n the
river. The Union officers hastily got their men into line, as the
attacking columns came sweeping in after the pickets. Three of the five
Union divisions were raw recruits, many of whom fled at the first fire.
Some colonels led their entire regiments off the field. Later in the day
Grant saw 4,000 or 5,000 of these runaways cowering under the shelter of
the bluffs.

[Illustration: Portrait.]
General William T. Sherman.

But the bulk of the army made a stubborn resistance. General W. T.
Sherman, then comparatively unknown, inspired his division of raw troops
with his own intelligent courage. Their gallant and protracted fight
around the Shiloh log church made them the heroes of the day. But the
Confederates' onset was impetuous. Step by step they forced their
opponents back through the heavy woods, and by noon stood in possession
of the Union camps; Grant's army, badly shattered, being cooped up in a
narrow space along the edge of the river.

The tide now turned. About two o'clock, General Johnston was killed, and
the Confederate advance flagged. Between the two armies lay a deep
ravine. Grant planted some fifty guns upon the edge, and two of the
gunboats took positions where they could rake the ravine. By these
dispositions Beauregard's advance was stayed. Night fell, and
hostilities ceased.

Fortunately, 22,000 of Buell's men arrived during the night, and next
morning Grant ordered an advance. Beauregard made as desperate a
resistance as he could, seeing that his heavy losses the day before had
left him but 30,000 troops fit for duty. Buell's men showed the effects
of long training under that matchless disciplinarian, and fought
splendidly. The enemy were steadily pushed back, until more than all the
ground lost on the preceding day had been triumphantly regained, and the
battle of Pittsburg Landing, from being for the Union side a defeat
accomplished and a surrender threatened, was turned into a bright and
inspiring victory. Beauregard ordered a retreat, and, not being pursued,
regained his old position at Corinth. He had lost about 10,000 men. Our
loss was 12,000, including four regiments taken prisoners. The battle
was a severe check to both sides.

[Illustration: Several ships, one in the foreground listing; smoke
covers the sky.]
A.R. Ward H.R. Hall, JR.
The Battle of the Rams at Memphis, June 6, 1862.

On February 2d the largest fleet that had ever sailed under the American
flag lef