588
THE CAMPAIGN OF SHILOH.
center and left center. Stuart, commanding one of Sherman’s brigades stronglyposted on the extreme Federal left, also, had made so obstinate a stand thathe was not forced from the position until three times his numbers, of Withers’sdivision, diverted from the main current of the attack, were brought to bearagainst him. For some time General Johnston was with that division, but heshifted to Breckinridge’s division about 11 a. m., and remained closely in i-earalternately of either Bowen’s or Statham’s brigade until mortally woundednear the latter, a little after 2 v. m. He took post and remained on ourextreme right, and at no time does it appear from the reports of subordi-nates in any other part of the field that, either personally or by his staff,General Johnston gave any orders or concerned himself with the generalmovements of our forces. In fact, engrossed as he soon became with theoperations of two or three brigades on the extreme right, it would have beenout of his power to direct our general operations, especially as he set nomachinery in motion with which to gather information of what was beingdone elsewhere, or generally, by the Confederate army, in order to enablehim to handle it intelligently from his position on the field.
Learning about 1 p. m. that the Federal right (Sherman and McClernand )seemed about to give way, I ordered General Hardee to employ his cavalry(Wharton’s Texas Rangers) to turn their flank and cut off their retreat to theriver, an operation not effected because a proper or sufficient detour to theleft was not made; and the gallant Texans under a heavy fire became involvedin ground impracticable for cavalry, and had to fall back. But Colonel Whar-ton soon afterward dismounted half of his regiment and, throwing it forwardon foot, drove his adversary from the position.
The falling back of Sherman’s and McClernand ’s troops under stress fromseveral brigades of Hardee’s corps with a part of Ruggles’s division of Bragg’s,aided by some of Polk’s troops, left Wallace (W. H. L.) on the advanced Fed-eral right, where, with Hurlbut and Prentiss on his left, in a strong, sheltered