84 The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War

and Hurlbut, maintained his ground from nine inthe morning till five in the afternoon. Again andagain the Confederate assaults were repulsed withheavy slaughter. So savagely were they receivedthat they bestowed upon the place the name ofThe Hornet’s “ Hornet’s Nest.” The long struggleNest - at this point proved fatal to Johnston’s

scheme for turning the Federal left, and if amongthe Federal generals there is any one who deservesespecial commemoration as having “ saved the day,”it is Benjamin Prentiss for the glorious stand whichhe made in the Hornet’s Nest.

It was in an open field on the eastern marginof this fiercely contested area, shortly after a spir-ited charge at about 2.30 p. m., that GeneralJohnston was struck by a rifle-ball which cut anDeath of artery in the leg. The wound need notJohnston. have been fatal. Although no surgeonhappened to be near at hand, the general or anyof his comrades might easily have extemporized atourniquet that would have put him out of danger.But Johnston was so absorbed in his work that hetook no heed of the wound until suddenly he sankand died from loss of blood. The command ofthe army then devolved upon General Beauregard,who was at that moment in the rear, at Shilohchurch.

The death of Johnston was a bitter loss to the