Battle of Shiloh
Narration (Elisha): It all started when I was 15. We heard there was going to be a war meeting at our little log school house. I went to the meeting and when they called for volunteers, Harrison Maxon (21), Edgar Houghton (16), and myself, put our names down.... My father was there and objected to my going, so they scratched my name out, which humiliated me somewhat. My sister gave me a severe calling down...for exposing my ignorance before the public, and called me a little snotty boy, which raised my anger. I told her, "Never mind, I'll go and show you that I am not the little boy you think I am."
The Captain got me in by lying a little, as I told the recruiting officer I didn't know just how old I was but thought I was eighteen. He didn't measure my height, but called me five feet five inches high. I wasn't that tall two years later when I re-enlisted, but they let it go, sot he records show that as my height.
We had fought a few battles before this, but this battle was the one that stuck in my mind the most; the battle of Shiloh. They said it was the battle that sealed the confederate fate and ensured our victory.
Originally, we were supposed to meet Buell’s army at Pittsburg Landing to take the Memphis and Charleston railroads to gain control of the Mississippi… This was how we would take the war into our hands. It was supposed to be easy but that wasn’t how it went.
On April 6th, 1862 General Albert Sidney Johnston launched a surprise attack at our army, which was General Grant’s army & Brigade General Sherman’s army, before General Don Carlos Buell Could arrive and help take Corinth, the point we were told that if we took over, we would surely have an upper hand in this war. Sure, the rain from last night had delayed them, but they were here. It took a few hours before my company, the Washington 14th 1st company, had heard the news about it.
The fight commenced, fought under blossoming trees along little country roads. We suffered many losses the first day, due to poor training and leadership. Honestly, all I did was fire a gun. That was all our company had really learned given the time we had.
We fought along about 3 miles of land, free of foxholes and dotted with trees. This was Tennessee after all. When the army was attacked, they ran for cover. There was very little cover, given that most of this was a field with a forest settled near it.
When my company was fired at, we ran into a sunken road, later nicknamed the Hornet’s nest for our fierce and dire counterstrike from that point against the confederates. We fired rounds of bullets at the confederates and were able to repulse them. It was still morning, too early I thought, for a battle.
It was soon that we had left the Hornet’s nest and engaged in the true battle. We ran and eventually made contact with the confederates at the Eastern Road. It was here that I shot down a person. I should not have regretted it, for we were fighting for a rightgeous cause, but I was. I had celebrated my victory before I had looked at the body. This was not the first time I had shot someone, but there was so much blood. And he was so up close that I couldn’t…
Grandchild: go on grandpa
Elisha: Okay…Many of the army fled to the Tenessee River, afraid. But we stuck there and so did General Grant. He had a foot injury from being pinned underneath his horse, but he was still fighting.
We stayed for hours, marching and firing. The fact that General Buell’s army had arrived was comforting. But the screams of men quickly distressed us and our spirits were down again.
In the early evening, we walked by a ravine. A man was sleeping there so we decided not to disturb him. He looked awfully pale. It took us moments to realize this man was dead and later we learned, was Albert Sidney Johnston.
The next day we continued to counterattack. With Johnston out of the way, the Union had a great advantage. General Beaureguard of the confederates was losing men and supplies fast and he knew it.
The next day, the surviving members of my company were shot. It was hard to leave them, but I had to run or else my life would have ended right there and then. I wonder if I had made the right decision up to this very day.
The whole day was filled with fighting before the confederates withdrew beyond Shiloh Church. We had won. Though we had suffered many losses, we won.
My entire company was destroyed. I was the only one who had survived, so I fled to another company and remained there. No one questioned why. I think they silently knew.
On the way back, we passed Shiloh church. It was made of logs and almost comepletely destroyed, but it still stood there. Shiloh means place of peace in Hebrew I think. Those days were the least peaceful days of my entire life…
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