[CHAPTER XIV.]
"AGATE'S" STORY CONCLUDED.
The Work of Sunday Night—Landing of Buell's Troops—Effect of the Bombardment—Lack of System in the Union Army—Renewing the Battle—A Change of Tactics—Turning the Tide—Crittenden's Advance—The Advance at the Centre—A Grand Parade on the Field of War—Redeeming the Losses of Sunday—Facing the Louisiana Troops—Silencing the Battery—End of the Great Struggle.
After giving the roll of the Federal troops engaged at Shiloh, "Agate" concludes his remarkable narrative as follows:
With the exception of the gunboat bombardment, the night seemed to have passed in entire quiet. A heavy thunder-storm had come up about midnight, and though we were all shivering over the ducking, the surgeons assured us that a better thing could not have happened. The ground, they said, was covered with wounded not yet found, or whom we were unable to bring from the field. The moisture would to some extent cool the burning, parching thirst, which is one of the chief terrors of lying wounded and helpless on the battle-field, and the falling water was the best dressing for the wounds.
The regiments of Buell's Divisions were still disembarking at the Landing. Many had taken their places, the rest hurried out as fast as they landed, and fell in, to the rear of their brigade-lines, for reserves. I stood for a few moments at the Landing, curious to see how these fine fellows would march out to the field where they knew reverses had crowded so thickly upon us the day before, and where many of them must lie down to sleep his last sleep ere the sun, then rising, should sink again. There was little of that vulgar vanity of valor which was so conspicuous in all the movements of our rawer troops eight or nine months ago. There was no noisy and senseless yelling, no shouting of boasts, no calling on on-lookers, to "show us where the cowardly Secesh is, and we'll clean 'em out double-quick." These men understood the work before them; they went to it as brave men should, determinedly, hopefully, calmly.
It soon became evident that the gunboat bombardment through the night had not been without a most important effect in changing the conditions under which we renewed the struggle. The sun had gone down with the enemy's lines clasping us tightly on the centre and left, pushing us to the river, and leaving us little over half a mile out of all the broad space we had held in the morning. The gunboats had cut the coils, and loosened the constriction. As we soon learned, their shells had made the old position on our extreme left, which the Rebels had been pleasantly occupying, utterly untenable. Instead of being able to slip up on us through the night, as they had probably intended, they were compelled to fall back from point to point; each time as they had found places, they thought, out of range, a shell would come dropping in. Nowhere within range could they lie, but the troublesome visitors would find them out; and to end the matter, they fell back beyond our inner camps, and thus lost more than half the ground they had gained by our 4 o'clock retreat the afternoon before.
Less easily accounted for was a movement of theirs on our right. They had held here a steep bluff covered with underbrush, as their advanced line. Through the night they abandoned this, which gave them the best position for opposing Lew. Wallace, and had fallen back across some open fields to the scrub-oak woods beyond. The advantage of compelling our advance over unprotected openings, while they maintained a sheltered position, was obvious, but certainly not so great as holding a height which artillery and infantry would make as difficult to take as many a fort. Nevertheless they fell back.
The reader who is patient enough to wade through this narration, will scarcely fail to observe that thus far I have said little or nothing of any plan of attack or defence among our commanders. It has been simply because I have failed to see any evidence of such a plan. To me it seemed on Sunday as if every Division General at least—not to say in many cases, every individual soldier—imitated the good old Israelitish plan of action, by which every man did what seemed good in his own eyes. There may have been an infinite amount of generalship displayed, in superintending our various defeats and re-formations and retreats, but to me it seemed of that microscopic character that required the magnifying powers of a special permit for exclusive newspaper telegraphing on government lines to discover.