Touched by the Finger of Fate: Altering History at the Battle of Shiloh, Part I
The Confederacy's long thin line in the West had collapsed. Johnston ordered his remaining forces to pull back, lest the Yankees advancing along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers outflank them. By late March the southern forces had regrouped in Corinth, Mississippi, strengthened somewhat by reinforcements arriving from other parts of the South.
Johnston had quickly come under tremendous criticism for the defeat of his line in Kentucky. The disaster had been partly his fault and partly that of others, but the finger of blame was pointed squarely at Johnston.
Despite enormous public pressure to remove him, President Davis continued to support his friend. The deeply proud Johnston smarted terribly under the attacks. But he refused to publicly defend himself. "The test of merit in my profession with the people is success," he wrote. "It is a hard rule but I think it right."
By early April Johnston had determined to bring about that success. Less than 25 miles north of Corinth, a Union army about the size of his own was camped at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River, awaiting the arrival of another army marching down from Nashville. When combined, the two armies would advance against the outnumbered Confederates at Corinth.
Johnston decided his best hope was to attack first, hitting the Union army camped at Pittsburg Landing and destroying it before the army marching over from Nashville could arrive to help. On the morning of April 6th, after an unexpectedly difficult march from Corinth, the Rebels descended on the unsuspecting Yankees camped along the Tennessee.
At first the attack went relatively well, despite surprisingly stiff resistance made possible due to the vigilance of an alert Union colonel. By early afternoon however the advance had stalled out. Johnston decided the time had come for a major push against the left side of the Union line.
As the orders went out for the assault, Johnson determined that he would lead it forward in person. Slowly he rode down a line of men, lightly touching their bayoneted guns with a small tin cup he had picked up from an abandoned Union camp. "Men," he said, "they are stubborn. We must use the bayonet."
"I will lead you."
Around 2:00 p.m. the line swept forward toward the Peach Orchard.
Exactly how far forward Johnson himself actually led the advance is not known. More than likely he stopped at some point and allowed the men to pass by
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