Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 16.djvu/303

 " Battle of Shiloh." 297

"Battle of Shiloh."

Refutation of the so-called ' ' Lost Opportunity, on the Evening of April 6th" 1862.

By <r<rra/ THOMAS JORDAN, Adjutant- General of the Confederate Forces

that were Engaged.

Although I have shown in a former article, published in the New Orleans Picayune, that under the rules which would govern in the courts of justice, the report of General Bragg would not be taken as evidence of anything, waiving the illegitimate furtive nature attached to the whole of it, I propose to show that even had it been actually written when and where pretended on its face, and had it ever reached me and subsequently in due official course been handed to General Beauregard, all the same the sub-reports of all the brigade and regimental commanders of his corps concurrently contradict the statement of that report, which in effect alleges that he had set on foot a hostile movement against the last Federal position of the 6th of April, that had " every prospect of success, but which was stopped by an order" from General Beauregard to "withdraw the forces beyond the enemy's fire."

Beginning with General Chalmers, whose report is dated six days after the battle, and of whom Bragg found it pertinent to say that while he could not "exceed the measure of my expectations " never were troops and commander more worthy of each other," that officer, thus lauded, gives this vivid sketch :

" It was about four o'clock in the evening, and after distributing ammunition, we received orders from General Bragg to drive the enemy into the river. My brigade, together with that of General Jackson, filed to the right and formed facing the river, and endeavored to press forward to the water's edge, but in attempting to mount the last ridge we were met by a fire from a whole line of batteries pro- tected by infantry, and assisted by shells from the gunboats. Our men struggled vainly to ascend the hill, which was very steep, making charge after charge without success, but continued to fight until night closed hostilities on both sides. During the engagement, Gage's battery was brought up to our assistance, but suffered so severely that it was soon compelled to retire. This was the sixth fight in which we had been engaged during the day, and the men were too much exhausted to storm the batteries on the hill, and they