Gen. McClernand and his division have never received their just meed of praise for his and their part in the battle of Shiloh.
Gen. Grant in his later life says this: “The heaviest loss sustained by the enemy was in front of Sherman’s and McClernand’s divisions.”
The official records show that on April 5, 1862, Gen. Grant had 39,830 men and officers for the first day’s battle, and Gen. Johnston of the Confederates had 43,968 when we started the battle of Shiloh.
The loss of the Confederates was 24⅓ per cent; the loss of Grant’s five divisions present for duty on Sunday was 26¾ per cent. The loss of the Army of the Tennessee under Grant at Shiloh was 10,944; the loss of the Army of the Ohio under Buell was 2,103. Only a few regiments of Buell’s army got into action late in the evening of the first day. Total Union loss 13,047, but this includes 2,314 Union prisoners of Gens. Prentiss’ and Wallace’s divisions; the loss of the Confederates was 10,699.
I remember no amusing incidents during the battle, save that of one of my company, who was shot through the mouth in such a way as to knock out all of his front teeth. He was a German, who spoke English brokenly, and swore like a trooper; he would spit blood and then curse the enemy with great vehemence, and loading his gun and firing, would exclaim: “D— ’em, dey tinks dey vill spile me so I can’t eat hard tack, d— ’em, I’ll show dem!” And so he fought while his comrades cheered him on.
It has been said that war is grand and heroic; that fighting is a glorious thing; so it is to read about, but the veterans of fifty years ago have seen war; they know what a horrible thing it is, and I believe that every old veteran who has stood in the battle front, has it in his heart to say: “God grant that wars may cease, and that universal peace may come to this world of ours.”
Shiloh was a terrible battle, and now after fifty years have slipped by, I sit in my easy chair and occasionally dream of the past. I seem to hear again as vividly as then, the booming of cannon, the rattle of musketry and the whiz of the minie-ball, amid the cries and groans of my comrades who touched elbows with me, and I ask myself: “Can it be? Was I there, or is it a wild fancy of the brain?” The scenes come too vividly before my memory to doubt it, and I thank God that I was able with my comrades to bear a humble part in saving to those who come after us, this grand nation, and in helping to perpetuate but one flag, the Stars and Stripes—the “Heaven-born banner”—to float over a reunited land and people.
CHAPTER VII.
Before leaving my story of the battle of Shiloh, it will interest the reader to peruse the following account of a visit of some of the participants in the battle, just 47 years after.
The National Association of the Survivors of the Battle of Shiloh held their annual reunion on the battle field of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1909. Sixty-six veterans, with their wives and sons and daughters, boarded the steamer “Santillo” at St. Louis, Mo., April 2, 1909, and started for Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. On the morning of April 6, 1909, we landed at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. Upon the bluff is the National Cemetery, where 4,000 Union soldiers lie buried, most of the head stones bearing the name “Unknown.” It is a beautiful cemetery, overlooking the Tennessee River. The farmers from the surrounding country were there with their hacks and carryalls ready to be engaged for a reasonable sum to take the Northern visitors all over the battle field. Our party secured a rancher with a big wagon drawn by a pair of lazy mules (our objective point being the camp of the regiment of which we were members), over fine made, drained roads, and although it had rained heavily the night before, the roads were dry and clear of mud. We found a National Park of nearly 4,000 acres, laid out with roads in every direction; we found monuments everywhere, as well as markers and tablets, denoting the camp of every regiment and different positions held by each regiment and battery in the great battle of April 6 and 7, 1862. Great credit is due the Park Commissioners and Major D. W. Reed (of the 12th Iowa Regiment), Secretary and Historian, for their magnificent work in making this beauty spot in Tennessee. Monuments have been erected by the different states in honor of their troops taking part in the battle. The South have also erected monuments to the memory of the Confederate troops. The Alabama state monument was dedicated on April 7, 1909, both northern and southern men and women participating. The Daughters of the Confederacy of Alabama had sent flowers and a request that the ladies from the North would place them upon the monument, which the Chicago, Iowa and South Dakota ladies did. A prayer was offered and Capt. Irwin, an ex-Confederate, made an address, and he was followed by a Union veteran, eulogizing “Old Glory.” Then a young man from the South spoke, saying among other things that he was glad he lived today instead of forty-seven years ago, for now, if the United States were called to a war, the North and South would go side by side, defending their common country. And then the company sang “Nearer, My God, to Thee.”