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Touched by the Finger of Fate: Altering History at the Battle of Shiloh, Part II

© Perry Cuskey

The Scabbard

When war broke out in 1861, thirty-nine year old Ulysses S. Grant was working as an obscure store clerk in his father's leather tannery in Galena, Illinois. Less than one year later, he was a brigadier general in the United States Army, and had gone from obscurity to national celebrity.

The amazing change was brought about by a combination of factors - persistence, ability, determination, an important political ally, and a sprinkling of what any successful endeavor requires - luck. The result was that in February of 1862 Grant found himself in overall command of the expedition against Forts Henry and Donelson, the two most vulnerable points along Albert Sidney Johnston's long defensive line in Kentucky.

When the trapped Confederate commander at Donelson asked for surrender terms after a failed breakout attempt, Grant curtly replied that no terms but unconditional and immediate surrender would be accepted. The words electrified the North. "Unconditional Surrender" Grant they began calling him, playing his initials off the surrender terms. Almost literally overnight, Grant became a national hero.

A brief and bizarre dispute with his superior, Henry W. Halleck, had resulted in Grant being temporarily removed from active command soon after Donelson fell. The dispute basically resulted from Halleck's jealous resentment of Grant's success.

By March however, after the personal intervention of President Lincoln himself, Grant, now a major general, was back with his army, camped by this time at Pittsburg Landing.

Instead of joining the troops at the landing however, Grant established his headquarters at Savannah, a small town several miles to the north. He was under orders from Halleck to wait for the Army of the Ohio marching over from Nashville, and Savannah was the most likely meeting place. The plan was for the two armies to combine forces and then move against Corinth.

Although he would later deny it, the Confederate attack on April 6th caught Grant by surprise. Only the day before he had written to Halleck, assuring him that no attack was expected. As he sat down to breakfast on the morning of April 6th, a sentry appeared with word that gunfire could be heard to the south. Grant boarded a boat and was soon at the landing in person.

The situation that greeted him was anything but reassuring. The Rebels were not only attacking, but were clearly doing so in force and with great determination. Rumors were flying that entire divisions had been captured, and that the rest of the army would soon be overrun. The rumors were overstated, as rumors often are, but there was enough truth sprinkled in with the panic to be of serious concern.