Fort Donelson and Shiloh

85

Confederacy. Jefferson Davis afterward declaredhis belief that “ the fortunes of a country hung bythe single thread of the life that was yielded onthe field of Shiloh .” 1 Johnston’s death deprivedus of the data requisite for testing the soundness ofthis opinion; but of the theory that if he had livedhe would certainly have crushed the Federal armythat evening, something may be said. The oftenrepeated statement that Beauregard threw awaywhat Johnston had won seems unfair to the formerand inconsistent with the history of the remainderof the day. In point of fact, the Confederates had not yet won the battle . 2 The advanced divi-sion of Buell’s army, under Nelson, was approach-ing on the further bank of the Tennessee river;and in order to gain a victory, it was absolutelynecessary for the Confederates to capture Pitts-burg Landing and cut off Grant’s army from rein-forcements. The long stoppage at the Hornet’s

1 Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government , ii. 69.

2 Indeed, Johnston had not even gone to work in the waybest fitted to carry out his plan of turning the Federal left flank.For that purpose his right wing ought to have been much moreheavily massed, and his heaviest blow should have fallen uponStuart rather than Prentiss. By following this line of action andpressing northward upon the Hamburg road, perhaps the Hor-net’s Nest might have been turned and Pittsburg Landing cap-tured, which would have made the Confederate victory certain.It was a grave mistake to hammer for hours at the Hornet’s Nestinstead of pursuing the course thus outlined.