Report of General Braxton Bragg, C. S. Army, commanding Second Corps, Army of the Mississippi
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT No. 2,
Mobile, Ala., July 25, 1862
General S. COOPER,
Adjutant and Inspector General C. S. Army, Richmond, Va.
SIR: Herewith I have the honor to forward my official
report, as commander of the Second Corps, Army of the Mississippi, of the battle
of Shiloh. The great delay, somewhat unusual with me in official matters, has
resulted from a combination of unavoidable circumstances. Wishing to make it
complete, the reports of all subordinates were desired; but at last several are
wanting. My own time has been so much occupied, too, that it is not rendered as
soon, nor is it as complete, as I could have desired.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
BRAXTON BRAGG,
General, Commanding.
[Inclosure. ]
HDQRS. SECOND CORPS, ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
Corinth, Miss., April 30, 1862
Brig. Gen. THOMAS JORDAN,
Chief of Staff
GENERAL: In submitting a report of the operations of my
command, the Second Army Corps, in the actions of Shiloh, on the 6th and 7th of
April, it is proper that the narrative of events on the field be preceded by a
sketch of the march from here.
But few regiments of my command had ever made a day's march.
A very large proportion of the rank and file had never performed a day's labor.
Our organization had been most hasty, with great deficiency in commanders, and
was therefore very imperfect. The equipment was lamentably defective for field
service, and our transportation, hastily impressed in the country, was deficient
in quantity and very inferior in quality. With all these drawbacks the troops
marched late in the afternoon of the 3d, a day later than intended, in high
spirits, and eager for the contest.
The road to Monterey (11 miles) was found very bad, requiring
us until 11 o'clock on the 4th to concentrate at that place, where one of my
brigades joined the column. Moving from there the command bivouacked for the
night near the Mickey house, immediately in rear of Major-General Hardee's
corps, Major-General Polk's being just in our rear.
Our advanced cavalry had encountered the enemy during the day and captured
several prisoners, being compelled, however, to retire. A reconnaissance in some
force from the enemy made its appearance during the evening in front of General
Hardee's corps, and was promptly driven back.
The commanders of divisions and brigades were assembled at
night, the order of battle was read to them, and the topography of the enemy's
position was explained, as far as understood by us. Orders were then given for
the troops to march at 3 a.m., so as to attack the enemy early on the 5th.
About 2 a.m. a drenching rain-storm commenced, to which the
troops were exposed, without tents, and continued until daylight, rendering it
so dark and filling the creeks and ravines to such an extent as to make it
impracticable to move at night. Orders were immediately sent out to suspend the
movement until the first dawn of day. Continued firing by volleys and single
shots was kept up all night and until 7 a.m. next morning by the undisciplined
troops of our front, in violation of positive orders. Under such circumstances
little or no rest could be obtained by our men, and it was? o'clock in the
morning before the road was clear so as to put my command in motion, though it
had been in ranks and ready from 3 a.m., in the wet and cold, and suffering from
inaction.
At this juncture the commanding general arrived at our
position. My column, at last fairly in motion, moved on without delay until
arriving near where the Pittsburg road leaves the Bark road, when a message from
Major-General Hardee announced the enemy in his front and that he had developed
his line. As promptly as my troops could be brought up in a narrow road, much
encumbered with artillery and baggage wagons, they were formed, according to
order of battle, about 800 yards in rear of Hardee's line, my center resting on
the Pittsburg road, my right brigade, Gladden's, of Withers' division, thrown
forward to the right of the first line, Major-General Hardee's force not being
sufficient for the ground to be covered.
In this position we remained, anxiously awaiting the approach of our reserves to
advance upon the enemy, now but a short distance in our front. The condition of
the roads and other untoward circumstances delayed them until late in the
afternoon, rendering it necessary to defer the attack until next morning.
The night was occupied by myself and a portion of my staff in
efforts to bring forward provisions for a portion of the troops then suffering
from their improvidence. Having been ordered to march with five days' rations,
they were found hungry and destitute at the end of three days. This is one of
the evils of raw troops, imperfectly organized and badly commanded; a tribute,
it seems, we must continue to pay to universal suffrage, the bane of our
military organization. In this condition we passed the night, and at dawn of day
prepared to move.
The enemy did not give us time to discuss the question of
attack, for soon after dawn he commenced a rapid musketry fire on our pickets.
The order was immediately given by the commanding general and our lines
advanced. Such was the ardor of our troops that it was with great difficulty
they could be restrained from closing up and mingling with the first line.
Within less than a mile the enemy was encountered in force at the encampments of
his advanced positions, but our first line brushed him away, leaving the rear
nothing to do but to press on in pursuit. In about one mile more we encountered
him in strong force among almost the entire line. His batteries were posted on
eminences, with strong infantry supports.
Finding the first line was now unequal to the work before it, being weakened by
extension and necessarily broken by the nature of the ground, I ordered my whole
force to move up steadily and promptly to its support. The order was hardly
necessary, for subordinate commanders, far beyond the reach of my voice and eye
in the broken country occupied by us, had promptly acted on the necessity as it
arose, and by the time the order could be conveyed the whole line was developed
and actively engaged.
From this time, about 7.30 o'clock, until night the battle
raged with little intermission. All parts of our line were not constantly
engaged, but there was no time without heavy firing in some portion of it. My
position for several hours was opposite my left center Ruggles' division),
immediately in rear of Hindman's brigade, Hardee's corps.
In moving over the difficult and broken ground the right
brigade of Ruggles' division, Colonel Gibson commanding, bearing to the right,
became separated from the two left brigades, leaving a broad interval.
Three regiments of Major-General Polk's command opportunely
came up and filled this interval. Finding no superior officer with them, I took
the liberty of directing their movements in support of Hindman, then, as before,
ardently pressing forward and engaging the enemy at every point.
On the ground which had come under my immediate observation
we had already captured three large encampments and three batteries of
artillery. It was now about 10.30 o'clock.
Our right flank, according to the order of battle, had pressed forward ardently
under the immediate direction of the commanding general and swept all before
it:. Batteries, encampments, store-houses, munitions in rich profusion, were
ours, and the enemy, fighting hard and causing us to pay dearly for our
successes, was falling back rapidly at every point. His left, however, opposite
our right, was his strongest ground and position, and was disputed with
obstinacy.
It was during this severe struggle that my command suffered
an irreparable loss in the fall of Brigadier-General Gladden, commanding First
Brigade, Withers' division, mortally, and Col. D. W. Adams, Louisiana Regular
Infantry, his successor, severely, wounded. Nothing daunted, however, by these
losses, this noble division, under its gallant leader, Withers, pressed on with
the other troops in its vicinity and carried all before them. Their progress,
however, under the obstinate resistance made was not so rapid as was desired in
proportion to that of the left, where the enemy was less strong; so that,
instead of driving him, as we intended, down the river leaving the left open for
him to pass, we had really enveloped him on all sides and were pressing him back
upon the landing at Pittsburg.
Meeting at about 10.30 o'clock upon the left center with
Major-General Polk, my senior, I promptly yielded to him the important command
at that point, and moved toward the right, in the direction in which
Brigadier-General Hindman, of Hardee's line, had just led his division. Here we
met the most obstinate resistance of the day, the enemy being strongly posted,
with infantry and artillery, on an eminence immediately behind a dense thicket.
Hindman's command was gallantly led to the attack, but recoiled under a
murderous fire. The noble and gallant leader fell, severely wounded, and was
borne from the field he had illustrated with a heroism rarely equaled.
The command soon returned to its work, but was unequal to the
heavy task. Leaving them to hold their position, I moved farther to the right,
and brought up the First Brigade (Gibson, of Ruggles' division, which was in
rear of its true position, and threw them forward to attack this same point. A
very heavy fire soon opened, and after a short conflict this command fell back
in considerable disorder. Rallying the different regiments, by means of my staff
officers and escort, they were twice more moved to the attack, only to be driven
back by the enemy's sharpshooters occupying the thick cover. This result was due
entirely to want of proper handling. Finding that nothing could be done here,
after hours of severe exertion and heavy losses, and learning of the fall of our
commander, who was leading in person on the extreme right, the troops were so
posted as to hold this position, and leaving a competent staff' officer to
direct them in my name, I moved rapidly to the extreme right. Here I found a
strong force, consisting of three parts, without a common head—
Brigadier-General Breckinridge, with his reserve division, pressing the enemy;
Brigadier-General Withers, with his splendid division, greatly exhausted and
taking a temporary rest, and Major-General Cheatham, with his division, of
Major-General Polk's corps, to their left and rear. These troops were soon put
in motion, responding with great alacrity to the command of "Forward! let every
order be forward."
It was now probably past 4 o'clock, the descending sun
warning us to press our advantage and finish the work before night should compel
us to desist. Fairly in motion, these commands again, with a common head and a
common purpose, swept all before them. Neither battery nor battalion could
withstand their onslaught. Passing through camp after camp, rich in military
spoils of every kind, the enemy was driven headlong from every position and
thrown in confused masses upon the river bank, behind his heavy artillery and
under cover of his gunboats at the Landing. He had left nearly the whole of his
light artillery in our hands and some 3,000 or more prisoners, who were cut off
from their retreat by the closing in of our troops on the left under
Major-General Polk, with a portion of his reserve corps, and Brigadier-General
Ruggles, with Anderson's and Pond's brigades of his division.
The prisoners were dispatched to the rear under a proper
guard, all else being left upon the field that we might press our advantage. The
enemy had fallen back in much confusion and was crowded in unorganized masses on
the river bank, vainly striving to cross. They were covered by a battery of
heavy guns, well served, and their two gunboats, which now poured a heavy fire
upon our supposed positions, for we were entirely hid by the forest. Their fire,
though terrific in sound and producing some consternation at first, did us no
damage, as the shells all passed over and exploded far beyond our positions.
As soon as our troops could be again formed and put in motion
the order was given to move forward at all points and sweep the enemy from the
field. The sun was about disappearing, so that little time was left us to finish
the glorious work of the day, a day unsurpassed in the history of warfare for
its daring deeds, brilliant achievements, and heavy sacrifices.
Our troops, greatly exhausted by twelve hours' incessant
fighting, without food, mostly responded to the order with alacrity, and the
movement commenced with every prospect of success, though a heavy battery in our
front and the gunboats on our right seemed determined to dispute every inch of
ground.
Just at this time an order was received from the commanding
general to withdraw the forces beyond the enemy's fire. As this was
communicated, in many instances, direct to brigade commanders, the troops were
soon in motion, and the action ceased. The different commands, mixed and
scattered, bivouacked at points most convenient to their positions and beyond
the range of the enemy's guns. All firing, except a half-hour shot from the
gunboats, ceased, and the whole night was passed by our exhausted men in quiet.
Such as had not sought shelter in the camps of the enemy were again drenched
before morning by one of those heavy rain-storms which seemed to be our portion
for this expedition.
Such was the nature of the ground over which we had fought,
and the heavy resistance we had met, that the commands of the whole army were
very much shattered. In a dark and stormy night commanders found it impossible
to find or assemble their troops, each body or regiment bivouacking where night
overtook them.
In this condition morning found us, confronting a large and
fresh army, which had arrived during the night, and for the first time the enemy
advanced to meet us. He was received by our whole line with a firm and bold
front, and the battle again raged.
From this hour until 2 p.m. the action continued with great
obstinacy and varying success. Our troops, exhausted by days of incessant
fatigue, hunger, and want of rest, and ranks thinned by killed, wounded, and
stragglers, mounting in the whole to nearly half our force, fought bravely, but
with the want of that animation and spirit which characterized them the
preceding day. Many instances of daring and desperate valor, deserving of better
success, failed for want of numbers.
My personal services were confined during this day to the
extreme left of our line, where my whole time was incessantly occupied. The
troops in my front consisted of Ruggles' division, Colonel Trabue's brigade, of
Breckinridge's reserve, and other detachments of different corps, all operating
to the left of Shiloh Church.
This force advanced in the early morning and pressed the
enemy back for nearly a mile, securing for our left flank an eminence in an open
field near Owl Creek, which we held until near the close of the conflict against
every effort the enemy could make. For this gallant and obstinate defense of our
left flank, which the enemy constantly endeavored to force, we were indebted to
Colonel Trabue's small brigade, in support of Captain Byrne's battery.
Against overwhelming numbers this gallant command maintained
its position from the commencement of the action until about 12 o'clock, when,
our forces on the right falling backlit was left, entirely without support, far
in front of our whole army. Safety required it to retire.
During this time the right and center were actively engaged.
Withers' division, in conjunction with portions of Hardee's and Breckinridge's
commands, obstinately disputed every effort of the enemy. But his overwhelming
numbers, a very large portion being perfectly fresh troops, the prostration of
our men, and the exhaustion of our ammunition, not a battalion being supplied,
rendered our position most perilous, and the commanding general ordered a
retrograde movement, to commence on the right. This was gradually extended to
the left, now held by Ketchum's battery. The troops fell back generally in
perfect order and formed line of battle on a ridge about half a mile in the
rear, Ketchum retiring slowly as the rear guard of the whole army. The enemy
evinced no disposition to pursue.
After some half hour our troops were again put in motion and
moved about a mile farther, where line was formed and final arrangements made
for the march to our camp at Corinth, the enemy not making the slightest
demonstration upon us. This orderly movement, under the circumstances, was as
creditable to the troops as any part of the brilliant advance they had made.
A field return of the force carried into action, marked A; a
return of killed, wounded, and missing, marked B, and the reports of division
commanders, marked C and D,(+) accompanied by those of subordinate commanders,
are herewith forwarded.
Of the missing, a few were ascertained to have fallen into
the hands of the enemy, mostly wounded. The others were no doubt left dead on
the field. The heavy loss sustained by the command will best indicate the
obstinacy of the resistance met and the determination with which it was
overcome.
For the part performed by the different portions of the corps
reference is made to the reports of subordinate commanders.
The division of Brig. Gen. J. M. Withers was gallantly led by
that officer from the first gun to the close of the action, and performed
service rarely surpassed by any troops on any field.
Brig. Gen. A. H. Gladden, First Brigade of this division, fell early in the
action, mortally wounded, while gallantly leading his command in a successful
charge. No better soldier lived. No truer man or nobler patriot ever shed his
blood in a just cause.
Later in the day Col. D. W. Adams, Louisiana infantry, who
had succeeded to this splendid brigade, was desperately wounded while gallantly
leading it, and later still Col. Z. C. Deas, Twenty-second Alabama Volunteers,
fell pierced by several balls.
Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers, at the head of his gallant
Mississippians filled— he could not have exceeded— the measure of my
expectations. Never were troops and commander more worthy of each other and of
their State.
Brig' Gen. J, K. Jackson did good service with his Alabama
Brigade on the first day, but, becoming much broken, it was not unitedly in
action thereafter. The excellent regiment of Col. Joseph Wheeler, however,
joined and did noble service with Gladden's brigade.
Brig. Gen. D. Ruggles, commanding Second Division, was
conspicuous throughout both days for the gallantry with which he led his troops.
Brig. Gen. Patton Anderson, commanding a brigade of this division, was also
among the foremost where, the fighting was hardest, and never failed to overcome
whatever resistance was opposed to him. With a brigade composed almost entirely
of raw troops his personal gallantry and soldierly bearing supplied the place of
instruction and discipline.
It would be a pleasing duty to record the deeds of many other
noble soldiers of inferior grade, but as subordinate commanders have done so it,
their reports a repetition is unnecessary. I shall be pardoned for making an
exception in case of Capt. R. W. Smith, commanding a company of Alabama cavalry,
which served as my personal escort during the action. For personal gallantry and
intelligent execution of orders, frequently under the heaviest fire, his example
has rarely been equaled. To him, his officers, and his men I feel a deep
personal as well as official obligation.
By the officers of my staff I was most faithfully,
laboriously, and gallantly served throughout both days, as well as on the
marches before and after the action. A record of their names is an
acknowledgment but justly due:
Maj. George G. Garner, assistant adjutant-general (horse
wounded on Sunday); Capt. H. W. Walter, assistant adjutant-general; Capt. G. B.
Cooke, assistant adjutant-general; First Lieut. Towson Ellis, regular aide:
First Lieut. F.S. Parker, regular aide: Lieut. Col. F. Gardner, C. S. Army;
Lieut. Col. W. K. Beard, Florida Volunteers, acting inspector-general (wounded
on Monday); Maj. J. H. Hallonquist, Provisional Army, chief of artillery; Capt.
W. O. Williams, Provisional Army, assistant to chief of artillery; Capt. S. H.
Lockerr, C. S. Engineers; Capt. H. Oladowski, C. S. Army, chief of ordnance;
Maj. J. J. Walker, Provisional Army, chief of subsistence; Maj. L. F. Johnston,
Provisional Army, chief quartermaster; Maj. O. P. Chaffee, Provisional Army,
assistant quartermaster; Surg. A. J. Foard, C. S. Army, medical director; Surg.
J. C. Nott, Provisional Army, medical inspector; Dr. Robert O. Butler, of
Louisiana, volunteer for the occasion, rendered excellent service in our field
hospitals. Lieut. Col. David Urquhart, aide to the Governor of Louisiana, served
me with great intelligence and efficiency as volunteer aide.
Several other officers during the engagement, temporarily
separated from their own commands, did me the favor to act on my staff and
served me efficiently.
Privates H. Montague and M. Shehan, Louisiana infantry, and
Private John Williams, Tenth Regiment Mississippi Volunteers, orderlies in
attendance on myself and staff, though humble in position, rendered services so
useful and gallant, that their names are fully entitled to a mention in this
report. They encountered the same dangers, and when necessary performed nearly
the same duties, as officers of my staff, without the same incentives. In
rallying troops, bringing up stragglers, and enforcing orders against refugees
they were especially active, energetic, and efficient.
It may not be amiss to refer briefly to the causes it is
believed operated to prevent the complete overthrow of the enemy, which we were
so near accomplishing, and which would have changed the entire complexion of the
war.
The want of proper organization and discipline, and the
inferiority in many cases of our officers to the men they were expected to
command, left us often without system or order; and the large proportion of
stragglers resulting weakened our forces and kept the superior and staff
officers constantly engaged in the duties of file-closers. Especially was this
the case after the occupancy of each of the enemy's camps, the spoils of which
served to delay and greatly to demoralize our men. But no one cause probably
contributed so largely to our loss of time— which was the loss of success— as
the fall of the commanding general. At the moment of this irreparable disaster
the plan of battle was being rapidly and successfully executed under his
immediate eye and lead on the right.
For want of a common superior to the different commands on
that part of the field great delay occurred after this misfortune, and that
delay prevented the consummation of the work so gallantly and successfully begun
and carried on until the approach of night induced our new commander to recall
the exhausted troops for rest and recuperation before a crowning effort on the
next morning.
The arrival during the night of a large and fresh army to
re-enforce the enemy, equal in numbers at least to our own, frustrated all his
well-grounded expectations, and, after a long and bloody contest with superior
forces, compelled us to retire from the field, leaving our killed, many of our
wounded, and nearly all of the trophies of the previous day's victories.
In this result we have a valuable lesson, by which we should profit— -never on a
battle-field to lose a moment's time, but leaving the killed, wounded, and
spoils to those whose special business it is to care for them, to press on with
every available man, giving a panic-stricken and retreating foe no time to
rally, and reaping all the benefits of a success never complete until every
enemy is killed, wounded, or captured. No course so certain as this to afford
succor to the wounded and security to the trophies.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
BRAXTON BRAGG,
General, Commanding.
P. S.— The transmission of this report has been delayed from time to time, that
those from subordinate commanders, with a complete and perfect list of killed,
wounded, and missing, might accompany it. In this hope I am yet disappointed to
a certain extent.
Text
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