498
SHILOH REVIEWED.
the time of the battle, much the largest part of the ground was in forest,sometimes open, sometimes almost impenetrable for horsemen, with occa-sional cleared fields of from 20 to 80 acres; and these variations operated ina signal manner upon the fortune of the combatants. There was not acleared field within the limits of the battle that has not its history.
We may now locate the troops in their encampments, for there is where thebattle found them, and its currents and eddies will frequently be discoveredby the reference to certain camps in the official reports. The camp mapwhich I received from General Sherman will serve as a useful guide, subjectto some necessary modifications, to make a field sketch agree with an actualsurvey. But the regimental camps did not always conform to the lines laiddown for the brigades and divisions. Sometimes they were in front, some-times in rear of the general line. I have not pretended generally to intro-duce these variations into the map which I have prepared to accompanythis article.
Starting at the landing, we find the Second Division, commanded by W.H. L. Wallace, in the space bounded by the river, Snake Creek, the Riverroad, and the right-hand road leading west from the landing. Along thatroad are, in this order, the camps of the 12th, 7th, 14th, and 2d Iowa , andthe 52d and 9th Illinois . At the point where that road crosses the Riverroad, in the south-west angle of the intersection, are the headquarters of Gen-eral McArthur. On the east side of the River road, north of McArthur are,first, the 14th Missouri , called “Birge’s sharp-shooters” (not on the Shermancamp map), and next the 81st Ohio. The 16th Wisconsin has been assignedto Prentiss’s division since the Sherman map was made, and the 13th Missouri has probably taken that ground. All these points are particularly mentionedin the reports of the battle and have been verified.
On the left-hand road where it crosses the River road, three-quarters of amile from the landing, is the Fourth Division (Hurlbut’s), its Third Brigadebetween the road and the river, and the line of the two other brigades bearingoff to the north-west. I have located the 3d Iowa , of that division, on theground just in front of which Crittenden’s division was first formed in lineMonday morning, because it was stated to me at the time that General Pren-tiss was killed at that camp; the fact being that near that point Prentiss wascaptured and W. H. L. Wallace mortally wounded.
At the fork of the River road and the Hamburg and Purdy road, is thecamp of Sherman’s Second Brigade, commanded by Colonel Stuart, twomiles from the division to which it belongs, and one mile from Hurlbut’sdivision. On both sides of the eastern Corinth road, half a mile south of theHamburg and Purdy road, is Prentiss’s division (the Sixth) of 2 brigades.It is not shown on the Sherman map. Stretching across the western Corinthroad at the church, along Oak Creek, are the other three brigades of theFifth Division (Sherman’s)—Hildebrand’s brigade being on the east side ofthe road, Buckland’s next on the west side, and John A. McDowell’s nexton Buckland’s right. Only one regiment (the 6th Iowa ) of McDowell’s brigadeis shown on the Sherman map.