The Rebellion record

DOCUMENTS.

Colonels Bartow and Fisher, and Lieutenant-
Colonel Johnson of Hampton's Legion, in the
fearless command of their men, gave earnest of
great usefulness to the service had they been
spared to complete a career so brilliantly begun.
Besides the field-officers already mentioned as
having been wounded while in the gallant dis
charge of their duties, many others also receiv
ed severe wounds after equally honorable and
distinguished conduct, whether in leading their
men forward or in rallying them when over
powered or temporarily shattered by the largely
superior force to which we were generally op
posed.

The subordinate grades were likewise abun
dantly conspicuous for zeal and capacity for the
leadership of men in arms. To mention all
who, fighting well, paid the lavish forfeit of
their lives, or at least crippled, mutilated bodies
on the field of Manassas, cannot well be done
within the compass of this paper, but a grateful
country and mourning friends will not suffer
their names and services to be forgotten and
pass away unhonored.

Nor are those officers and men who were so
fortunate as to escape the thick-flying, deadly
missiles of the enemy, less worthy of praise for
their endurance, firmness, and valor than their
brothers-in-arms, whose lives were closed, or
bodies maimed, on that memorable day. To
mention all who exhibited ability and brilliant
SUP. Doc.

DOCUMENTS.

courage were impossible in this report; nor do
the reports of brigade and other subordinate
commanders supply full lists of all actually de
serving of distinction. I can only mention those
whose conduct came immediately under my no
tice, or the consequence of whose actions hap
pened to be signally important.

It is fit that I should in this way commend to
notice the dauntless conduct and imperturbable
coolness of Colonel Evans, and well indeed was
he supported by Colonel Sloan and the officers
of the Fourth South Carolina regiment, as also
Major Wheat, than whom no one displayed
more brilliant courage until carried from the
field, shot through the lungs, though happily
not mortally stricken. But in the desperate,
unequal contest to which those brave gentle
men were for a time necessarily exposed, the
behavior of officers and men generally was
worthy of the highest admiration ; and assuredly
hereafter all those present may proudly say,
" We were of that band who fought the first
hour of the battle of Manassas." Equal honors
and credit must also be awarded in the pages of
history to the gallant officers and men who, under
Bee and Bartow, subsequently marching to their
side, saved them from destruction, and relieved
them from the brunt of the enemy's attack.

The conduct of General Jackson also requires
mention as eminently that of an able, fearless
soldier and sagacious commander, one fit to lead
his brigade ; his efficient, prompt, timely arrival
before the plateau of the Henry house, and his
judicious disposition of his troops, contributed
much to the success of the day. Although pain
fully wounded in the hand, he remained on the
field to the end of the battle, rendering invalu
able assistance.

DOCUMENTS.

In connection with the unfortunate casualties
of the day — that is, the miscarriage of the
orders sent by courier to Generals Holmes and
Ewell to attack the enemy in flank and reverse
at Centreville, through which the triumph of
our arms was prevented from being still more
decisive — I regard it in place to say, a divi
sional organization, with officers in command
of divisions, with appropriate rank as in Euro
pean services, would greatly reduce the risk of
such mishaps, and would advantageously sim
plify the communications of a general in com
mand of a field with his troops.

While- glorious for our people and of crush
ing effect upon the morale of our hitherto con
fident and overweening adversary, as were the
events of the battle of Manassas, the field was
only won by stout fighting, and, as before
stated, with much loss, as is precisely exhibited
in the papers herewith, marked F, G, and H,
and being lists of the killed and wounded. The
killed outright numbered two hundred and
sixty-nine, the wounded one thousand four
hundred and thirty-eight — making an aggre
gate of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-
two.

The actual loss of the enemy will never be
known ; it may now only be conjectured.
Their abandoned dead, as they were buried by
our people where they fell, unfortunately were
not enumerated; but many parts of the field
were thick with their corpses, as but few battle
fields have ever been. The official reports of
the enemy are studiously silent on this point,
but still afford us data for an approximate esti
mate. Left almost in the dark in respect to

ISLAND, DURING THE SPECIAL SESSION, AUGUST

And this defeat had rendered a union of par
ties more necessary and easier to be brought
about. As the war advanced and we felt its pres
sure, we should be more disposed to give up all our
own little bickerings and contentions, and to sac
rifice personal feeling to the good of the country.

And it has rendered us more willing to listen
to the truth about our enemies. We had been
trying to conceal the truth from ourselves, and
this miserable policy of self-deception had cost us
the loss of the battle of Manassas, the loss of
many valuable lives, and had probably added
years to the contest. We should learn hereafter
not to underrate our enemies.

This would be one good effect of the defeat,
that the people would now be willing to hear the
truth ; and with this view I propose to give some
statistics of the productions of the South, a sub-
'ect on which our people appeared to be entirely

VINTON, BENTON COUNTY, IOWA, J

Iowa :

SIR : In compliance with your request, I have
the honor to submit for your information, a re
port of the part taken by the Eighth Iowa infant
ry at the battle of Shiloh, fought on the sixth of
April, 1862.

About eight o'clock on the morning of the
sixth, I ordered the regiment under arms, and
formed line of battle in front of my encampment,
awaiting orders to proceed to the front. At this
time the firing on our advanced line had become
general, and it appeared to me evident that we
were being attacked in force by the rebel gen
eral.

COLONEL W. S. SMITH'S REPORT.

COLONEL W. S. SMITH'S REPORT.

SHILOH FIELDS, TENNESSEE, April 11.

Captain Lyne Starling, A.A. Gr.

SHILOH, GENERAL BEAUREGARD COMMANDING.

(B.)

KILLED, WOUNDED, AND MISSING IN THE BATTLE OF
SHILOH, GENERAL BEAUREGARD COMMANDING.

First corps — Major-General Polk ; First divi
sion, Brigadier-General Clark ; First brigade, Col
onel R. M. Russell ; killed, ninety-seven ; wound
ed, five hundred and twelve. Second brigade,
Brigadier-General A. P. Stewart ; killed, ninety-
three ; wounded, four hundred and twenty -one ;
missing, three. Second division, Major-General
Cheatham ; First brigade, Brigadier-General B.
R. Johnson ; killed, one hundred and twenty ;
wounded, six hundred and seven ; missing, thir
teen. Second brigade, Colonel TV. H. Stephens ;
killed, seventy-five ; wounded, four hundred and
thirteen ; missing, three. Total — killed, three
hundred and eighty-five ; wounded, one thousand
nine hundred and fifty-three ; missing, nineteen.

APRIL SIXTH AND SEVENTH.

Grand total, 40,o55 20,636

Difference ten thousand six hundred and ninety-
nine, casualties in battle of Shiloh.

The battle-field being so thickly wooded that
the cavalry was useless and could not operate
at all.

DOCUMENTS.

Colonels Bartow and Fisher, and Lieutenant-
Colonel Johnson of Hampton's Legion, in the
fearless command of their men, gave earnest of
great usefulness to the service had they been
spared to complete a career so brilliantly begun.
Besides the field-officers already mentioned as
having been wounded while in the gallant dis
charge of their duties, many others also receiv
ed severe wounds after equally honorable and
distinguished conduct, whether in leading their
men forward or in rallying them when over
powered or temporarily shattered by the largely
superior force to which we were generally op
posed.

The subordinate grades were likewise abun
dantly conspicuous for zeal and capacity for the
leadership of men in arms. To mention all
who, fighting well, paid the lavish forfeit of
their lives, or at least crippled, mutilated bodies
on the field of Manassas, cannot well be done
within the compass of this paper, but a grateful
country and mourning friends will not suffer
their names and services to be forgotten and
pass away unhonored.

Nor are those officers and men who were so
fortunate as to escape the thick-flying, deadly
missiles of the enemy, less worthy of praise for
their endurance, firmness, and valor than their
brothers-in-arms, whose lives were closed, or
bodies maimed, on that memorable day. To
mention all who exhibited ability and brilliant
SUP. Doc.

DOCUMENTS.

courage were impossible in this report; nor do
the reports of brigade and other subordinate
commanders supply full lists of all actually de
serving of distinction. I can only mention those
whose conduct came immediately under my no
tice, or the consequence of whose actions hap
pened to be signally important.

It is fit that I should in this way commend to
notice the dauntless conduct and imperturbable
coolness of Colonel Evans, and well indeed was
he supported by Colonel Sloan and the officers
of the Fourth South Carolina regiment, as also
Major Wheat, than whom no one displayed
more brilliant courage until carried from the
field, shot through the lungs, though happily
not mortally stricken. But in the desperate,
unequal contest to which those brave gentle
men were for a time necessarily exposed, the
behavior of officers and men generally was
worthy of the highest admiration ; and assuredly
hereafter all those present may proudly say,
" We were of that band who fought the first
hour of the battle of Manassas." Equal honors
and credit must also be awarded in the pages of
history to the gallant officers and men who, under
Bee and Bartow, subsequently marching to their
side, saved them from destruction, and relieved
them from the brunt of the enemy's attack.

The conduct of General Jackson also requires
mention as eminently that of an able, fearless
soldier and sagacious commander, one fit to lead
his brigade ; his efficient, prompt, timely arrival
before the plateau of the Henry house, and his
judicious disposition of his troops, contributed
much to the success of the day. Although pain
fully wounded in the hand, he remained on the
field to the end of the battle, rendering invalu
able assistance.

DOCUMENTS.

In connection with the unfortunate casualties
of the day — that is, the miscarriage of the
orders sent by courier to Generals Holmes and
Ewell to attack the enemy in flank and reverse
at Centreville, through which the triumph of
our arms was prevented from being still more
decisive — I regard it in place to say, a divi
sional organization, with officers in command
of divisions, with appropriate rank as in Euro
pean services, would greatly reduce the risk of
such mishaps, and would advantageously sim
plify the communications of a general in com
mand of a field with his troops.

While- glorious for our people and of crush
ing effect upon the morale of our hitherto con
fident and overweening adversary, as were the
events of the battle of Manassas, the field was
only won by stout fighting, and, as before
stated, with much loss, as is precisely exhibited
in the papers herewith, marked F, G, and H,
and being lists of the killed and wounded. The
killed outright numbered two hundred and
sixty-nine, the wounded one thousand four
hundred and thirty-eight — making an aggre
gate of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-
two.

The actual loss of the enemy will never be
known ; it may now only be conjectured.
Their abandoned dead, as they were buried by
our people where they fell, unfortunately were
not enumerated; but many parts of the field
were thick with their corpses, as but few battle
fields have ever been. The official reports of
the enemy are studiously silent on this point,
but still afford us data for an approximate esti
mate. Left almost in the dark in respect to

ISLAND, DURING THE SPECIAL SESSION, AUGUST

And this defeat had rendered a union of par
ties more necessary and easier to be brought
about. As the war advanced and we felt its pres
sure, we should be more disposed to give up all our
own little bickerings and contentions, and to sac
rifice personal feeling to the good of the country.

And it has rendered us more willing to listen
to the truth about our enemies. We had been
trying to conceal the truth from ourselves, and
this miserable policy of self-deception had cost us
the loss of the battle of Manassas, the loss of
many valuable lives, and had probably added
years to the contest. We should learn hereafter
not to underrate our enemies.

This would be one good effect of the defeat,
that the people would now be willing to hear the
truth ; and with this view I propose to give some
statistics of the productions of the South, a sub-
'ect on which our people appeared to be entirely

REBELLION RECORD, 1862-63.

Arriving at Harper's Ferry, we forded the Po
tomac, and went into camp at Bolivar Heights.
My men fought in the battle of Antietam very
ragged — more than forty of them without shoes ;
and I was compelled to equip thirty recruits from
the bodies of the slain ! On reaching Bolivar
Heights, the regiment was at once placed on ac
tive duty, and we formed a portion of the advance
on Hancock's reconnoissance. Great trouble has
been experienced in obtaining supplies. My men
have been sent out, even within the past ten days,
on picket without overcoats, coats, or blankets.
So it has been with half the army. At the time
this report is written, the regiment has just re
ceived a portion of its winter clothing, but is
ready for march or battle. Men have come in
from hospital and from detached service, until
three hundred can again be taken into the field.

I have thus presented you a narrative of my
regiment for its first year. I have no hesitation
in saying it has had less recruits, performed more
labor, and made more severe marches than any
regiment from the State, in the same time ; and,
to say the least, has fought as well. In what
ever position placed, in battle or on the march ;
enduring hunger, cold, or heat; the regiment has
never faltered — never failed to do its duty. A
sense of obligation to my officers and men, for
their patience, courage, and fortitude, constrains
me to bear this testimony to their worth, and

D. C. BUELL,

The Middle department, comprising the States
of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New-Jersey, and Del
aware, and the department of Virginia, have
been the scene of important military operations,
concerning which detailed reports have not yet
been made by the commanding generals to this
department. Your knowledge of the character
and results of these operations dispenses with
the necessity for any review until the final re
ports are made.

The preliminary reports of Major-General Mc-
Clellan of the battles before Richmond, and of
the battles of Antietam and South-Mountain,
and the report of the General-in-Chief, are sub
mitted.

The communications between this department
and the respective commanders were prepared
under a resolution of the Senate at the last ses
sion, and will be transmitted to Congress when
ever you shall be pleased to give your sanction.

REBELLION RECORD, 1862-68.

On the night of the eighteenth the enemy, af
ter passing troops in the latter part of the day
from the Virginia shore to their position behind
Sharpsburgh, as seen by our officers, suddenly
formed the design of abandoning their position,
and retreating across the river. As their line was
but a short distance from the river, the evacua
tion presented but little difficulty, and was effect
ed before daylight.

About two thousand seven hundred of the en
emy's dead were, under the direction of Major
Davis, Assistant Inspector-General, counted and
buried upon the battle-field of Antietam, A por

tion of their dead had been previously buried by
the enemy. This is conclusive evidence that the
enomy sustained much greater loss than we.

REBELLION RECORD, 1862-68.

These estimates give the actual number of men
present and fit for duty.

Our own forces at the battle of Antietam were
as follows :

First corps, 14,856 men.