Life of Wm. Tecumseh Sherman.: Late Retired General. U. S. A.Johnson, Willis Fletcher
History
Life of Wm. Tecumseh Sherman.: Late Retired General. U. S. A.
Johnson, Willis Fletcher
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891
We have reached the last act in the tragedy of Sunday. It is half-past
4 o'clock. Our front line of divisions has been lost since half-past
10. Our reserve line is now gone, too. The Rebels occupy the camps
of every division save that of W. H. L. Wallace. Our whole army is
crowded in the region of Wallace's camps, and to a circuit of one-half
to two-thirds of a mile around the Landing. We have been falling back
all day. We can do it no more. The next repulse puts us into the river,
and there are not transports enough to cross a single division till the
enemy would be upon us.
Lew. Wallace's Division might turn the tide for us--it is made of
fighting men--but where is it? Why has it not been thundering on the
right for three hours past? We do not know yet that it was not ordered
up till noon. Buell is coming, but he has been doing it all day, and
all last week. His advance-guard is across the river now, waiting
ferriage; but what is an advance-guard, with sixty thousand victorious
foes in front of us?
We have lost nearly all our camps and camp equipage. We have lost
nearly half our field artillery. We have lost a division general and
two or three regiments of our soldiers as prisoners. We have lost--how
dreadfully we are afraid to think--in killed and wounded. The hospitals
are full to overflowing. A long ridge bluff is set apart for surgical
uses. It is covered with the maimed, the dead and dying. And our men
are discouraged by prolonged defeat. Nothing but the most energetic
exertion on the part of the officers, prevents them from becoming
demoralized. Regiments have lost their favorite field-officers;
companies the captains whom they have always looked to, with that
implicit faith the soldier learns, to lead them to battle.
Meanwhile, there is a lull in the firing. For the first time since
sunrise you fail to catch the angry rattle of musketry or the heavy
booming of the field-guns. Either the enemy must be preparing for the
grand, final rush that is to crown the day's success and save the
Southern Confederacy, or they are puzzled by our last retreat, and are
moving cautiously, lest we spring some trap upon them. Let us embrace
the opportunity, and look about the Landing. We pass the old log-house,
lately post office, now full of wounded and surgeons, which constitute
the "Pittsburgh" part of the landing. General Grant and staff are in
a group beside it. The general is confident. "We can hold them off
till to-morrow; and they'll be exhausted, and we'll go at them, with
fresh troops." A great crowd is collected around the building--all in
uniforms, most of them with guns. And yet we are needing troops in the
front so sorely!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account