General Prentiss did not expect
a battle, but the appearance of the Rebels along the lines led him to
take these precautions.

About the time Colonel Moore reached the pickets the Rebel skirmishers
came in sight. The firing began. The pickets resolutely maintained their
ground, but the Rebels pushed on. Colonel Moore, hearing the firing,
hastened forward. It was hardly light enough to distinguish men from
trees, but the steady advance of the Rebels convinced him that they were
making a serious demonstration. He sent a messenger to General Prentiss
for the balance of his regiment, which was sent forward. At the same
time General Prentiss issued orders for the remainder of his division to
form.

[Illustration: PITTSBURG LANDING.

1 Hurlburt's division.
2 W. H. L. Wallace's division.
3 McClernand's division.
4 Sherman's division.
5 Prentiss's division.
6 Stuart's brigade.
7 Lewis Wallace's division.
8 Gunboats.
9 Transports.
10 Ravine.
A Hardee's line.
B Bragg's line.
C Polk's line.
D Breckenridge's reserves.]

His entire force was seven regiments, divided into two brigades. The
first brigade was commanded by Colonel Peabody, and contained the
Twenty-fifth Missouri, Sixteenth Wisconsin, and Twelfth Michigan. The
second brigade was composed of the Eighteenth and Twenty-third Missouri,
Eighteenth Wisconsin, and Sixty-first Illinois. The Twenty-third
Missouri was at Pittsburg Landing, having just disembarked from a
transport, and was not with the brigade till nearly ten o'clock. When
the firing began, its commander, having been ordered to report to
General Prentiss, moved promptly to join the division.

General Prentiss also sent an officer to Generals Hurlburt and Wallace,
commanding the divisions in his rear, near the Landing, informing them
that the Rebels were attacking his pickets in force. The firing
increased. The Twenty-first Missouri gave a volley or two, but were
obliged to fall back.

There had been a great deal of practising at target in the regiments,
and every morning the pickets, on their return from the front,
discharged their guns, and so accustomed had the soldiers become to the
constant firing, that these volleys, so early in the morning, did not
alarm the camp.

The orders which General Prentiss had issued were tardily acted upon.
Many of the officers had not risen when the Twenty-first Missouri came
back u