The battle of Pittsburgh Landing unquestionably presented remarkable features. The magnitude of the struggle, the panic that affected some of the troops on the first day, the stern recovery and complete triumph of the second day, all make the event notable in our military annals. But far more remarkable, in an entirely different sense, was the campaign that followed; a campaign that even now can scarcely be contemplated with patience. It seemed as though the commanding General (Halleck), conceding the truth of the charges of excessive rashness and lack of preparation at Shiloh, had now resolved to atone therefore by going to the opposite extreme of caution and deliberation. The results of this policy were not disastrous; but they were exasperating. Had the Union army promptly followed up its advantage, gained at Shiloh, it could and doubtless would have annihilated the opposing forces and made rebellion in that region a thing of the past. This probably would have been done had Sherman Immediately after the battle, Halleck came down from St. Louis and took his place as commander of the army in the field. Perhaps he believed the miserable slanders against Grant, charging him with drunkenness at Shiloh; perhaps he merely retained his former feeling of dissatisfaction with him. At any rate, he kept him under a cloud, appointing him nominally second in command, but giving him nothing to do. But it served his purpose to treat Sherman well, and he accordingly took him into his confidence and gave him important commissions to execute. He drew troops from other parts of the country, until he had an army of more than a hundred thousand men. To Major-General Pope he gave command of the left wing, to Major-General Buell the centre, to Major-General Thomas the right, and to Major-General McClernand the reserves. Lew. Wallace was under McClernand. Sherman was under Thomas, in the right wing, and was glad to be there. They were classmates and trusted friends, and, as Sherman afterward said, it made no difference which of them commanded the other, they were bound to work together in harmony for the good cause. The army was thus organized for an advance on Corinth, where the Rebel army lay. This place was the junction of two great railroads, and was of much strategic importance. The same Rebel army that had been defeated at Pittsburgh Landing was gathered there, re-organized and reinforced. Since Albert Sidney Johnston's death, General Beauregard was in command, and on May 8th he issued this address to his troops: "Soldiers of Shiloh and Elkhorn! We are about to meet once more in the shock of battle the invaders of our It should be explained, concerning the first words of this address, that among the reinforcements of Beauregard's army were Van Dorn's troops, who had fought at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, a battle which the Rebels called Elkhorn; and concerning the closing words, that on the very day when this address was issued, the Rebels fled from Yorktown before the advance of McClellan! General Bragg also made an address to his soldiers, saying: "You will encounter the enemy in your chosen position, strong by nature and improved by art, away from his main support and reliance—gunboats and heavy batteries—and for the first time in this war, with nearly equal numbers." This remark about equal numbers was certainly untrue, since at Shiloh was fought on April 6th and 7th. For twenty days thereafter Halleck was preparing to pursue the enemy. His army really did need much re-organization. Sherman's Division, for example, had suffered so much that its four brigades were now consolidated into three, commanded respectively by Morgan L. Smith, John A. McDowell, and J.W. Denver. Supplies were plentiful, being brought up the river. But there was a scarcity of wagon trains for the march inland to Corinth, and much confusion occurred on this account. However, by April 14th Halleck decided that some move must be made, so he sent Sherman to break the Memphis and Charleston railroad at Bear Creek; which was done. Then Halleck began his advance upon Corinth. And such an advance! If at Shiloh the army had lain for weeks without intrenchments, here it The Union army on May 17th was within five miles of Corinth. Sherman was on that date sent forward to take the Russell house, about midway between the two armies. This he did after a sharp action, in which he handled his troops with credit. Recognizing the strength and importance of the position, Sherman at once fortified it strongly. And at the same time Halleck's whole army settled down to besiege Corinth after the orthodox fashion now growing into use, i.e., with elaborate intrenchments, parallels and battery epaulements. Halleck believed that Corinth was strongly fortified, and that it could only be taken by siege. On May 27th he was within a mile of the Rebel lines, with his heavy siege guns in position. He now ordered Sherman to advance, drive in the Rebel pickets, and make a strong demonstration against Corinth itself. This task Sherman accomplished with masterly skill. He had under him, on this occasion, McClernand, Hurlbut and John A. Logan. Generals Grant and Thomas witnessed the engagement and expressed much admiration of Sherman's ability in it. The position gained overlooked at close quarters the Rebel fortifications around Corinth, and not only the drum and bugle calls in the Rebel camp, but the noises of the town itself were plainly audible. Sherman entrenched himself strongly and brought When the explosion occurred, on May 30th, Sherman asked Halleck if he had any idea what it meant. Halleck replied that he had not, and then ordered Sherman to move forward with his division and find out. Sherman did so, and lo! The Rebel works were abandoned, and Corinth itself was evacuated. On February 26th, Beauregard had commenced hurrying his sick troops and stores southward, on the night of the 28th he had sent the bulk of his effective force, and on the night of the 29th, the rear guard had fled, setting fire to the town and blowing up the magazine. The Rebel pickets had not been called in, nor even notified of the army's flight, so they fell into Sherman's hands, with the ruins of the town. And thus ingloriously ended the Siege of Corinth. Following, is Sherman's official report of the capture of Corinth, dated May 30th, 1862. "On the nineteenth instant, I reported the operations of this division in taking from the enemy the positions at Russel's. After driving the enemy away, we found it one of great natural strength, and proceeded to fortify it. Lines were laid off by the engineer, Captain Kossak, and a very excellent parapet was constructed by the men in a style that elicited the approval of General Halleck. Men worked day and night, and as soon as it was done and the dense "We remained in that intrenched camp at Russell's until the night of the 27th, when I received from Major-General Halleck an order by telegraph 'to send a force the next day to drive the Rebels from the house in our front on the Corinth road, to drive in their pickets as far as possible, and to make a strong demonstration on Corinth itself,' authorizing me to call on any adjacent divisions for assistance; I asked General McClernand for one brigade and General Hurlbut for another to co-operate with two brigades of my own division. Colonel John A. Logan's Brigade of General Judah's Division of McClernand's Reserve Corps, and General Veatch's Brigade of Hurlbut's Division, were placed subject to my orders, and took part with my own division in the operations of the two following days, and I now thank the officers and men of these brigades for the zeal and enthusiasm they manifested, and the alacrity they displayed in the execution of every order given. "The house referred to by General Halleck was a double log building, standing on a high ridge on the upper or southern end of the large field before referred to as the one to which we had advanced our pickets. The enemy had taken out the chinks and removed the roof, making it an excellent block-house from which, with perfect security, he could annoy our pickets. The large field was perfectly overlooked by this house, as well as by the ridge along its "The problem was to clear the house and ridge of the enemy with as little loss as possible. To accomplish this, I ordered General J.W. Denver, with his Brigade (Third), and the Morton Battery of four guns, to march in perfect silence from our lines at 8 A.M., keeping well under cover as he approached the field; General Morgan L. Smith's Brigade (First), with Barrett's and Waterhouse's Batteries, to move along the main road, keeping his force well masked in the woods to the left; Brigadier-General Veatch's Brigade to move from General Hurlbut's lines through the woods on the left of and connecting with General M.L. Smith's, and General John A. Logan's Brigades to move down to Bowie Hill Cut of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, and thence forward to the left, so as to connect with General Denver's Brigade on the extreme right; all to march at 8 A.M., with skirmishers well to the front, to keep well concealed, and, at a signal, to rush quickly on to the ridge, thus avoiding as much as possible the danger of crossing the open field exposed to the fire of a concealed enemy. It was impossible for me beforehand to ascertain the force of the enemy, and nothing is more embarrassing than to make dispositions against a concealed foe, occupying, "My preliminary arrangements having thus been made, two twenty-pound Parrott rifle-guns of Silfversparre's Battery, under the immediate supervision of Major Taylor, Chief of Artillery, were moved silently through the forest to a point behind a hill, from the top of which could be seen the house and ground to be contested. The guns were unlimbered, loaded with shell and moved by hand to the crest. At the proper time I gave the order to Major Taylor to commence firing and demolish the house, or render it decidedly uncomfortable to its occupants. About a dozen shells well directed soon accomplished this; then designating a single shot of the twenty-pound Parrott gun of Silfversparre as a signal for the brigades to advance, I waited till all were in position, and ordered the signal, when the troops dashed forward in fine style, crossed the field, drove the enemy across the ridge and field beyond into another dense and seemingly impenetrable forest. The enemy was evidently surprised, and only killed two of our men, and wounded nine. After he had reached the ridge, he opened on us with a two-gun battery on the right and another from the front and left, doing my brigades but little harm, but killing three of General Veatch's men. With our artillery we soon silenced his, and by 10 A.M. we were masters of the position. Generals Grant and Thomas were present during the affair, and witnessed the movement, which was admirably executed, all the officers and men keeping their places like real soldiers. "Immediately throwing forward a line of skirmishers in front of each brigade, we found the enemy reinforcing his front skirmishers; but the woods were so dense as to "Our artillery and Mann's Battery of Veatch's Brigade, had been judiciously posted by Major Taylor, and before the yell of the enemy had died away arose our reply in the cannon's mouth. The firing was very good, rapid, well-directed, and the shells burst in the right place. Our pickets were at first driven in a little, but soon recovered their ground and held it, and the enemy retreated in utter confusion. On further examination of the ground, with its connection on the left with Gen. Hurlbut, and right resting on the railroad near Bowie Hill Cut, it was determined to intrench. The lines were laid out after dark, and the work substantially finished by morning. "All this time we were within one thousand three hundred yards of the enemy's main intrentchments, which were absolutely concealed from us by the dense foliage of the oak forest, and without a real battle, which at that time was to be avoided, we could not push out our skirmishers more than two hundred yards to the front. For our own security I had to destroy two farmhouses, both of which had been loop-holed and occupied by the enemy. By 9 A.M. of yesterday, (twenty-ninth,) our works were substantially "I feel under special obligations to this officer, (General Logan) who, during the two days he served under me, held the critical ground on my right, extending down to the railroad. All the time he had in his front a large force of the enemy, but so dense was the foliage that he could not reckon their strength, save from what he could see in the railroad track. He will, doubtless, make his own report, and give the names of the wounded among his pickets. "I had then my whole division in a slightly curved line facing south, my right resting on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, near a deep cut known as Bowie Hill Cut, and left resting on the main Corinth road, at the crest of the bridge, there connecting with General Hurlbut, who, in turn, on his left, connected with General Davis, and so on down the whole line to its extremity. So near was the enemy that we could hear the sound of his drums and sometimes voices in command, and the railroad cars arriving and departing at Corinth were easily distinguished. For some days and nights cars have been arriving and departing very frequently, especially in the night; but last night (twenty-ninth) more so than usual, and my suspicions were aroused. "Before daybreak I instructed the brigade commanders and the field-officer of the day to feel forward as far as possible, but all reported the enemy's pickets still in force in the dense woods to our front. But about 6 A.M. a curious explosion, sounding like a volley of large siege-pieces, followed by others singly, and in twos and threes, "Somewhat to our surprise, the enemy's chief redoubt was found within thirteen hundred yards of our line of intrenchments, but completely masked by the dense forest and undergrowth. Instead of having, as we supposed, a continuous line of intrenchments encircling Corinth, his defences consisted of separate redoubts, connected in part by a parapet and ditch, and in part by shallow rifle-pits, the trees being felled so as to give a good field of fire to and beyond the main road. "General M.L. Smith's Brigade moved rapidly down the main road, entering the first redoubt of the enemy at 7 A.M. It was completely evacuated, and he pushed on into Corinth and beyond, to College Hill, there awaiting my orders and arrival. General Denver entered the enemy's lines at the same time, 7 A.M., at a point midway between the wagon and railroads, and proceeded on to Corinth, about three miles from our camp, and Colonel McDowell kept further to the right, near the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. By 8 A.M. all my division was at Corinth, and beyond. "On the whole ridge, extending from my camp into Corinth and to the right and left, could be seen the remains of the abandoned camps of the enemy, flour and provisions scattered about, and everything indicating a speedy and confused retreat. In the town itself many houses were "From the best information picked up from the citizens who remained in Corinth, it appeared that the enemy had for some days been removing their sick and valuable stores, and had sent away on railroad-cars a part of their effective force, on the night of the 28th. But, of course, even the vast amount of their rolling stock could not carry away an army of a hundred thousand men. "The enemy was, therefore, compelled to march away, and began the march by 10 o'clock on the night of the 29th—the columns filling all the roads reaching south and west all night—the rear guard firing the train which led to the explosions and conflagration, which gave us the first real notice that Corinth was to be evacuated. The enemy did not relieve his pickets that morning, and many of them have been captured, who did not have the slightest intimation of their purpose. "Finding Corinth abandoned by the enemy, I ordered General M.L. Smith to pursue on the Ripley road, by which it appeared they had taken the bulk of their artillery. "Captain Hammond, my chief of staff, had been and continued with General Smith's Brigade, and pushed the pursuit up to the bridges and narrow causeway by which the bottom of Tuscumbia Creek is passed. The enemy opened with canister on the small party of cavalry, and "The evacuation of Corinth at the time and in the manner in which it was done, was a clear back-down from the high and arrogant tone heretofore assumed by the Rebels. The ground was of their own choice. The fortifications, though poor and indifferent, were all they supposed necessary to our defeat, as they had had two months to make them, with an immense force to work at their disposal. "If, with two such railroads as they possessed, they could not supply their army with reinforcements and provisions, how can they attempt it in this poor, arid and exhausted part of the country? "I have experienced much difficulty in giving an intelligent account of the events of the past three days, because of the many little events, unimportant in themselves, but which in the aggregate form material data to account for results. "My division has constructed seven distinct intrenched camps since leaving Shiloh, the men working cheerfully and well all the time night and day. Hardly had we finished one camp before we were called on to move forward and build another. But I have been delighted at this feature in the character of my division, and take this method of making it known. Our intrenchments here and at Russell's, each built substantially in one night, are "I must, also, in justice to my men, remark their great improvement on the march—the absence of that straggling which is too common in the volunteer service; and still more, their improved character on picket and as skirmishers. Our line of march has been along a strongly marked ridge, followed by the Purdy and Corinth road, and ever since leaving the 'Locusts' our pickets have been fighting. Hardly an hour, night or day, for two weeks, without the exchange of hostile shots. But we have steadily and surely gained ground—slowly, to be sure, but with that steady certainty which presaged the inevitable result. In these picket skirmishes we have inflicted and sustained losses, but it is impossible for me to recapitulate them. "These must be accounted for on the company muster-rolls. We have taken many prisoners, which have been sent to the Provost-Marshal General; and with this report I will send some forty or fifty picked up in the course of the past two days. Indeed, I think if disarmed, very many of these prisoners would never give trouble again; whilst, on the other hand, the real Secessionists seem more bitter than ever." Sherman also issued a congratulatory address to his soldiers, in which he indulged in some expressions that must now appear rather extravagant, such as his characterization of the capture of Corinth as "a victory as brilliant and important as any recorded in history." "But a few days ago," he said, "a large and powerful Rebel army lay at Corinth, with outposts extending to our very camp at Shiloh. They held two railroads extending north and south, east and west, across the whole extent of "No amount of sophistry or words from the leaders of the rebellion can succeed in giving the evacuation of Corinth, under the circumstances, any other title than that of a signal defeat, more humiliating to them and their cause than if we had entered the place over the dead and mangled bodies of their soldiers. We are not here to kill and slay, but to vindicate the honor and just authority of that government which has been bequeathed to us by our "The General commanding, while thus claiming for his division their just share in this glorious result, must, at the same time, remind them that much yet remains to be done, and that all must still continue the same vigilance and patience, and industry and obedience, till the enemy lays down his arms, and publicly acknowledges for their supposed grievances, they must obey the laws of their country, not attempt its overthrow by threats, by cruelty, and by war. They must be made to feel and acknowledge the power of a just and a mighty nation. This result can only be accomplished by a cheerful and ready obedience to the orders and authority of our leaders, in whom we now have just reason to feel the most implicit confidence. That the Fifth Division of the right wing will do this, and that in due time we will go to our families and friends at home, is the earnest prayer and wish of your immediate commander." A well-informed observer says of Corinth, after the capture: "Corinth is the only pleasant country village I have seen in this section of the country. I was informed that it usually contained two thousand two hundred inhabitants, of all colors, but I am inclined seriously to doubt the assertion. From one thousand to one thousand two hundred would be far nearer a true estimate. "The houses are built after the Southern fashion, with a front door for every room looking toward the street. This is an odd feature to one used to Yankee architecture, but it is the universal style of the Southern States. The apartments of most of the houses are large and airy, and "The yards of the rich are decorated with shrubbery, and what is far more in accordance with good taste, forest trees are left standing and neatly trimmed—a custom which has been too sadly neglected in the North. There are several substantial brick and frame business-houses, all of which have been stripped and deserted. "Not enough of the Corinthians remained to welcome us, to give me any idea of what the mass of the citizens are like. A few poor persons, the druggist referred to, and the Mayor's clerk, and two or three wealthy females, were all that were to be found. The poor were nearly starved, and were disposed to welcome any change, as it might bring relief, but could not add to their suffering. They walked curiously around, observing the movements of the soldiers, astonished at the comparatively handsome uniform they wore, and gratified that the fears they had felt had not been realized. The wealthy females looked from the windows of their mansions upon the Union troops, affecting the greatest scorn and disdain for the Yankees, who viewed them in return rather in a spirit of pity than revenge. "One of the Rebel commanders, unaware of our presence, called around him a brigade and commenced addressing them in something like the following strain: "'Sons of the South: We are here to defend our homes, our wives and daughters, against the horde of vandals who have come here to possess the first and violate "At this interesting period the signal was given, and six shell fell in the vicinity of the gallant officer and his men, who suddenly forgot their fiery resolves, and fled in confusion to their breastworks." GRANT'S MARCH UPON VICKSBURG. Grant and Sherman seated on a log on East Bank. |