Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/686

644 planned a campaign which should restore the public confidence. Corinth was the base from whence he could concentrate his whole force in front of the great bend of the Tennessee, and crush Grant before Buell could reinforce him. In this movement, Beauregard, as the second in command, elaborated his general orders. In the actual march to the field there was some confusion and delay, so that the attack at Shiloh was postponed an entire day. At the opening of the fight on the 6th of April, 1862, he rode along the lines inspiring his men to enthusiasm and daring. He carried on the battle as he had planned, to "turn the left flank of the enemy, throw him back on Owl creek where he will be compelled to surrender."

Success everywhere attended the Confederate arms, till finally, to gain a difficult position, Johnston rode before the brigades of Bowen and Statham, and reaching the center turned and led a charge that swept the enemy to the rear. At the height of success a minie ball from the retreating foe pierced an artery of his leg, and through his neglect of the wound while giving orders to the troops, his death speedily followed. The victory had been won, but the heroic mind that had determined nothing less than the capture of Grant was gone, and the fighting which followed on that field was in vain. The body of the great leader was conveyed to New Orleans and there interred with august ceremony. Though his life was lost at Shiloh, and with it, it may be said, the possession of the West by the Confederacy, yet he had the personal triumph of complete restoration in the affections of the Southern people.

General Joseph E. Johnston, son of Peter Johnston and Mary Wood Johnston, was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, on February 7, 1807. His father was a lieutenant in Lee's legion, having run away from college at the age of seventeen to join it as it passed through Virginia to reinforce the army of Greene. His mother was a niece of Patrick Henry. In 1811 his parents removed to a place