[CHAPTER XV.]
CORINTH.
Halleck Takes the Field—Organization of the Army—Progress at a Snail's Pace—Sherman's Advance—The Flight of the Rebels—Sherman's Official Report—Congratulating the Troops—Beauregard's Address to his Soldiers—Some Account of Corinth—Abrupt Finale of a Rebel Harangue.
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 been in command; for, as we have seen, his voice was for an aggressive campaign. But Sherman was not in command.
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 soil, the despoilers of our homes, the disturbers of our family ties, face to face, hand to hand. We are to decide whether we are freemen, or vile slaves of those who are only free in name, and who but yesterday were vanquished, although in largely superior numbers, in their own encampments, on the ever-memorable field of Shiloh. Let the impending battle decide our fate, and add a more illustrious page to the history of our revolution—one to which our children will point with pride, saying, 'Our fathers were at the battle of Corinth.' I congratulate you on your timely junction. With our mingled banners for the first time during the war, we shall meet our foe in strength that should give us victory. Soldiers, can the result be doubtful? Shall we not drive back to Tennessee the presumptuous mercenaries collected for our subjugation? One more manly effort, and, trusting in God and the justness of our cause, we shall recover more than we lately lost. Let the sound of our victorious guns be re-echoed by those of Virginia on the historic battle-field at Yorktown."
GEN. JOHN A. LOGAN.
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 the Rebel army on the first day actually outnumbered the Union troops. And now at Corinth it is hardly possible to believe that the Rebels had anything like a hundred thousand men. Forty-seven thousand is the estimate given by one careful writer, and sixty-five thousand by another. There really seems to be no good reason for believing that Beauregard had at most more than two-thirds as many soldiers as Halleck, and there was no prospect of his getting any more, for McClellan's huge army was menacing Richmond, and all available Southern troops were needed there to cope with it. Of course, Halleck's men were still comparatively new to war, and it would have been injudicious to hurry them forward against Beauregard's entrenched position. But under another leader they doubtless might have been conducted with certain success against the foe in half the time that Halleck took, and with far more satisfactory results than those achieved by him.
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 was not halted for a day without elaborate fortifications. The troops literally burrowed their way across the country. It took, said the Rebels, six weeks to move fifteen miles; and the statement is not far from truth. On May 3d, General Pope's Division won a victory of some importance at Farrington, five miles northwest of Corinth, and the cavalry pushed on to Glendale and cut the Rebel line of communication there.