|View single post by calcav|
|Posted: Thu Nov 9th, 2006 05:41 pm||
Hey, you should work here! Looks like you've got a pretty good grasp of what happened. I agree that controversy is probably a better word but I frequently use myth because so many people have come to believe them as facts.
Was the Hornet's Nest "key" to the first day? I encourage visitors to walk through the Hornet's Nest and read the back of the monuments paying particular attention to the number of dead and wounded. The Confederate attacks coming up the Eastern Corinth Road (not through Duncan Field) are brigade strength and repulsed with fairly light Union casualties. The heavy fighting that ultimatley seals the fate of the Hornet's Nest defenders takes place on the flanks; Sherman & McClernand in Jones Field, Hurlbut at the Peach Orchard/Sarah Bell's Cotton Field. A good indicator is the location of burial sites and trenches; amost all are on the east and west of the field and very few in the center. The heavy Union casualties occur in the form of prisoners when the flanks give way and the center is surrounded.
Why did yankee skedaddlers run while the green Rebs didn't? There are numerous eyewitness accounts of the Union skulkers along the river, very few about their Confederate counterparts. But there is no mistaking that just as many Confederates left the field on the first day. Where the Feds were stopped by the Tennessee River there was nothing to halt the Rebs on their way back to Corinth. A simple excersice in mathamatics; There were nearly 45,000 Confederates and they suffered nearly 11,000 casualties over the two days. On the morning of the 7th Beauregard can field no more than 28,000 men. Where are the other 6,000 men? A soldier of the 22nd Alabama who had been left behind but reached the field on the 7th reported stragglers in great numbers.
Did Forrest stop Sherman's pursuit? The Confederate cavalry at Fallen Timbers consisted of a battalion of Texas Rangers, some of John H. Morgan's men and about 40 men under Forrest. This force suprised and routed 2 companies of the 77th Ohio, the lead elements of Sherman's pursuing two brigades. On a nearby road were two more brigades under Brig. Gen. Thomas Wood. Grant informed Halleck that he would follow "far enough to see that no immediate renewal of an attack is contempated." After routing the two lead companies the Confederates noted the deployed regiments of Hildebrand's brigade when his ranks opened fire and emptied several rebel saddles. The Confederates fled the scene leaving Forrest alone in a one man charge that resulted in his severe wound. Sherman continued on a short distance to an enemy field hospital where he paroled the surgeons and the wounded. Convinced that no further attack was pending, he returned to his camp near Shiloh Church.
Was the Bloody Pond bloody and was it even there? Yes, it was definetly there and I don't doubt the claims it was stained red. Visitors frequently ask if we dye the water to give it a red tint. The truth is the water often has a red tint because of the tanic acid from the leaves that fall into it.
Oh, I left out one of my favorites! Johhny Clem the Drummer Boy of Shiloh. He said he was a 9 year old drummer for Company C of the 22nd Michigan when his drum was shot away and he grabbed a musket and killed a Confederate Colonel. Hmmmm...the 22nd Michigan was organized and mustered in August of 1862, four months after the battle! The little stinker!