“A strange circumstance that, certainly; but what will you say to this I offer you next? The Confederate army left Corinth for Pittsburg Landing on Thursday, in the afternoon. It moved in three corps—Hardee’s, Bragg’s, Polk’s—with Breckinridge’s three brigades in reserve. The intention was to attack the Army of the Tennessee Saturday morning, but it was not until late Saturday afternoon that the entire army reached its destination and was deployed. Here, now, is the marvel. How was it possible to move the three great army corps into as many lines of battle, each behind the other, within two miles of Shiloh Church, without making their presence known? Were there any Union pickets out? How far out could they have been? Had they no eyes, no ears? It would seem not. For at five o’clock Sunday morning, when Hardee moved to the attack—I give you all permission to wonder while you listen—neither General Grant at Savannah nor one of his division commanders on the field knew of the peril, or even suspected it.” Of the other great chance or blunder of Shiloh—Grant’s recall of Lew Wallace—let us now speak. Early in my study of this battle I stumbled on this so unexpectedly that it filled me with surprise. It was beyond doubt the greatest opportunity of Shiloh, as I mentioned in a previous paper. The story of it by Lew Wallace himself, is the most interesting paper ever written about that battlefield. For many years the distinguished author of “Ben-Hur” was made the scapegoat of Shiloh. He bore it like the man he was, but history will now vindicate him and nothing has given me greater pleasure than to contribute my share toward his vindication in this series of papers. At the time I arrived at the conclusion I did concerning General Wallace’s brilliant movement during the first day’s fight, I did not know that he had ever explained it himself, but seeing the position I took, and the conclusions I deduced, a friend has sent me the account General Wallace wrote of it himself and turned it over to General James Grant Wilson to be published by General Wilson after the death of the author. This was done last January by the Appletons,[1] and it is useless to add that the author of “Ben-Hur” has told in no usual way the graphic story of that blunder of his superior which made Wallace a scapegoat instead of a hero of that much misunderstood fight. I quote only part of it, but this part bristles with interest, and is enough: