555
General Johnston gave orders about 1 o’clock on the night of Wednesday,the 2d of April, for the advance. But much time was spent in their elabora-tion, and the troops did not receive them from the adjutant-general’s officeuntil the next afternoon. When the soldiers learned that they were goingout to fight, their long-restrained ardor burst into a blaze of enthusiasm, andthey did all that was possible for inexperienced troops in both marching andfighting. Some of the arms were not distributed till that afternoon. Withhasty preparations the movement began, and Hardee’s corps was at Mick-ey’s, within four or five miles of Pittsburg, next morning. But some ofthe troops did not move until the morning of Saturday, the 5th, owing to astill further delay in the delivery of orders by the adjutant-general’s office,and all were impeded by the heavy condition of the roads, through a denseforest, and across sloughs and marshes.
The order was to attack at 3 o’clock on the morning of Saturday, the 5th; butthe troops were not in position until late that afternoon. All day Friday theadvancing columns had pushed on over the tangled, miry roads, hindered andembarrassed by a pelting rain. After midnight a violent storm broke upon themas they stood under arms in the pitch darkness, with no shelter but the trees.From detention by the rain, ignorance of the roads, and a confusion produced bythe order of march, some divisions failed to get into line, and the day waswasted.
As they were waiting the disposition of troops late Saturday afternoon, acouncil of war occurred, in which Johnston, Beauregard, Bragg, Polk, Breck-inridge and Gilmer took part, which added greatly to General Johnston’sresponsibilities, and the heavy burden he had already incurred by his experi-ment of concentration, and his resolve to fight a pitched battle. The Confed-erate army was in full battle array, within two miles of Shiloh Church andGrant’s line, when General Beauregard suddenly proposed that the armyshould be withdrawn and retreat to Corinth. He maintained that the delayand noise must have given the enemy notice, and that they would be foundintrenched “to their eyes” and ready for attack. General Johnston seemedto be much surprised at the suggestion. Polk and Bragg differed with Beau-regard, and a warm discussion ensued between him and Polk, in whichGeneral Johnston took little part, but closed it with the simple remark,“ Gentlemen, we shall attack at daylight to-morrow,” which he uttered withgreat decision. Turning to one of his staff-officers, he said, “ I would fightthem if they were a million. They can present no greater front betweenthese two creeks than we can, and the more men they crowd in there, theworse we can make it for them. Polk is a true soldier and a friend.”
General Bragg, in a monograph prepared for the use of the writer, says:“ The meeting then dispersed upon an invitation of the commandinggeneral to meet at his tent that evening. At that meeting a further dis-cussion elicited the same views, and the same firm, decided determina-tion. The next morning, about dawn of day, the 6th, as the troopswere being put in motion, several generals again met at the camp-fireof the general-in-chief. The discussion was renewed, General Beauregard