* '
r -
'Cbe Conservative *
single oannoii ball thut had plunged
through a tree.
The army had been assembled during
the night , but there was eome delay in
adjusting the lines. From the begin
ning of the battle this day to the finish
there was an incessant booming of artil
lery , and simply a constant roar of mus
ketry that varied only in intensity ; and
our army made continuous progress.
During the first part of the day my regi
ment was in the second line , which was
more trying than we had ever found the
first. The contest was very severe about
11 o'clock , and we were hugging the
ground closely , bullets cutting the brush
over us , when an officer whose coolness
and bravery excited our admiration , rode
up , and spoke to some of the officers.
My brother William , then a sergeant ,
came to me , and handing me his canteen ,
said : "Go back to the ravine , and fill
this and your own ; and don't you come
back without water. " I found no water
directly in the rear , and had to follow
the ravine a long distance. "When I re
turned the regiment was gone. I sim
ply wandered and followed the line ,
making fruitless inquiries till our sacked
and plundered camp was reached , late
in the afternoon. In 1889 , 27 years after
the battle , my brother explained to me
for the first time , that he overheard the
officer ask what regiment it was , and
say to the reply , it was just the one he
wanted ; that he wanted to drive the
enemy from a certain position , etc. , etc.
"Not believing I would live through the
rush , " said my brother , "uor seeing how
anyone could , I thought I would try to
save you. " What followed this order ,
though interesting , is no part of this
paper.
Our regimental quartermaster was in
arrest for having secured in his zeal
another complete uniform for the regi
ment , under the misunderstanding that
it had none. The enormous pile of boxes
( here in the field ) had been emptied by
our friends , the enemy. Old shoes
covered the ground for a radius of a hun
dred yards. Not a blanket or a stitch of
clothing was left in our tents. I then
and there formed the resolution to wear
thereafter my best clothing in battle.
The vigilance of Colonel Peabody
saved the Union army from utter sur
prise ; ho was inspired , no doubt , by his
energetic adjutant , Captain Donnelly ,
and guided by him and Major Powell ,
both men of military experience. Peabody -
body and Donnelly , like all my regiment ,
having lived in a slave state , and served
in one nearly a year , understood the
spirit , energy , enterprise , and terrible
earnestness of the secessionists. When
our government resorted to war to save
the Union , the South knew that failure
meant the death-knell to slavery. A
proud , spirited , fiery , warlike people
they threw their whole souls into the
contest , and were willing to sacrifice
their property , and if need be their lives
The fall of Forts Henry and DouelEon
and the concentration of an army at
Pittsburg Lauding , was turning the irn-
) roguablo position of Columbus "The
Gibraltar of America , " that blocked the
Mississippi. It was a WPdge splitting in
twain the confederacy , and lopping off
at the west the great source of supplies
of its armies and people. It caused the
greatest consternation and alarm , and
called for a spontaneous and unanimous
effort of the people to hurl the invaders
mck , or all would be lost. A proclama-
iou was issued to the governors of the
states , who in turn made passionate op-
leals to the people , who bent every ef-
: ort in response. The invading army
should be met before strengthened by
; ho arrival of Buell's troops.
Military organizations of whatever
name or nature rushed to the rescue ,
some of their governors accompanying
; hem , to urge them on to victory. The
confederate generals were over whelmed ,
and could not handle or organize the
hordes that came pouring in , and do-
ayed the start.
On the other hand , our army was only
a rapidly-concentrated , badly-organized
aggregation of armed raw material.
The battles at Forts Henry and Donel-
son had been won more by superb fight
ing qualities than from generalship or
military skill. The necessity that placed
General Grant in command on the eve
of battle "was swapping horses in
the middle of the stream , " and gave
him no time to compass the situation.
The almost absolute necessity that no
battle should bo fought before the ar
rival of Buell's army seemed to forbid
scouting or anything that might appear
aggressive. Ignorance of the resources ,
energy , and enterprise of the enemy ,
lulled our commanders into fancied se
curity. The day before the battle the
day the enemy arrived within two and
a half miles of camp , and delayed at
tack till morning only to have more day
light , General Grant sent this official
report : "I have scarcely the faintest
idea of an attack ( general one ) being
made upon us , but will be prepared
should such a thing take place. "
The regiments to compose this army
had not all arrived ; Preutiss' Third bri
gade was still on the steamers. Divis
ions were not camped within supporting-
distance , and there were wide gaps in
the same line. Our left , due in part to
the uon-arrival of Preutiss' other bri
gade , was too far from the river , and
unsupported. Indeed , it was never ex
pected that a battle would be fought at
Shiloh. The concentration of troops
had been so rapid , that officers were en
tirely unacquainted , and did not know
what regiments were to the right or left.
Many regiments wore uniforms fur
nished by their state , and some of them
were mistaken in the battle for the
enemy , and vice versa. There was a
great variety of small-arms and artil
lery ; and troops became paralyzed from
want of proper ammunition alone ; and
some regiments had never loaded their
arms before the battle. In fact , there
lad been no proper training , and there
was no system. The only soldierly
quality present was a desire to fight.
Tiie battle was simply a series of fierce
combats. So many brigade and regi
mental commanders fell , and their suc
cessors knew so little as to what orders
md been received , or whence they came ,
; hat the reports simply defy a tangible
connection for an accurate account of
; he struggle. The confederate army ,
with its great bulk at the front , struck
our short lines and enveloped them , so
; hey had to give way or be captured.
But they would not yield a step with
out determined resistance. They would
; heu fall buck upon fresh troops , or take
a strong position and repulse assault
ifter asnault ; and the ground was par-
icularly favorable for such fighting.
The enemy fought to conquer or to fall ,
and they fell by thousands. As the
strength of the confederate forces will
lover bo known , from the very conglom
eration and lack of returns , so , too , will
never bo known the number of their
countless dead upon that sanguinary
field. The number must have been
largely in excess of our own , which ,
God knows , was horrible enough. Com
panions , no people can be true to them
selves who send untrained the flower of
their youth to such wanton slaughter. .
Had our government maintained , at
moderate expense , a reasonable sized
army , it could have re-enforced promptly
the garrison at Fort Sumter and other
points , and nipped the rebellion in the
bud. Our political questions would
liave been settled without bloodshed ,
and thousands of millions of treasure ,
and a half a million of lives , would have
been saved , and incalculable suffering
and misery averted. None like the old
soldier knows the real cost and horrors
of war. Then let us , a band of old
soldiers and patriots devoted to our
country , keep impressed upon the people
ple that if we would avert the cost and
horrors of war , we simply have to be al
ways prepared for one.
From St.8 Louis ,
HISTOKY
COK11KCTKD. Missouri , in 1860 ,
R. M. Rolfe , Joe
Barrett , Keuuard and Sid Shepherd sent
the big bowie knife to Mr. Potter. The
republican delegates to the Chicago con
vention had nothing to do with it.
V
Some weeks ago
1UAUMID.
THE CONSERVA
TIVE commented on a reference of Rud-
yard Kipling's to a Celtic hero named
Diarrnid , and wondered why he called
him , as he did , Diarmid of the Golden
Collar.
A civil inquiry addressed to the author
has elicited the information that Mr.
Kipling does not now himself know
where he got that title for Diarmid ,
