Chapter 5: 5-8 April 1862, The Battle of Shiloh

After their victories at Fort Donelson and Fort Henry, Grant’s army had followed the Tennessee River at a leisurely pace to Savannah. Theophilus Lyle Dickey was leading the Illinois Fourth Cavalry, and William Hervey Lamme Wallace was now a brigadier general acting as the commander of General Smith’s division. And General Ulysses Grant and General William Tecumseh Sherman had their eyes on Confederate forces at Corinth, Mississippi.

2 From Savannah, the army moved on down the river to Pittsburg Landing and established camp there. On April 5, Colonel Dickey’s cavalry set up camp near a little log church named Shiloh. That evening, General Sherman ordered them to undertake a scouting expedition the following morning.

3 In the meantime, however, General Albert Sidney Johnston had quietly moved his Army of the Mississippi northward from Corinth and was now facing Sherman’s forces. Johnston wanted to strike the Union forces before General Buell had a chance to reinforce Grant’s army. For that purpose, he had assembled a large army of his own under Generals Beauregard, Polk, Bragg, Hardee and Breckninridge.

4 Major General Braxton Bragg commanded the Second Corps of Johnston’s army, and General Adley Gladden commanded the First Brigade of General Withers’ Second Division. Private Francis Downs was also present as a soldier in Colonel John Coltart’s Alabama Infantry Regiment (which was also a part of Gladden’s brigade).

5 Before dawn the following morning, the sound of rifles firing shattered the stillness of the night and presaged what the day would bring. “The Rebs are coming, and they’re thick as fleas!” a man shouted as he ran into camp. There wouldn’t be any need for a scouting expedition.

6 General Sherman could not believe his ears and went forward to investigate. As he and his aide reigned in their horses, he could see Johnston’s army advancing across the field. “Oh my God, we’re attacked!” Sherman gasped.

7 At about the same instant, the rebels fired their first volley, and the general’s aide dropped dead beside him. “Hold on, and I’ll get you some help,” Sherman shouted to the troops around him as he turned and galloped back to his headquarters.

8 As reinforcements arrived, Colonel Dickey’s cavalry made way for the foot soldiers. Many of the Union soldiers, however, were already retreating to Pittsburg Landing. “Colonel, take your men and round up those stragglers,” Sherman shouted. Colonel Dickey nodded and motioned for his men to follow him.

9 The sun was now high in the sky, and the dead and wounded were already piling up across the entire front of the assault. Sherman himself had already suffered two superficial wounds, but the fiery redhead was oblivious to the pain and continued to direct his men.

10 “Colonel Coltart’s been shot!” someone screamed. “Help me get him outta here,” the man next to Francis shouted. Horrified by the noise and blood, Francis quickly focused on the colonel and helped three other men from his unit to carry their stricken commander from the field.

11 In similar fashion, General Gladden had also been carried from the field and had one of his arms amputated (he would later die). Before the battle was finished, twelve men from Francis’ unit would be dead, and over one hundred more would be wounded.

12 On the Union side, General Wallace’s men had faced the full force of the Confederate assault and had occupied an old and deeply rutted wagon trail in an attempt to find some cover. Before long, they were joined by soldiers under the command of General Benjamin Prentiss. From this position, Wallace’s and Prentiss’ men dropped wave after wave of Rebel assaults on their lines.

13 “Hold that position at all costs!” General Grant roared as he passed by. “We will, sir,” General Prentiss promised.

14 General Johnston, however, was just as determined to take that position. “We’ve got to get them out of there,” he pointed. “That’s a hornet’s nest!” one of the soldiers nearest to him shouted.

15 Johnston decided to personally lead an assault on the peach orchard that flanked the Hornet’s Nest. The soldiers hesitated. “Follow me!” the general shouted as he spurred his horse forward. The pink peach blossoms fell like rain as the soldiers advanced and the bullets whizzed through the air. The Yankees retreated, and the Rebel Yell drowned out the gunfire for just a moment.

16 General Johnston swayed in his saddle. “Are you hurt, General?” one of his aides asked. “Yes, and I fear it is serious,” Johnston answered.

17 The man led the general’s horse a short distance to a ravine that would shelter them from the enemy’s fire and helped him to dismount. Unfortunately, the general’s femoral artery had been severed, and the man didn’t know about tourniquets. It didn’t take long for Johnston to bleed to death. As a consequence, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard assumed command of the Army of the Mississippi for the remainder of the battle.

18 Then Beauregard ordered his artillery to open fire on the Hornet’s Nest. The old wagon trail exploded into flying dirt and splintered trees and was immediately enveloped in a thick smoke.

19 Their position now thoroughly compromised, General Wallace ordered his men to retreat in the best semblance of order that he could muster. Nevertheless, in the smoke and hell of battle, the general was shot in the head. And, although he was quickly removed from the field, he died a few days later. General Prentiss was left to surrender a short time later.

20 That night, the Rebs occupied Colonel Dickey’s camp. Hence, like many of their brethren across the field of battle, they had nothing to eat or give their horses. Instead, they listened to the moans and groans of the wounded who surrounded them and waited in the now pouring rain. About ten o’clock, there was some sporadic gunfire, and they were ordered back into line for the duration of the night.

21 It had been a horrible day, but Grant and his army had withstood and survived the mauling. Thousands on both sides had died and many more had been wounded, but Ulysses Grant was confident of better things on the morrow. General Don Carlos Buell had finally arrived with fresh troops, and the Rebels would not be able to resist them.

22 The next morning, instead of renewing his attack, General Beauregard was forced to brace for a Yankee assault on his lines. By late in the afternoon, it was apparent that the Rebel army would shortly melt into the muddy earth and disappear altogether.

23 “General, don’t you think we should get away from here while we still can?” an aide asked. “I was just going to order our withdrawal,” Beauregard answered as he looked out over the battlefield.

24 Thus, as the second day of battle drew to a close, Francis Downs and his comrades in arms prepared to march back to Corinth. General Sherman, however, was still restless and suspicious of what the enemy’s next move might be.

25 On the morning of the eighth, Sherman led some Ohio foot soldiers and Dickey’s cavalry down the road toward Corinth to find the enemy and make sure that they were leaving. They came upon them at a place called Fallen Timbers.

26 The cavalry lined up along the edge of the clearing while the foot soldiers advanced into the open space before them. A small contingent of Rebel cavalry charged the Union foot soldiers and ran some of them down. As soon as the soldiers were out of the way, Colonel Dickey ordered his men to fire, and the Rebs quickly wheeled around and headed back to the main body of their army.

27 Both armies had had enough, the Army of the Mississippi continued on their way back to Corinth, and the Union forces under Sherman occupied themselves with burying their dead. They secured the surrender of a nearby Confederate field hospital, and then returned to Pittsburg Landing. The Battle of Shiloh was finally over.

28 In addition to the loss of his son-in-law, Colonel Dickey’s son (Captain Cyrus Dickey) was killed in a battle on the Red River in Louisiana. Another son, Charles Henry Dickey, also served in the Union Army. After the war, Colonel Dickey returned to Illinois and became a distinguished justice on that state’s Supreme Court.