. The First Brigade,
commanded by Colonel McDowell, went into camp to the right of Buckland,
and was separated from him by a lateral ravine running into Oak Creek;
the camp was pitched between the Purdy road and the bluff-banks of Oak
Creek. The Third Brigade, commanded by Colonel Hildebrand, was posted to
the left of Shiloh Church, its right being near the church. Precision in
camping was not exacted, and the left regiment of Colonel Hildebrand's
Brigade, the Fifty-third Ohio, in order to enclose a fine spring of
water within the brigade, pitched its camp about two hundred yards to
the left and front of its next regiment (the Fifty-seventh Ohio), and
was separated from the rest of the brigade by this distance and by a
stream with swampy borders which emptied into Oak Creek. General
Sherman's headquarters were to the rear of Shiloh Church. His batteries,
Taylor's and Waterhouse's, together with his cavalry, were camped in
rear of the infantry.

General Grant arrived at Savannah on the 17th and assumed command,
reported to General Halleck, and on the same day ordered General C.F.
Smith's division to Pittsburg Landing. His division, the Second,
encamped, not in a line, but in convenient localities on the plateau
between Brier Creek and the river. McClernand with the First Division
was sent a few days later, and selecting the most level ground, laid out
the most regular camp. His front crossed the Corinth road about
two-thirds of a mile in rear of Shiloh Church, the road intersecting his
line near his left flank; the direction of his line was to the
northwest, reaching toward the bluffs of the valley of Snake Creek.
General Prentiss reported to General Grant for assignment to duty, and
about March 25th, six new regiments, not yet assigned, reported to him
and were by him put into two brigades constituting the Sixth Division.
These brigades were subsequently increased by regiments assigned to him
as late as April 5th and 6th. The Fifth Ohio Battery, Captain
Hickenlooper, arriving on April 5th, was assigned to the Sixth Division,
and went into camp. Prentiss' camp faced to the south. It is not easy
now to identify precisely its position. It appears incidentally, from
reports of the battle of April 6th, that a ravine ran along the rear of
the right of the division camp, and another ravine in front of the left.
The left regiment (the Sixteenth Wisconsin) of the right brigade
(Peabody's) lay on the lower or most southern branch