-life here suddenly brought to the field indeed, under the organization of the Sanitary Commission throughout the loyal States, ample stores of all kinds were forwarded, hospital steamboats fitted up, in which the wounded were transported to the charitable western cities, and all that could be done under the circumstances was accomplished to relieve and mitigate the enormous human misery; but one item, alas! in the account of this most cruel, merciless rebellion.. The loss of officers was heavy on both sides. Besides the commander-in-chief, General Johnston, and the Provisional Governor of Kentucky, Johnson, the Confederates lost Brigadier-General Gladden, and a number of field officers, while Major-General Cheatham, Brigadier - Generals Clark, Hindman, Johnson, and Bowen, were reported among the wounded. General Gladden was from South Carolina, and had achieved some distinction as an officer in Colonel Butler's Palmetto regiment in the Mexican war. The chief officer of the Union ranks who fell was BrigadierGeneral W. H. L. Wallace, commanding a division. Mortally wounded, as we have seen, in the afternoon of Sunday, he was, after a vain attempt by his aids to lead him away, left on the battle-field, where he was discovered the next day, when the Union troops recovered the ground, still alive, but perfectly senseless. He was removed to Savannah, where he died on Tuesday night. would exhibit, in all cases, the skill and endurance of veterans. Heroism on both sides was the rule; failure, from whatever cause, in the performance of duty, the rare exception. Among the losses of the Confederates on the second day, General Beauregard records with deep regret, 'the death of the Hon. George M. Johnson, Provisional Governor of Kentucky, who went into action with the Kentucky troops, and continually inspired them by his words and example. Having his horse shot under him on Sunday, he entered the ranks of a Kentucky regiment on Monday, and fell mortally wounded towards the close of the day." The entire loss of the Confederates in the two days, as given by General Beauregard, was 1,728 killed outright, 8,012 wounded, 959 missing, making an aggregate of casualties of 10,699. The loss of the Union army in the two days' engagement, as finally reported, was in the six divisions of General Grant's army: General McClernand's, 1st, 251 killed, 1,351 woundded, 236 missing; General W. H. L. Wallace's, 2d, 228 killed, 1,033 wounded, 1,163 missing; General Lewis Wallace's, 3d, 43 killed, 257 wounded, 5 missing; General Hurlbut's, 4th, 313 killed, 1,449 wounded, 223 missing; General Sherman's, 5th, 318 killed, 1,275 wounded, 441 missing; General Prentiss', 6th, 196 killed, 562 wounded, 1,802 missing: a total of 1,349 killed, 5,927 wounded, 3,870 missing. In the three The Union army also lost an officer of divisions of General Buell's army in the great promise for the future in Colonel action, General McCook's, 2d division lost Everett Peabody of the Missouri volun95 killed, 793 wounded, 8 missing; Gen- teers. A native of Springfield, Massachueral Nelson's, 4th division, 90 killed, 591 setts, a graduate of Harvard College in wounded, 58 missing; General Critten- 1849, he had adopted the profession of a den's, 5th division, 80 killed, 410 wound- civil engineer, and found active and reed, 27 missing:-making, in both armies, sponsible employment as chief engineer of an aggregate of 1,614 killed, 7,721 wound- the Memphis and Ohio railway, and subed, and 3,963 missing--a total of 13,508 sequently as superintendent on the Hanlosses of all kinds. The great number of nibal and St. Joseph's. At the breaking wounded demanded extraordinary efforts out of the rebellion he brought his perfor their care, and most nobly were they sonal influence and professional knowmet by the contributions and active ben-ledge to the service of the government, eficence of the people of the west; and, raised a regiment, rallied loyal citizens DEATH OF GOVERNOR HARVEY. in Missouri, and defended the State in its most assailable western portion. He was in command at Lexington previous to the defence of that town by Colonel Mulligan, and was severely wounded during the siege. He had hardly recovered from his injuries when he joined General Grant at Pittsburg. He was in the advance on the morning of the 6th, as acting brigadier in General Prentiss' division, and was the first, before dawn, to send out a scouting party to observe the movements of the enemy, whose coming he anticipated. A skirmish ensued, reinforcements were called for from his command, which he led in person. Driven back by superior numbers, he fell in the first onset of the foe, pierced by five shots.*** Among the wounded in the Union ranks, was acting brigadier, Colonel Williams, of General Hurlbut's, and Colonel Kirk, of McCook's divisions. MajorGeneral Smith, who was prevented by illness taking part in the engagement, did not long survive the battle, in preparation for which he had labored so strenously. He died at Savannah, Tennessee, on the 25th of April. General Halleck, in communicating the intelligence to the Secretary of War, justly pronounced his death "a great loss to the army." His remains were brought to Philadelphia, and interred with public honors at Laurel Hill. 359 the river, and was drowned. Governor Harvey was born at East Haddam, Connecticut, in 1820, and was carried by his parents to Ohio in his boyhood. Educated at Western Reserve College, Hudson, in that State, he removed to Wisconsin at the age of twenty. He was a member of the convention which formed the constitution of the latter State, and was for several years a leading member of the State Senate. General Prentiss and the prisoners of his division taken by the enemy, about two thousand in number, were marched to Corinth, and thence transported to Memphis by the railroad. They were then carried through Mississippi and Alabama to Mobile, whence the officers were sent to Talladega, and the men to Tuscaloosa. From Talladega the officers were taken to Selma, and then to Montgomery and Atlanta. Finally they were brought to Richmond, and after six months' painful imprisonment, exposed to privation. and insult, officers and men were released by exchange. On his arrival at Washington General Prentiss was serenaded at Willard's hotel, where he told the story of his imprisonment, and the hardships which his command had suffered. He characterized the rebel rule at the South as "a reign of terror," forcibly suppressing any expression of Union sentiment, informed his hearers of the strength of the rebellion, and advised the people of the north, if they would overcome an enemy fearfully in earnest that they should endeavor to "persuade officers and men that it was time for them to fight without gloves."* To the list of honored dead on the battle-field of Pittsburg or Shiloh, is to be added the name of an eminent civilian who met his fate on an errand of mercy to the wounded survivors of the engagement. Governor Louis P. Harvey, of The day following the second day's Wisconsin, having left his seat of office battle, General Beauregard addressed the after the battle to carry to the field a following communication from his headlarge amount of hospital stores, given, at quarters at Monterey, to General Grant: his request, by the citizens of Milwaukie, "Sir: At the close of the conflict yesterMadison, and Janesville, had just reach-day, my forces, being exhausted by the ed Savannah, Tennessee, when on the extraordinary length of the time during night of April 19th, in passing from one which they were engaged with yours, on boat to another, he accidentally fell into General Prentiss' account of his captivity. Washing ton correspondence New York Tribune, Oct 17, 1862. our fathers, let us seek to be worthy of His favor, and resolve to be independent or perish in the struggle." In a message "to the Senate and House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America," on the 8th of April, after the receipt of the news of the first day's battle, President Jefferson Davis paid a warm tribute to the memory of his friend, the slain commander-in-chief, General Johnston: "The great importance of the news just received from Tennessee," he wrote, that and the preceding day, and it being general thanks you. Your countrymen apparent that you had received, and are proud of your deeds on the bloody were still receiving reinforcements, I felt field of Shiloh, and confident of the ultiit my duty to withdraw my troops from mate success of your valor. Soldiers, unthe immediate scene of the conflict. Un- toward events saved the enemy from ander these circumstances, in accordance nihilation. His insolent presence still with the usages of war, I shall transmit pollutes your soil. His hostile flag still this under a flag of truce, to ask permis- flaunts before you. There can be no sion to send a mounted party to the bat-peace as long as these things are. Trusttle-field of Shiloh, for the purpose of giving that God is with us, as he was with ing decent interment to my dead. Certain gentlemen, wishing to avail themselves of this opportunity to remove the remains of their sons and friends, I must request for them the privilege of accompanying the burial party; and in this connection I deem it proper to say I am asking what I have extended to your own countrymen under similar circumstances." To this General Grant replied on the 9th: "Your dispatch of yesterday is just received. Owing to the warmth of the weather I deemed it advisable to have all the" has induced me to depart from the esdead of both parties buried immediately. Heavy details were made for this purpose, and it is now accomplished. There cannot, therefore, be any necessity of admitting within our lines the parties you desired to send on the grounds asked. I shall always be glad to extend any courtesy consistent with duty, and especially so when dictated by humanity." A few days after this correspondence on the 17th of April, General Beauregard issued the following address from his headquarters at Corinth "Soldiers of the Army of the Mississippi: You have bravely fought the invaders of your soil for two days, in his own position; fought your superior in numbers, in arms, in all the appliances of war. Your success has been great. His losses have been immense-outnumbering yours in all save personal worth of the slain. You drove him from his camps to the shelter of his iron-clad gunboats, which alone saved him from complete disaster. You captured his artillery, more than twenty-five flags and standards, and took over 3,000 prisoners. You have done your duty. Your commanding tablished usages, and to make to you this communication in advance of official reports. From official telegraphic dispatches received from official sources, I am able to announce to you, with entire confidence, that it has pleased Almighty God to crown the Confederate arms with a glorious and decisive victory over our invaders. On the morning of the 6th the converging columns of our army were combined by its commander-in-chief, General Albert Sidney Johnston, in an assault on the Federal army, then encamped near Pittsburg, on the Tennessee river. After a hard-fought battle of ten hours, the enemy was driven in disorder from his position, and pursued to the Tennessee river, where, under cover of the gunboats, he was, at last accounts, endeavoring to effect his retreat by aid of his transports. The details of this great battle are yet too few and incomplete to enable me to distinguish with merited praise all of those who may have conspicuously earned the right to such distinction, and I prefer to delay our own gratification in recommending them to CONGRATULATORY BULLETINS. your special notice, rather than incur the risk of wounding the feelings of any by failing to include them in the list. When such a victory has been won over troops as numerous, well disciplined, armed and appointed as those which have just been so signally routed, we may well conclude that one common spirit of unflinching bravery and devotion to our country's cause must have animated every breast, from that of the commanding general to that of the humblest patriot who served in the ranks. There is enough in the continued presence of invaders on our soil to chasten our exultation over this brilliant success, and to remind us of the grave-duty of continued exertion until we shall extort from a proud and vainglorious enemy the reluctant acknowledgment of our right to self-government. "But an all-wise Creator has been pleased, while vouchsafing to us His countenance in battle, to afflict us with a severe dispensation, to which we must bow in humble submission. The last long, lingering hope has disappeared, and it is but too true that General Albert Sidney Johnston is no more. The tale of his death is simply narrated in a dispatch from Colonel William Preston, in the following words: General Johnston fell yesterday at half-past two o'clock, while leading a successful charge, turning the enemy's right, and gaining a brilliant victory. A minié ball cut the artery of his leg, and he rode on until from the loss of blood he fell exhausted, and died without pain in a few moemnts. His body has been entrusted to me by General Beauregard, to be taken to New Orleans, and remain until directions are received from his family.' My long and close friendship with this departed chieftain and patriot forbid me to trust myself in giving vent to the feelings which this sad intelligence has evoked. Without doing injustice to the living, it may safely be asserted that our loss is irreparable. Among the shining hosts of the great and good that now cluster around the banner 361 of our country, there exists no purer spirit, no more heroic soul, than that of the illustrious man whose death I join you in lamenting. In his death he has illustrated the character for which through life he was conspicuous-that of singleness of purpose, and devotion to duty with his whole energies. Bent on obtaining the victory which he deemed essential to his country's cause, he rode on to the accomplishment of his object, forgetful of self, while his very life-blood was fast ebbing away. His last breath cheered his comrades on to victory. The last sound he heard was their shout of victory. His last thought was his country, and long and deeply will his country mourn his loss." If to Jefferson Davis belonged the privilege of congratulating his command on the honors of the 6th of April at Shiloh, to the Union commanders and the government at Washington fell the grateful task of recording in bulletins and proclamations the more decisive victory, crowning the work of the second day's engagement. On the field, by the head of the Department at Washington, it was everywhere made the subject of generous exultation. General Halleck, from his new headquarters of the army of the Mississippi, at Pittsburg, in a bulletin dated April 13, thus addressed the armies on the Tennessee :-"The Major-General commanding this department thanks Major-General Grant and Major-General Buell, and the officers and men of their respective commands, for the bravery and endurance with which they sustained the general attacks of the enemy on the 6th, and for the heroic manner in which, on the 7th inst., they defeated and routed the entire rebel army. The soldiers of the Great West have added new laurels to those which they had already won on numerous fields. While congratulating the troops on their glorious successes, the commanding General desires to impress upon all, officers as well as men, the necessity of greater discipline and order. |