A Chaplain of an Illinois regiment stationed at Paducah, in mixing and conversing with the inhabitants of that place, who almost unanimously sympathize with the rebellion, discovered several days before the battle of Shiloh, that an attack in force was about to be made by Johnston and Beauregard upon our army.
The Secessionists at Paducah asserted that the rebel army at Corinth was rapidly being augmented to a force of 150,000 strong; that the plan of the rebel leaders as avowed in camp, and made known to their friends abroad, was to make a sudden and tremendous attack upon Gen. Grant, and annihilate his army.
The information gained by the Chaplain was so evidently reliable, and made such an impression upon his mind, that he left his post and went to Pittsburg Landing to lay the matter before Gen. Grant, and to urge him to make instant preparations to meet the attack which he was confident would take place. He reached Pittsburg on Friday, the 4th inst., and sought an interview with Gen. Grant.
It was a most unsatisfactory one. After giving the information that had made him so anxious and uneasy, the commanding officer, instead of exhibiting the interest in it that had been expected dismissed the Chaplain with the remark that he ought to be arrested for leaving his post without orders.
Disappointed in his interview at headquarters, the Chaplain sought the quarters of the division commanders, but found none of them at home, except Gen. Prentiss. To Gen. Prentiss he revealed the object of his visit, stated the information upon which he based his conviction of an impending attack, declared with emphasis that “the enemy would be upon us within forty eight hours,” and urged the vital importance of preparations to meet him.
But Gen. Prentiss hardly listened to him with patience, and repeated Gen. Grant’s rebuke, that he ought to be arrested for leaving his post without orders. Gen. Prentiss admitted that everything was in confusion, and that the army was in no condition for an attack; but when the Chaplain suggested that something might be done to place the camps in readiness, he dismissed the subject with the remark, “Let them come; we can whip them anyhow.”
On Sunday morning following, the Chaplain, who had slept on one of the transports at the Landing, rose up, with the subject still pressing heavily upon his mind. He felt confident that the attack would take place that day. All was quiet at the Landing, but when he ascended the bluff, and started to the front of our lines, about three miles distant, he heard, for the first time, the roaring sound of the enemy’s guns, and shortly afterwards saw the first lot of wounded soldiers borne past him. In a few hours, the victims were being brought in by hundreds, and laid upon the shore and upon the unladed vessels which had not been prepared to receive them.
The Medical and Hospital department was in the same confusion and disorder that characterized everything else; and the few Surgeons that made their appearance upon the boats, though laboring till the fell down with fatigue, seemed scarcely to make a beginning of the herculean work before them. – St. Louis News.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2
The Secessionists at Paducah asserted that the rebel army at Corinth was rapidly being augmented to a force of 150,000 strong; that the plan of the rebel leaders as avowed in camp, and made known to their friends abroad, was to make a sudden and tremendous attack upon Gen. Grant, and annihilate his army.
The information gained by the Chaplain was so evidently reliable, and made such an impression upon his mind, that he left his post and went to Pittsburg Landing to lay the matter before Gen. Grant, and to urge him to make instant preparations to meet the attack which he was confident would take place. He reached Pittsburg on Friday, the 4th inst., and sought an interview with Gen. Grant.
It was a most unsatisfactory one. After giving the information that had made him so anxious and uneasy, the commanding officer, instead of exhibiting the interest in it that had been expected dismissed the Chaplain with the remark that he ought to be arrested for leaving his post without orders.
Disappointed in his interview at headquarters, the Chaplain sought the quarters of the division commanders, but found none of them at home, except Gen. Prentiss. To Gen. Prentiss he revealed the object of his visit, stated the information upon which he based his conviction of an impending attack, declared with emphasis that “the enemy would be upon us within forty eight hours,” and urged the vital importance of preparations to meet him.
But Gen. Prentiss hardly listened to him with patience, and repeated Gen. Grant’s rebuke, that he ought to be arrested for leaving his post without orders. Gen. Prentiss admitted that everything was in confusion, and that the army was in no condition for an attack; but when the Chaplain suggested that something might be done to place the camps in readiness, he dismissed the subject with the remark, “Let them come; we can whip them anyhow.”
On Sunday morning following, the Chaplain, who had slept on one of the transports at the Landing, rose up, with the subject still pressing heavily upon his mind. He felt confident that the attack would take place that day. All was quiet at the Landing, but when he ascended the bluff, and started to the front of our lines, about three miles distant, he heard, for the first time, the roaring sound of the enemy’s guns, and shortly afterwards saw the first lot of wounded soldiers borne past him. In a few hours, the victims were being brought in by hundreds, and laid upon the shore and upon the unladed vessels which had not been prepared to receive them.
The Medical and Hospital department was in the same confusion and disorder that characterized everything else; and the few Surgeons that made their appearance upon the boats, though laboring till the fell down with fatigue, seemed scarcely to make a beginning of the herculean work before them. – St. Louis News.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2
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