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EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
- University of Iowa Press
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EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT john h. stibbs, company d Account of Surrender at Shiloh Excerpted from John H. Stibbs’s Memoirs, n.d. (Box F23, Folder 13b, Federal Collection. Nashville: Tennessee State Archives, Civil War Collection, Confederate and Federal, 1861–1865). We were up at the usual hour that Sunday morning had our breakfast and my company was forming for Sunday morning inspection when the long roll16 began beating at Regimental Headquarters and within a very few minutes we were on our way to the front. My guess would be that it was then about eight o’clock a.m. There may have been some in the regiment who had heard sounds of the fighting but I am very sure that no one in my immediate vicinity knew that the battle was on until the roll was beaten. I never pretended to know how far we marched before we struck the enemy but Major Reed says it was one and one-half miles and I assume he is correct.17 I know we marched rapidly and I was much impressed by the remarks of the horde of beaten men who passed us on their way to the rear. It seemed to me that four out of every five of them made use of the same expression, to wit: ‘‘You will ketch hell if you go much further’’, and this naturally caused us to conclude we would find something awaiting us when we reached the front. But our men were soldiers and no one of them attempted to fall out of line. On reaching the ridge just back of the hornet’s nest18 our line was formed, and I remember it as though it was yesterday, how Gen. Tuttle looked as he rode along the line addressing each regiment separately and charging us to remember we were from Iowa and that the eyes of our friends were on us and every man was expected to do his full duty. Then the order to advance was given and we moved forward to our position in the Hornet’s Nest. Whether we were placed there by design or by accident I never knew but our arrival there was at a most opportune time. There was a gap in our line there and the enemy, flushed with victory, were pushing forward to crush the remnants of Prentiss’ Division,19 which they had driven { 25 } back from the front, and that they would have accomplished their purpose but for the arrival of Tuttle’s Brigade20 no one acquainted with the facts doubts for a moment and had they done so our army would have been divided and probably would have been hopelessly defeated;21 but Tuttle’s men were in line and in a most advantageous position when the shock came and they were there to stay; there was no excitement in our ranks, no wavering; but each man gripped his musket and held his fire until when our volley was delivered every man felt his shot had not been wasted; the enemy’s advance was checked on the instant and a moment later they were falling back in confusion; following this we remained on that line for hours and repelled charge after charge,22 each of which only served to strengthen the confidence of our men in their ability to hold the line indefinitely. But along in the afternoon, I would say about 2.30 or 3.00 o’clock, we discovered by the sound of the guns that our army was being driven back on both flanks until it became apparent to all of us that we were being surrounded.23 Finally we saw the Second and Seventh leave the line and start for the rear and then came the order to our Regiment, the 12th, to about face and march slowly to the rear; on reaching the ridge back of us we found in front of us a very strong force of the enemy and we attacked them at once. The fighting was desperate but we drove the enemy back in confusion and had someone been on the ground to order our movement forward in line I believe the Twelfth and Fourteenth would have fought their way to the rear, but Gen. Wallace had been mortally wounded and Gen. Tuttle had gone to the rear with the Second and Seventh. I thought at the time that it was an error on his part in leaving one-half of the Brigade in the...