Results of the Surrender of Forts Henry and Donelson.--Retreat from
Bowling Green.--Criticism on General A. S. Johnston.--Change of
Plan necessary.--Evacuation of Nashville.--Generals Floyd and
Pillow.--My Letter to General Johnston.--His Reply.--My Answer.--
Defense of General Johnston.--Battle of Elkhorn.--Topography of
Shiloh.
The loss of Forts Henry and Donelson opened the river routes to
Nashville and north Alabama, and thus turned the positions both at
Bowling Green and Columbus. These disasters subjected General
Johnston to very severe criticism, of which we shall take notice
further on in these pages. A conference was held on February 7th by
Generals Johnston, Beauregard (who had been previously ordered to
report to Johnston), and Hardee, as to the future plan of campaign.
It was determined, as Fort Henry had fallen and Donelson was
untenable, that preparations should at once be made for a removal of
the army to Nashville, in rear of the Cumberland River, a strong
point some miles below that city being fortified forthwith to defend
the river from the passage of gunboats and transports. From
Nashville, should any further retrograde movement become necessary,
it would be made to Stevenson, and thence according to circumstances.
As the possession of the Tennessee river by the enemy separated the
array at Bowling Green from the one at Columbus, Kentucky, they must
act independently of each other until they could be brought together:
the first one having for its object the defense of the State of
Tennessee along its line of operation; and the other, of that part of
the State lying between the Tennessee River and the Mississippi. But,
as the possession of the former river by the enemy rendered the lines
of communication of the army at Columbus liable to be cut at any time
by a movement from the Tennessee River as a base, and an overpowering
force of the enemy was rapidly concentrating from various points on
the Ohio, it was necessary, to prevent such a calamity, that the main
body of the army should fall back to Humboldt, and thence, if
necessary, to Grand Junction, so as to protect Memphis from either
point and still have a line of retreat to the latter place, or to
Grenada, and, if needful, to Jackson, Mississippi.
Captain Hollins's fleet of improvised gunboats and a sufficient
garrison was to be left at Columbus for the defense of the river at
that point, with transports near at hand for the removal of the
garrison when the position became no longer tenable.
Every preparation for the retreat was silently made. The defenses of
Bowling Green, originally slight, had been greatly enlarged by the
addition of a cordon of detached forts, mounted with heavy
field-guns; yet the garrison was only sufficiently strong to
withstand an assault, and it was never proposed to submit to a siege.
The ordnance and army supplies were quietly moved southward, and
measures were taken to remove from Nashville the immense stores
accumulated there. Only five hundred men were in the hospital before
the army commenced to retreat, but, when it reached Nashville, five
thousand four hundred out of fourteen thousand required the care of
the medical officers. On February 11th the troops began to move, and
at nightfall on the 16th General Johnston, who had established his
headquarters at Edgeville, on the northern bank of the Cumberland,
saw the last of his wearied columns defile across and safely
establish themselves beyond the river. The evacuation was
accomplished by a force so small as to make the feat remarkable, not
a pound of ammunition nor a gun being lost, and the provisions were
nearly all secured. The first intimation which the enemy had of the
intended evacuation, so far as has been ascertained, was when
Generals Hindman and Breckinridge, who were in advance near his camp,
were seen suddenly to retreat toward Bowling Green. The enemy
pursued, and succeeded in shelling the town, while Hindman was still
covering the rear. Not a man was lost.[11] At the same time
Crittenden's command was brought back within ten miles of Nashville,
and thence to Murfreesboro.
Scarcely had the retreat to Nashville been accomplished, when the
news of the fall of Donelson was received. The state of feeling which
it produced is described by Colonel Munford, an aide-de-camp of
General Johnston, in an address delivered in Memphis. "Dissatisfaction
was general. Its mutterings, already heard, began to break out in
denunciations. The demagogues took up the cry, and hounded on one
another and the people in hunting down a victim. The public press was
loaded with abuse. The Government was denounced for intrusting the
public safety to hands so feeble. The Lower House of Congress appointed
a select committee to inquire into the conduct of the war in the
Western Department. The Senators and Representatives from Tennessee,
with the exception of Judge Swann, waited upon the President." Their
spokesman, Senator G. A. Henry, stated that they came for and in behalf
of Tennessee to ask for the removal of General A. S. Johnston, and the
assignment of a competent officer to the defense of their homes and
people. It was further stated that they did not come to recommend any
one as the successor; that it was conceded that the President was better
able than they were to select a proper officer, and they only asked that
he would give them a general.
Painfully impressed by this exhibition of distrust toward an officer
whose place, if vacated, I was sure could not be filled by his equal,
realizing how necessary public confidence was to success, and wounded
by the injustice done to one I had known with close intimacy in peace
and in war, and believed to be one of the noblest men with whom I had
ever been associated, and one of the ablest soldiers I had ever seen
in the field, I paused under conflicting emotions, and after a time
merely answered, "If Sidney Johnston is not a general, the
Confederacy has none to give you."
On February 17th the rear guard from Bowling Green reached Nashville,
and on the 18th General Johnston wrote to the Secretary of War at
Richmond, saying:
"I have ordered the army to encamp to-night midway between Nashville
and Murfreesboro. My purpose is to place the force in such a position
that the enemy can not concentrate his superior strength against the
command, and to enable me to assemble as rapidly as possible such
other troops in addition as it may be in my power to collect. The
complete command which their gunboats and transports give them upon
the Tennessee and Cumberland renders it necessary for me to retire my
line between the rivers. I entertain the hope that this disposition
will enable me to hold the enemy for the present in check, and, when
my forces are sufficiently increased, to drive him back."
The fall of Fort Donelson made a speedy change of his plans
necessary. General Johnston was now compelled to withdraw his forces
from the north bank of the Cumberland, and to abandon the defense of
Nashville; in a word, to evacuate Nashville or sacrifice the army.
Not more than eleven thousand effective men were left to him with
which to oppose General Buell with not less than forty thousand men,
moving by Bowling Green, while another superior force, under General
Thomas, was on the eastern flank; and the armies from Fort Donelson,
with the gunboats and transport, had it in their power to ascend the
Cumberland, so as to interrupt all communication with the south.
On February 17th and 18th the main body of the command was moved from
Nashville to Murfreesboro, while a brigade remained under General
Floyd to bring on the stores and property upon the approach of the
enemy, all of which would have been saved except for the heavy and
general rains. By the junction of the command of General Crittenden
and the fugitives from Donelson, who were reorganized, the force of
General Johnston was increased to seventeen thousand men. The stores
not required for immediate use were ordered to Chattanooga, and those
which were necessary on the march were ordered to Huntsville and
Decatur. On February 28th the march was commenced for Decatur through
Shelbyville and Fayetteville. Halting at those points for the
purpose, he saved his provisions and stores, removed his depots and
machine-shops, obtained new arms, and finally, at the close of March,
joined Beauregard at Corinth with twenty thousand men, making their
aggregate force fifty thousand.
Considering the great advantage which the means of transportation
upon the Tennessee and Cumberland afforded the enemy, and the
peculiar topography of the State, General Johnston found that he
could not with the force under his command successfully defend the
whole line against the advance of the enemy. He was, therefore,
compelled to elect whether the enemy should be permitted to occupy
Middle Tennessee, or turn Columbus, take Memphis, and open the valley
of the Mississippi. Deciding that the defense of the valley was of
paramount importance, he therefore crossed the Tennessee and united
with Beauregard.
The evacuation of Nashville and the evident intention of General
Johnston to retreat still further, created a panic in the public mind
which spread over the whole State. Those who had refused to listen to
his warning voice, when it called them to arms, were loudest in their
passionate outcry at what they considered a base surrender of them to
the mercies of the invader. He was accused of imbecility, cowardice,
and treason. An appeal from every class was made to the President
demanding his removal. Congress took the matter in hand, and, though
the feeling there resulted merely in a committee of inquiry, it was
evident that the case was prejudged. The Confederate House of
Representatives created a special committee "to inquire into the
military disasters at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and the surrender
of Nashville to the enemy," and as to the conduct, number, and
disposition of the troops under General Johnston. Great feeling was
shown in the debates.
Generals Floyd and Pillow, the senior officers at Fort Donelson,
after it had been decided to surrender, withdrew, to avoid being made
prisoners. The Secretary of War (Mr. Benjamin) wrote, March 11th, to
General Johnston as follows:
"The reports of Brigadier-Generals Floyd and Pillow are
unsatisfactory, and the President directs that both these generals be
relieved from command until further orders. In the mean time you will
request them to add to their reports such statements as they may deem
proper on the points submitted. You are further requested to make up
a report, from all the sources of information accessible to you, of
all the particulars connected with the unfortunate affair, which can
contribute to enlighten the judgment of the Executive and of
Congress, and to fix the blame, if blame there be, on those who were
delinquent in duty."
This state of affairs, under the command of General Johnston, was the
occasion of the following correspondence:
_Letter from President Davis to General A. S. Johnston._
"RICHMOND, _March 12, 1862._
"MY DEAR GENERAL: The departure of Captain Wickliffe offers an
opportunity, of which I avail myself, to write you an unofficial
letter. We have suffered great anxiety because of recent events in
Kentucky and Tennessee, and I have been not a little disturbed by the
repetitions of reflections upon yourself. I expected you to have made
a full report of events precedent and consequent to the fall of Fort
Donelson. In the mean time, I made for you such defense as friendship
prompted, and many years of acquaintance justified; but I needed
facts to rebut the wholesale assertions made against you to cover
others and to condemn my administration. The public, as you are
aware, have no correct measure for military operations, and the
journals are very reckless in their statements.
"Your force has been magnified, and the movements of an army have
been measured by the capacity for locomotion of an individual.
"The readiness of the people, among whom you are operating, to aid
you in every method, has been constantly asserted; the purpose of
your army at Bowling Green wholly misunderstood; and the absence of
an effective force at Nashville ignored. You have been held
responsible for the fall of Donelson and the capture of Nashville. It
is charged that no effort was made to save the stores at Nashville,
and that the panic of the people was caused by the army.
"Such representations, with the sad forebodings naturally belonging
to them, have been painful to me, and injurious to us both; but,
worse than this, they have undermined public confidence and damaged
our cause. A full development of the truth is necessary for future
success.
"I respect the generosity which has kept you silent, but would
impress upon you that the question is not personal but public in its
nature; that you and I might be content to suffer, but neither of us
can willingly permit detriment to the country. As soon as
circumstances will permit, it is my purpose to visit the field of
your present operations; not that I shall expect to give you any aid
in the discharge of your duties as a commander, but with the hope
that my position would enable me to effect something in bringing men
to your standard. With a sufficient force, the audacity which the
enemy exhibits would no doubt give you the opportunity to cut some of
his lines of communication, to break up his plan of campaign, and,
defeating some of his columns, to drive him from the soil as well of
Kentucky as of Tennessee.
"We are deficient in arms, wanting in discipline, and inferior in
numbers. Private arms must supply the first want; time and the
presence of an enemy, with diligence on the part of commanders, will
remove the second; and public confidence will overcome the third.
General Bragg brings you disciplined troops, and you will find in him
the highest administrative capacity. General E. K. Smith will soon
have in East Tennessee a sufficient force to create a strong
diversion in your favor; or, if his strength can not be made
available in that way, you will best know how to employ it otherwise.
I suppose the Tennessee or the Mississippi River will be the object
of the enemy's next campaign, and I trust you will be able to
concentrate a force which will defeat either attempt. The fleet which
you will soon have on the Mississippi River, if the enemy's gunboats
ascend the Tennessee, may enable you to strike an effective blow at
Cairo; but, to one so well informed and vigilant, I will not assume
to offer suggestions as to when and how the ends you seek may be
attained. With the confidence and regard of many years, I am very
truly your friend,
"JEFFERSON DAVIS."
_Letter of General Johnston in answer to that above._
"DECATUR, ALABAMA, _March 18, 1862._
"MY DEAR GENERAL: I received the dispatches from Richmond, with your
private letter by Captain Wickliffe, three days since; but the
pressure of affairs and the necessity of getting my command across
the Tennessee prevented me from sending you an earlier reply.
"I anticipated all that you have told me as to the censure which the
fall of Fort Donelson drew upon me, and the attacks to which you
might be subjected; but it was impossible for me to gather the facts
for a detailed report, or to spare time which was required to
extricate the remainder of my troops and save the large accumulation
of stores and provisions after that disheartening disaster.
"I transmitted the reports of Generals Floyd and Pillow without
examining or analyzing the facts, and scarcely with time to read them.
"When about to assume command of this department, the Government
charged me with the duty of deciding the question of occupying
Bowling Green, Kentucky, which involved not only military but
political considerations. At the time of my arrival at Nashville, the
action of the Legislature of Kentucky had put an end to the latter by
sanctioning the formation of camps menacing Tennessee, by assuming
the cause of the Government at Washington, and by abandoning the
neutrality it professed; and, in consequence of their action, the
occupation of Bowling Green became necessary as an act of
self-defense, at least in the first step.
"About the middle of September General Buckner advanced with a small
force of about four thousand men, which was increased by the 15th of
October to twelve thousand; and, though accessions of force were
received, it continued at about the same strength until the end of
November--measles and other diseases keeping down the effective
force. The enemy's force then was reported to the War Department at
fifty thousand, and an advance was impossible. No enthusiasm, as we
imagined and hoped, but hostility, was manifested in Kentucky.
Believing it to be of the greatest moment to protract the campaign,
as the dearth of cotton might bring strength from abroad and
discourage the North, and to gain time to strengthen myself by new
troops from Tennessee and other States, I magnified my forces to the
enemy, but made known my true strength to the department and the
Governors of States. The aid given was small. At length, when General
Beauregard came out in February, he expressed his surprise at the
smallness of my force, and was impressed with the danger of my
position. I admitted what was so manifest, and laid before him my
views for the future, in which he entirely concurred, and sent me a
memorandum of our conference, a copy of which I send to you. I
determined to fight for Nashville at Donelson, and gave the best part
of my army to do it, retaining only fourteen thousand men to cover my
front, and giving sixteen thousand to defend Donelson. The force at
Donelson is stated in General Pillow's report at much less, and I do
not doubt the correctness of his statement, for the force at Bowling
Green, which I supposed to be fourteen thousand effective men (the
medical report showing only a little over five hundred sick in the
hospital), was diminished more than five thousand by those who were
unable to stand the fatigue of a march, and made my force on reaching
Nashville less than ten thousand men. I inclose medical director's
report. Had I wholly uncovered my front to defend Donelson, Buell
would have known it, and marched directly on Nashville. There were
only ten small steamers in the Cumberland, in imperfect condition,
only three of which were available at Nashville, while the
transportation of the enemy was great.
"The evacuation of Bowling Green was imperatively necessary, and was
ordered before, and executed while the battle was being fought at
Donelson. I had made every disposition for the defense of the fort my
means allowed, and the troops were among the best of my forces. The
generals, Floyd, Pillow, and Buckner, were high in the opinion of
officers and men for skill and courage, and among the best officers
of my command. They were popular with the volunteers, and all had
seen much service. No reënforcements were asked. I awaited the event
opposite Nashville. The result of the conflict each day was
favorable. At midnight on the 15th I received news of a glorious
victory; at dawn, of a defeat.
"My column during the day and night was thrown over the river--a
battery had been established below the city to secure the passage.
Nashville was incapable of defense, from its position, and from the
forces advancing from Bowling Green and up the Cumberland. A rear
guard was left, under General Floyd, to secure the stores and
provisions, but did not completely effect the object. The people were
terrified, and some of the troops were disheartened. The
discouragement was spreading, and I ordered the command to
Murfreesboro, where I managed, by assembling Crittenden's division
and the fugitives from Donelson, to collect an army able to offer
battle. The weather was inclement, the floods excessive, and the
bridges were washed away, but most of the stores and provisions were
saved and conveyed to new depots. This having been accomplished,
though with serious loss, in conformity with my original design, I
marched southward and crossed the Tennessee at this point, so as to
coöperate or unite with General Beauregard for the defense of the
valley of the Mississippi. The passage is almost completed, and the
head of my column is already with General Bragg at Corinth. The
movement was deemed too hazardous by the most experienced members of
my staff; but the object warranted the risk. The difficulty of
effecting a junction is not wholly overcome, but it approaches
completion. Day after to-morrow (the 22d), unless the enemy
intercepts me, my force will be with Bragg, and my army nearly fifty
thousand strong. _This must be destroyed before the enemy can attain
his object._
"I have given this sketch, so that you may appreciate the
embarrassment which surrounded me in my attempts to avert or remedy
the disaster of Fort Donelson, before alluding to the conduct of the
generals.
"When the force was detached, I was in hopes that such disposition
would have been made as would have enabled the forces to defend the
fort or withdraw without sacrificing the army. On the 14th I ordered
General Floyd, by telegraph, 'If he lost the fort, to get his troops
to Nashville.' It is possible that might have been done, but justice
requires us to look at events as they appeared at the time, and not
alone by the light of subsequent information. All the facts in
relation to the surrender will be transmitted to the Secretary of War
as soon as they can be collected, in obedience to his order. It
appears from the information received that General Buckner, being the
junior officer, took the lead in advising the surrender, and that
General Floyd acquiesced, and that they all concurred in the belief
that their force could not maintain the position. All concurred that
it would involve a great sacrifice of life to extricate the command.
Subsequent events show that the investment was not so complete as
their information from their scouts led them to believe.
"The conference resulted in the surrender. The command was
irregularly transferred, and devolved on the junior general; but not
apparently to avoid any just responsibility or from any want of
personal or moral intrepidity. The blow was most disastrous, and
almost without a remedy. I therefore, in my first report, remained
silent. This silence you were kind enough to attribute to my
generosity. I will not lay claim to the motive to excuse my course. I
observed silence, as it seemed to be the best way to serve the cause
and the country. The facts were not fully known, discontent
prevailed, and criticism and condemnation were more likely to augment
than to cure the evil. I refrained, well knowing that heavy censures
would fall upon me, but convinced that it was better to endure them
for the present, and defer for a more propitious time an
investigation of the conduct of the generals; for, in the mean time,
their services were required and their influence was useful. For
these reasons Generals Floyd and Pillow were assigned to duty, for I
still felt confidence in their gallantry, their energy, and their
devotion to the Confederacy.
"I have thus recurred to the motives by which I have been governed,
from a deep personal sense of the friendship and confidence you have
always shown me, and from the conviction that they have not been
withdrawn from me in adversity.
"All the reports requisite for a full official investigation have
been ordered. Generals Floyd and Pillow have been suspended from
command.
"You mention that you intend to visit the field of operations here. I
hope soon to see you, for your presence would encourage my troops,
inspire the people, and augment the army. To me personally it would
give the greatest gratification. Merely a soldier myself, and having
no acquaintance with the statesmen or leaders of the South, I can not
touch springs familiar to you. Were you to assume command, it would
afford me the most unfeigned pleasure, and every energy would be
exerted to help you to victory and the country to independence. Were
you to decline, still your presence alone would be of inestimable
advantage.
"The enemy are now at Nashville, about fifty thousand strong,
advancing in this direction by Columbia. He has also forces,
according to the report of General Bragg, landing at Pittsburg, from
twenty-five to fifty thousand, and moving in the direction of Purdy.
"This army corps, moving to join Bragg, is about twenty thousand
strong. Two brigades, Hindman's and Woods's, are, I suppose, at
Corinth. One regiment of Hardee's division (Lieutenant-Colonel Patton
commanding) is moving by cars to-day (March 20th), and Statham's
brigade (Crittenden's division). The brigade will halt at Iuka, the
regiment at Burnsville; Cleburne's brigade, Hardee's division, except
the regiment, at Burnsville; and Carroll's brigade, Crittenden's
division, and Helm's cavalry, at Tuscumbia; Bowen's brigade at
Courtland; Breckinridge's brigade here; the regiments of cavalry of
Adams and Wharton on the opposite bank of the river; Scott's
Louisiana regiment at Pulaski, sending forward supplies; Morgan's
cavalry at Shelbyville, ordered on.
"To-morrow Breckinridge's brigade will go to Corinth, then Bowen's.
When these pass Tuscumbia and Iuka, transportation will be ready
there for the other troops to follow immediately from those points,
and, if necessary, from Burnsville. The cavalry will cross and move
forward as soon as their trains can be passed over the
railroad-bridge. I have troubled you with these details, as I can not
properly communicate them by telegram.
"The test of merit in my profession, with the people, is success. It
is a hard rule, but I think it right. If I join this corps to the
forces of Beauregard (I confess a hazardous experiment), then those
who are now declaiming against me will be without an argument.
"Your friend, A. S. JOHNSTON."
To this letter the following reply was made:
"RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, _March 26, 1862._
"MY DEAR GENERAL: Yours of the 18th instant was this day delivered by
your aide, Mr. Jack. I have read it with much satisfaction. So far as
the past is concerned, it but confirms the conclusions at which I had
already arrived. My confidence in you has never wavered, and I hope
the public will soon give me credit for judgment, rather than
continue to arraign me for obstinacy.
"You have done wonderfully well, and now I breathe easier in the
assurance that you will be able to make a junction of your two
armies. If you can meet the division of the enemy moving from the
Tennessee before it can make a junction with that advancing from
Nashville, the future will be brighter. If this can not be done, our
only hope is that the people of the Southwest will rally _en masse_
with their private arms, and thus enable you to oppose the vast army
which will threaten the destruction of our country.
"I have hoped to be able to leave here for a short time, and would be
much gratified to confer with you, and share your responsibilities. I
might aid you in obtaining troops; no one could hope to do more
unless he underrated your military capacity. I write in great haste,
and feel that it would be worse than useless to point out to you how
much depends on you.
"May God bless you, is the sincere prayer of your friend,
"JEFFERSON DAVIS."
Let us now review the events which had brought such unmeasured
censure on General Johnston for some months preceding this
correspondence. We have seen him, with a force numerically much
inferior to that of the enemy in his front, holding the position of
Bowling Green, and, by active operations of detached commands,
keeping up to foe and friend the impression that he had a large army
in position. With self-sacrificing fortitude he remained silent under
reproaches for not advancing to attack the enemy. When Forts Donelson
and Henry were more immediately threatened, he gave reënforcements
from his small command until his own line became more like one of
skirmishers than an intrenched line of battle; and when those forts
were surrendered, and his position became both untenable and useless,
he withdrew in such order and with such skill that his retreat was
unmolested by the enemy. Though he continued to be the subject of
unreasoning vituperation, he sought not to justify himself by blaming
others, or telling what he would have done if his Government had sent
him the arms and munitions he asked for, but which his Government he
learned did not possess.
There are yet those who, self-assured, demand why Johnston did not go
himself to Donelson and Henry, and why his forces were not there
concentrated. A slight inspection of the map would suffice to show
that, Bowling Green abandoned, the direct road to Nashville would be
open to the advance of Buell's army. Then the forts, if held, would
cease to answer their purpose, and, being isolated, and also between
hostile armies above and below, would be not only valueless but only
temporarily tenable; and of his critics it may be asked, Who else
than himself could, with the small force retained at Bowling Green,
have held the enemy in check so long, and at last have retired
without disaster?
To collect the widely separated troops of his command so as to form
an army which might offer battle to the invading foe was a problem
which must have been impossible, if the organized armies by which he
was threatened had been guided by a capacity equal to his own. It was
done, and, with the genius of a great soldier, he seized the
opportunity, by the rapid combination of new levies and of forces
never before united, to attack the armies of the enemy in detail
while they were endeavoring to form a junction.
The Southwestern States presented a field peculiarly favorable for
the application of a new power in war. Deep rivers, with banks
frequently but little elevated above the water, traverse the country.
On these rivers iron-plated steamboats with heavy guns may move with
a rapidity incomparably greater than that of marching armies. It is
as if forts, with armaments, garrison, and stores, were endowed with
locomotion more swift and enduring than that of cavalry.
The Ohio, Mississippi, Cumberland, and Tennessee Rivers all were in
the field of General Johnston's operations, and at the stage of water
most suited to naval purposes. Apart from the heavy guns which could
thus be brought to bear at interior places upon an army having only
field-artillery, the advantage of rapid transportation for troops and
supplies can hardly be over-estimated. It has been seen how these
advantages were utilized by the enemy at Henry and Donelson, and not
less did they avail him at Shiloh.
As has been elsewhere explained, the condition of the South did not
enable the Confederacy to meet the enemy on the water except at great
odds.
If it be asked, "Why did not General Johnston wait until the enemy
marched from the river instead of attacking him at Shiloh or
Pittsburg Landing?" the answer is, "That would have been to delay
until the junction of the enemy's armies had been effected." To fight
them in detail, it was necessary to attack the first where it lay,
backed by its gunboats. That sound judgment and soldierly daring went
hand in hand in this attack the sequel demonstrated.
Meantime some active operations had taken place in that part of
General Johnston's command west of the Mississippi River. Detached
conflicts with the enemy had been fought by the small forces under
Generals Price and McCulloch, but no definite result had followed.
General Earl Van Dorn had been subsequently assigned to the command,
and assumed it on January 29, 1862. General Curtis was then in
command of the enemy's forces, numbering about twelve thousand men.
He had harassed General Price on his retreat to Fayetteville,
Arkansas, and then had fallen back to Sugar Creek, where he proposed
to make a stand. Van Dorn, immediately on his arrival at the
Confederate camps on Boston Mountain, prepared to attack Curtis. His
first movement, however, was to intercept General Sigel, then at
Bentonville with sixteen thousand men. The want of coöperation in Van
Dorn's forces enabled Sigel to escape. Curtis thus concentrated his
forces at Sugar Creek, and, instead of taking him in detail, Van Dorn
was obliged to meet his entire army. By a circuitous route, he led
Price's army against the enemy's rear, moving McCulloch against the
right flank; but his progress was so slow and embarrassed, that the
enemy heard of it in season to make his dispositions accordingly.
The battle of Elkhorn, or Pea Ridge, was fought on the morning of
March 5th. Van Dorn reported his force to be fourteen thousand men,
and Curtis puts his force at about ten thousand. Van Dorn, with
Price's division, encountered Carr's division which had already
advanced, but was driven back steadily and with heavy loss.
Meanwhile, McCulloch's command met a division under Osterhaus, and,
after a sharp, quick struggle, swept it away. Pushing forward through
the shrub-oak, his wide-extended line met Sigel's, Asboth's, and
Davis's divisions. Here on the ragged spurs of the hills ensued a
fearful combat. In the crisis of the struggle, McCulloch, dashing
forward to reconnoiter, fell a victim to a sharpshooter. Almost at
the same moment, McIntosh, his second in command, fell while charging
a battery of the enemy with a regiment of Texas cavalry. Without
direction or leader, the shattered lines of our forces left the field
to rally, after a wide circuit, on Price's division. When Van Dorn
heard of this misfortune, he urged his attack, pressing back the
enemy until night closed the bloody combat. Van Dorn's headquarters
were then at Elkhorn Tavern, where the enemy's headquarters had been
in the morning. Each army was now on its opponent's line of
communication. Van Dorn found his troops much disorganized and
exhausted, short of ammunition, and without food, and made his
arrangements to retreat. The wagon-trains and all the men not
effective for the coming battle were started by a circuitous route
for Van Buren. The effectives remained to cover the retreat. The
battle was renewed at 7 A.M., and raged until 10 A.M. The gallant
General Henry Little had the covering line with his own and Rives's
Missouri brigades; this stout rear-guard holding off the whole army
of the enemy. The trains, artillery, and most of the army were by
that time well on the road. The order was given to the Missourians to
withdraw, and "the gallant fellows faced about with cheers" retired
steadily, and encamped ten miles from the battle-field at three
o'clock. There was no real pursuit. The attack had failed. Van Dorn
put his loss at six hundred killed and wounded, and two hundred
prisoners. Curtis reported his loss at two hundred and three killed,
nine hundred and seventy-two wounded, and a hundred and seventy-six
missing--total, thirteen hundred and fifty-one.[12]
The object of Van Dorn had been to effect a diversion in behalf of
General Johnston. This failed; but the enemy was badly crippled, and
soon fell back to Missouri, of which he still retained possession.
General Van Dorn was now ordered to join General Johnston by the
quickest route. Yet only one of his regiments arrived in time to be
present at the battle of Shiloh. As has been already stated, General
Beauregard left Nashville on February 14th to take charge in West
Tennessee, and made his headquarters at Jackson, Tennessee, on
February 17th. He was somewhat prostrated by sickness, which
partially disabled him through the campaign. The two grand divisions
of his army were commanded by the able Generals Bragg and Polk. On
March 26th he permanently removed to Corinth. Under his orders the
evacuation of Columbus by General Polk, and the establishment of a
new line resting on New Madrid, Island No. 10, and Humboldt, was
completed. On March 2d Brigadier-General J. P. McCown, an "old army"
officer, was assigned to the command of Island No. 10, forty miles
below Columbus, whither he removed his division. A. P. Stewart's
brigade was sent to New Madrid. At these points some seven thousand
troops were assembled, and the remainder marched under General
Cheatham to Union City. General Polk says:
"In five days we moved the accumulations of six months, taking with
us all our commissary and quartermaster's stores--an amount
sufficient to supply my whole command for eight months--all our
powder and other ammunition and ordnance stores, excepting a few
shot, and gun-carriages, and every heavy gun in the fort, except two
thirty-two pounders and three carronades in a remote outwork, which
had been rendered useless."
The movement of the enemy up the Tennessee River commenced on March
10th. General C. F. Smith led the advance, with a new division under
General Sherman. On the 13th Smith assembled four divisions at
Savannah, on the west bank of the Tennessee, at the Great Bend. The
ultimate design was to mass the forces of Grant and Buell against our
army at Corinth. Buell was still in the occupation of Nashville. On
the 16th Sherman disembarked at Pittsburg Landing, and made a
reconnaissance to Monterey, nearly half-way to Corinth. On the next
day General Grant took command. Two more divisions were added, and he
assembled his army near Pittsburg Landing, which was the most
advantageous base for a movement against Corinth. Here it lay
inactive until the battle of Shiloh.
The Tennessee flows northwest for some distance, until, a little west
of Hamburg, it takes its final bend to the north. Here two small
streams, Owl and Lick Creeks, flowing nearly parallel, somewhat north
of east, from three to five miles apart, empty into the Tennessee.
Owl Creek forms the northern limit of the ridge, which Lick Creek
bounds on the south. These streams, rising some ten or twelve miles
back, toward Corinth, were bordered near their mouths by swamps
filled with backwater from the Tennessee, and impassable except where
the roads crossed them.
[Map used by the Confederate generals at Shiloh]
The inclosed space is a rolling table-land, about one hundred feet
above the river-level, with its water-shed lying near Lick Creek, and
either slope broken by deep and frequent ravines draining into two
streams. The acclivities were covered with forests, and often thick
set with undergrowth. Pittsburg Landing, containing three or four
log-cabins, was situated about midway between the mouths of the
creeks, in the narrow morass that borders the Tennessee. It was three
or four miles below Hamburg, six or seven above Savannah, the depot
of the enemy on the right bank, and twenty-two miles from Corinth.
Thus the position of the enemy was naturally strong. With few and
difficult approaches, guarded on either flank by impassable streams
and morasses, protected by a succession of ravines and acclivities,
commanded by eminences to the rear, it seemed safe against attack,
and easy to defend. No defensive works were constructed.
[Footnote 11: Colonel R. W. Woolley, In "New Orleans Picayune," March,
1863.]
[Footnote 12: "The Life of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston," by his son.]