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SHILOH REVIEWED.

the immediate command of General C. F. Smith , were transported up theTennessee by water to operate on the enemy’s railroad communications. Itwas purely an expeditionary service, not intended for the selection of arendezvous or depot for future operations. After some attempts to debark atother points farther up the river, Pittsburg Landing was finally chosen as themost eligible for the temporary object; but when the concentration of theenemy at Corinth made that the objective point of a deliberate campaign, andthe cooperation of General Halleck’s troops and mine was arranged, Savan-nah , on the east bank of the river, was designated by Halleek as the pointof rendezvous. This, though not as advisable a point as Florence, or somepoint between Florence and Eastport, was in a general sense proper. It placedthe concentration under the shelter of the river and the gun-boats, and leftthe combined force at liberty to choose its point of crossing and line of attack.

On the restoration of General Grant to the immediate command of thetroops, and his arrival at Savannah on the 17th of March, he converted theexpeditionary encampment at Pittsburg Landing into the point of rendez-vous of the two armies, by placing his whole force on the west side of theriver, apparently on the advice of General Sherman, who, with his division,was already there. Nothing can be said upon any rule of military art orcommon expediency to justify that arrangement. An invading army may,indeed, as a preliminary step, throw an inferior force in advance upon theenemy’s coast or across an intervening river to secure a harbor or othernecessary foothold; but in such a case the first duty of the advanced forceis to make itself secure by suitable works. Pittsburg Landing was in no

sense a point of suchnecessity or desirabil-ity as to require anyrisk, or any great ex-penditure of means forits occupation. If theforce established therewas not safe alone, ithad no business there;but having been placedthere, still less can anyjustification be foundfor the neglect of allproper means to makeit secure against a su-perior adversary. Gen-eral Grant continued hisheadquarters at Savan-nah , leaving GeneralSherman with a sortof control at PittsburgLanding. Sherman’s

THE LANDING AT SAVANNAH, NINE MILES BELOW (NORTH OF)PITTSBURG LANDING.

Ain

General Grant’s headquarters were in the Cherry mansion, on the right;the portico has since "been added. The building on the left is a new hotel.The town lies about a quarter of a mile back from the bluiF, and is muchchanged since the war.— Editors.