ments of rebel Tennesseeans, not having heard of the surrender, marched into the fort, and the whole force, 1,475 officers and men, were at once captured.

The capture of Forts Donelson and Henry broke the outer line of the defence of the Confederacy. In a few days after Bowling Green and Columbus were evacuated and taken possession of by the Union forces.

February he captured Clarksville and occupied Nashville on the 23d. About this time the enemy began collecting a large force under the able command of Albert Sidney Johnston, with headquarters at Corinth, Mississippi, with the intention of holding the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and preventing any advance of the Union forces below the line of the Tennessee River, and also to have at easy command an available force to make an aggressive movement into Kentucky, should an opportunity occur. They at the same time blockaded the Mississippi. River by fortified positions at several points, above Memphis, and at Vicksburg and below New Orleans.

General Grant's army passed up the river, encamping at Savannah and Pittsburg Landing, twenty miles distant from Corinth.

General C. F. Smith had been placed in command of the troops in the field, General Grant being detained at Fort Henry, organizing and fitting out the forces with which he was about to make his aggressive movement. The selection of Pittsburg Landing as a point of rendezvous and disembarkation was made by General Smith, and not by General Grant.

A Confederate paper, published at Florence, Alabama, on the morning of March 12, 1882, contains the following significant article:

"We learned yesterday that the Unionists had landed a very large force at Savannah, Tenn. We suppose they are making preparations to get possession of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. They must never be allowed to get this great thoroughfare in their possession, for then we would indeed be crippled. The labor and untiring industry of too many faithful and energetic men have been expended on this road to bring it up to its present state of usefulness, to let it fall into the hands of the enemy to be used against us. It must be protected. We, as a people, are able to protect and save it. If unavoidable, let them have our river; but we hope it is the united sentiment of our people, that we will have our railroad."

CHAPTER VI.

PITTSBURG LANDING, SHILOH, IUKA AND CORINTH.

The Confederate forces at Corinth were said to number forty-five thousand men on the 1st of April, 1862, under command of General Albert Sydney Johnston, with General P. G. T. Beauregard second in command, and General Bragg with his corps, which had been brought up from Mobile and Pensacola; General Polk, with forces. from Columbus and points evacuated in Kentucky and Tennessee; Generals Hardee and Breckenridge were also in command of divisions. General Grant's forces consisted of five divisions, commanded respectively by Generals Sherman, Hurlburt, McClernand, Lew Wallace and W. H. L. Wallace, thirty-five thousand strong, spread over a space of several square miles from Pittsburg Landing to Savannah. The country is here rolling, cut up with ravines and intertwined with an inextricable maze of wood-paths. General Grant was resting at this point awaiting the arrival of General Buell, who was marching from Nashville to join him with forty thousand men. Owing to heavy rains and bad roads General Buell had been somewhat delayed, and had not been able to join the army of Grant as was expected.

On the morning of April 2, the Union videttes of General Wallace's division, who were stationed at Crump's Landing, had a sharp skirmish with the Confederates. On the 4th the Confederates made a reconnoissance in force,

but finding the Federals alert and ready to receive them, retired, General Johnston carefully avoiding a general engagement, as he was daily expecting large reinforcements from Generals Van Dorn

and Price. On the 5th the Confederate forces arrived in position in front of the Union lines; the more advanced were allowed no fires, nor were any noises such as are usual to camps permitted. On the 3d of April the Confederate commander had issued the following proclamation troops:

to his

SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI:-I have put you in motion to offer battle to the invaders of your country, with the resolution, and discipline and valor becoming men fighting as you are, for all worth living or dying for. You can but march to a decisive victory over agragian mercenaries, sent to subjugate and despoil you of your liberies, property and honor.

Remember the precious stake involved; remember the dependence of your mothers, your wives, your sisters, and your children, on the result. Remember the fair, broad, abounding lands, the happy homes that will be desolated by your defeat. The eyes and hopes of eight millions of people rest upon you. You are expected to show yourselves worthy of your valor and courage, worthy of the women of the South, whose noble devotion in this war has never been ex. ceeded in any time. With such incentives to brave deeds, and with trust that God is with us, your General will lead you confidently to the combat, assured of success.

By order of

GENERAL A. S. JOHNSTON, Commanding.

General Johnston had been able to get an accurate knowledge of the strength and position of General Grant's army, and expected to make his attack a surprise and crush the Union forces before General Buell should arrive. So confident were they of success, it is stated that Beauregard announced that his men should "water their horses the next day in the Tennessee River or in hell." Sunday, the 6th, was bright and clear. At 5 o'clock in the morning the Confederates advanced at double-quick, in three columns, striking the divisions of Generals Sherman and Prentiss, who were three or four miles in advance of Pittsburg Landing near Shiloh church. The odds against them were great. The Union troops, though partially surprised, fought desperately against overwhelming numbers, contesting the ground foot by foot until they reached the inner line of defense near the river. Generals Prentiss and Sherman did all that mortal men could do to stem the disaster to their forces. General Prentiss was soon overwhelmed, his forces dispersed, himself with a large number of his men taken prisoner. The following account from an eye witness, taken from the New York Herald of April 9, 1862, will be found of great interest. The description of this and the subsequent day's battle, written by General Grant, in a late issue of The Century, should also be read by all of the General's admirers.

THE FIRST DAY'S STRUGGLE.

PITTSBURG, via FORT HENRY,
April 9, 3.20 A. M.

One of the greatest and bloodiest battles of modern days has just closed, resulting in the complete rout of the enemy, who attacked us at daybreak Sunday morning.

The battle lasted, without intermission, during the entire day, and was again renewed on Monday morning, and continued undecided until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when the enemy commenced their