Hurlbut's Division, it will be remembered, stretched across the Corinth road, facing rather to our left. W. H. L. Wallace's other brigades had gone over to assist McArthur, and the division, thus reunited, steadily closed the line, where Prentiss's Division and Stuart's Brigade, in their retreat, had left it open. To Hurlbut's right the lines were patched out with the reorganized regiments that had been resent to the field. McClernand and Sherman were both there.
Hurlbut had been encamped in the edge nearest the river, of a stretch of open fields, backed with heavy timber. Among his troops were the Seventeenth and Twenty-fifth Kentucky, Forty-fourth and Thirty-first Indiana, constituting Lauman's Brigade; Third Iowa, Forty-first Illinois and some others, forming Colonel Williams' Brigade.
As Prentiss fell back, Hurlbut's left aided Wallace in sustaining the Rebel onset, and when McClernand gave way, the remainder of the division was thrown forward. The position beyond the camp, however, was not a good one, and the division was compelled to fall back through its camp to the thick woods behind. Here, with open fields before them, they could rake the Rebel approach. Nobly did they now stand their ground. From 10 to half-past 3 they held the enemy in check, and through nearly that whole time were actively engaged. Hurlbut himself displayed the most daring and brilliant gallantry, and his example, with that of the brave officers under him, nerved the men to the sternest endurance.
Three times during those long hours the heavy Rebel masses on the left charged upon the division, and three times were they repulsed, with terrible slaughter. Close, sharp, continuous musketry, whole lines belching fire on the Rebels as the leaden storm swept the fields over which they attempted to advance, were too much for Rebel discipline, though the bodies left scattered over the fields, even on Monday evening, bore ghastly testimony to the daring with which they had been precipitated toward our lines.
But there is still much in the Napoleonic theory that Providence has a tendency at least to go with the heaviest battalions. The battalions were against us. The Rebel generals, too, handled their forces with a skill that extorted admiration in the midst of our suffering. Repulse was nothing to them. A rush on our lines failed; they took their disordered troops to the rear, and sent up fresh troops, who, unknowing the fearful reception awaiting them, were ready to try it again. The jaded division was compelled to yield, and after six hours' magnificent fighting, it fell back out of sight of its camps, and to a point within half a mile of the Landing.
Let us turn to the fate of Hurlbut's companion division—that of Brigadier-General W. H. L. Wallace, which included the Second and Seventh Iowa, Ninth and Twenty-eighth Illinois, and several of the other regiments composing Major-General Smith's old division; with also three excellent batteries, Stone's, Richardson's and Weber's (all from Missouri), forming an artillery battalion, under the general management of Major Cavender.
Here, too, the fight began about ten o'clock, as already described. From that time until four in the afternoon they manfully bore up. The musketry fire was absolutely continuous; there was scarcely a moment that some part of the line was not pouring in it rattling volleys, and the artillery was admirably served, with but little intermission through the entire time.
Once or twice the infantry advanced, attempting to drive the continually increasing enemy, but though they could hold what they had, their numbers were not equal to the task of conquering any more.
Four separate times the Rebels attempted to turn to charge on them. Each time the infantry poured in its quickest volleys, the artillery redoubled its exertions, and the Rebels retreated with heavy slaughter. The division was eager to remain, even when Hurlbut fell back, and the fine fellows with the guns were particularly indignant at not being permitted to pound away. But their supports were gone on either side; to have remained in isolated advance would have been madness. Just as the necessity for retreating was becoming apparent, General Wallace, whose cool, collected bravery had commanded the admiration of all, was mortally wounded, and borne away from the field. At last the division fell back. Its soldiers claim—justly, I believe—the proud distinction of being the last to yield, in the general break of our lines, that gloomy Sunday afternoon, which, at half past four o'clock, had left most of our army within half a mile of the Landing, with the Rebels up to a thousand yards of their position.
Captain Stone could not resist the temptation of stopping, as he passed what had been Hurlbut's headquarters, to try a few parting shots. He did fine execution, but narrowly escaped losing some guns, by having his wheel horses shot down. Captain Walker did lose a twenty pounder through some breakage in the carriage. It was recovered again on Monday.