THE BATTLE OF SHILOH.

BY ULYSSES S. GRANT, GENERAL, U. S. A.

ON THE SKIRMISH LINE.

T HE battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Lauding,fought on Sunday and Monday, the 6th and7th of April, 1862, has been perhaps lessunderstood, or, to state the case more accu-rately, more persistently misunderstood,than any other engagement between Na-tional and Confederate troops during theentire rebellion. Correct reports of thebattle have been published, notably bySherman, Badeau, and, in a speech be-" fore a meeting of veterans, by GeneralPrentiss; but all of these appeared long subsequent tothe close of the rebellion, and after public opinion hadbeen most erroneously formed.

Events had occurred before the battle, and others sub-sequent to it, which determined me to make no reportto my then chief, General Halleck, further than was contained in a letter,written immediately after the battle, informing him that an engagementhad been fought, and announcing the result. The occurrences alluded toare these: After the capture of Fort Donelson, with over fifteen thousandeffective men and all their munitions of war, I believed much more couldbe accomplished without further sacrifice of life.

Clarksville, a town between Donelson and Nashville, in the State of Tennes-see , and on the east bank of the Cumberland, was garrisoned by the enemy.Nashville was also garrisoned, and was probably the best-provisioned depotat the time in the Confederacy. Albert Sidney Johnston occupied BowlingGreen, Ky. , with a large force. I believed, and my information justified thebelief, that these places would fall into our hands without a battle, if threat-ened promptly. I determined not to miss this chance. But being only adistrict commander, and under the immediate orders of the departmentcommander, General Halleck, whose headquarters were at St. Louis , it wasmy duty to communicate to him all I proposed to do, and to get his approval,if possible. I did so communicate, and, receiving no reply, acted upon myown judgment. The result proved that my information was correct, andsustained my judgment. What, then, was my surprise, after so much hadbeen accomplished by the troops under my immediate command between thetime of leaving Cairo , early in February, and the 4tli of March, to receivefrom my chief a dispatch of the latter date, saying: “You will place Major-General C. F. Smith in command of expedition, and remain yourself at FortHenry. Why do you not obey my orders to report strength and positions of

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