Shiloh 1862 by James Arnold

Author:James Arnold
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Shiloh 1862: The Death of Innocence
ISBN: 9781472800046
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Along the ‘sunken lane’, canister-firing Union artillery fired point blank at charging rebels. (Library of Congress)

Largely by chance, elements of three Union divisions – W.H.L. Wallace, Prentiss, and Hurlbut – held Grant’s centre. In the middle stood perhaps 1,000 of Prentiss’s men who occupied a worn farm track. This ‘sunken road’, in fact merely a shallow depression at the time of the battle, served as a natural rallying point. Its strength lay in the clear line of sight presented by the open field in front. To Prentiss’s left were Hurlbut’s two brigades. Lauman’s Brigade occupied an extension of the farm path, while Isaac Pugh deployed his brigade in front of a peach orchard that overlooked an old cotton field. W.H.L. Wallace, with 5,800 men, held a strong position in woods bordering the Duncan Field. As the afternoon passed, about 11,000 Union men, supported by seven batteries numbering 38 guns, engaged along this half-mile-long line. At least 18,000 Confederates assaulted them, yet they failed to mass even 4,000 men in any one attack.

Units belonging to Confederate Maj.Gen. Ben Cheatham’s Division participated in one of the early charges. They had to cross 300 yards of open ground before reaching the opposing line. The soldiers doublequicked through an artillery barrage across the Duncan Field. Here they encountered the 14th Iowa, whose colonel had skilfully deployed his regiment on the reverse slope of a small ridge. Ordered to lie down, the Iowa soldiers waited until the attackers came within 30 paces. Then the regiment fired. They ‘completely destroyed’ the first rebel line. Adjacent Federal units joined in to deliver what Cheatham called a ‘murderous cross-fire’. Having left the ground ‘literally covered’ with fallen men, Cheatham’s survivors retreated.

Soon thereafter Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg took tactical charge of the combat. Without any reconnaissance, Bragg ordered Col. Randall Gibson’s four-regiment brigade to advance. Gibson’s men marched through a dense thicket toward Prentiss’s sunken road position. They never saw what hit them. Suddenly a shower of musketry swept their ranks. Two 6-pdr. brass guns fired canister from a knoll behind Prentiss’s line, while Lauman’s and Wallace’s men joined in from the flank. One of Gibson’s colonels reported that it was ‘a perfect rain of bullets, shot and shell’. So shocked and confused were the attackers that an Arkansas colonel believed the fire was mistakenly coming from friendly troops. The attackers could not endure it and fell back in disorder. Bragg believed their conduct was disgraceful and sent an officer to rally them.

A lull ensued during which Grant arrived behind Prentiss’s line. He studied the situation and realised that Prentiss held the key to his army’s fate. Telling Prentiss that Lew Wallace would soon arrive to reinforce his position, Grant ordered him to ‘maintain that position at all hazards’.

Meanwhile, overriding the protests of Gibson and his officers, Bragg ordered another charge. This time Gibson’s Brigade advanced through the canister fire until it came to within 20 yards of the sunken road. Suddenly the defenders rose and fired. A rebel

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