82 The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War

general held his ground nobly, gaining time forthe other divisions to form in line of battle; butpresently the enemy pushed in between Prentissand Sherman, whose left regiment soon gave wayPrentiss in disorder. This obliged Prentiss topushed back. f a q back to save his right flank; andso he alternately stood firm and yielded a little,until he had been pushed back half a mile to apoint where Hurlbut reinforced him . 1 When thiswas accomplished, it was nine o’clock, or threehours and a half since this division had first beenstruck.

Meanwhile the disaster to Sherman’s left wing,

with the retirement of Prentiss, exposed McCler-

nand’s left flank, and he endeavoured to make a

partial change of front to meet the danger; but

McClemand un der the fierce onset of the enemy,

and Sherman his line was driven back with the losspushed back. r • , ., , , , ,

ot six guns, and it was not able torecover itself and make a fresh stand until it hadyielded nearly a quarter of a mile. By this timeSherman’s third brigade, commanded by ColonelHildebrand, had completely lost its organizationand melted away, leaving on the ground more than

1 For many of these details I am indebted to General Buell’spaper, “Shiloh Reviewed,” in Battles and Leaders of the CivilWar, i. 487-536 ; one of the most masterly pieces of military criti-cism that I have ever read in any language.