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Volume I.
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SHILOH REVIEWED.

5i7

“Journal of tlie Society of the Army of the Tennessee” for 1881, p. 82.“About dark,” he says, “General Wallace ’s division commenced arriving,and formed to the right of my brigade.” Buckland states in his report andin the “Journal” that he lay “on the road.” If he had been on the Riverroad, Wallace would have come in contact with him, and when he formed inline would have been entirely in his front—not in rear or on his right. Buck-land seems to know nothing about Birge’s sharp-shooters. The probableexplanation is that when he came along the road from the bridge they wereon the west side of the road, in the field near McArthur’s headquarters.After Lew Wallace arrived and formed in front of them, they probablyretired to their camp on the east side of the road. The explanation of Buck-land’s position is that, after the retreat across Tillman’s Creek from the westside, he found himself, as he says, near Snake Creek bridge “ late in theafternoon, after the repulse of the right of the line,” entirely apart from therest of the army, and that to reestablish his connection with it he started onthe road to the landing, where one of his regiments actually went andremained overnight; and that he came upon the outer flank of the new linewhere General Sherman soon after found him, east of McArthur’s headquar-ters, and thus placed himself where he is described by Sherman as being,between Birge’s sharp-shooters and the rest of the line.

The Confederate reports mention a considerable appearance of force in acamp opposite their extreme left in the afternoon, evidently referring toMcArthur’s camp. The student of the reports will not be misled by thisappearance; it was the force that clustered with Sherman on McCler-nand’s right near McArthur’s headquarters; by the 9th Illinois, 81st Ohio ,and Birge’s sharp-shooters, all belonging to McArthur’s brigade; and bythe movement of Buckland’s regiments from the bridge as already explained.The sharp-shooters and the 81st Ohio had been posted at the bridge, andreturned to their camps probably at the time of the retreat from the westside of Tillman’s Creek. The 9th Illinois had during the morning beenengaged on the extreme left under its brigade commander. It had lost250 men out of 550, and was ordered to its camp “ to replenish cartridge-boxes, clean guns, and be ready for action.” While there at 3 o’clock it wasordered “ to support the right wing of General Sherman’s division,” as thereport expresses it, and in the subsequent engagements retired to within halfa mile of the landing. Birge’s sharp-shooters retained their position at orin front of their camp. The movements of the 81st Ohio are not very clearlydefined, but in the advance next morning it is found on McClernand ’s left.The “10 or 12 guns ” mentioned by General Sherman in his map-presentationspeech as being near a ravine on his left, Sunday afternoon, were Taylor’sbattery, as it was called, though commanded by Captain Barrett, and Bou-ton’s battery. The former had retired for ammunition from McClernand ’scamp, probably to near McArthur’s headquarters, but afterward evidentlywent near the river, where it received “ 1 lieutenant and 24 men with 3horses ” from Fitch’s battery. Bouton’s battery was taken into action in thefield in front of McClernand ’s right about 4 o’clock, and was forced to retire,