Of the five divisional commanders, General Sherman and General C. F. Smith were the only professional soldiers, but the other three possessed at least a little military experience, if only at the company grade level. Brigadier General Lew Wallace was the son of West Point graduate and one-time governor of Indiana, David Wallace. Even as a child Lew showed particular interest in military affairs and, at the age of fifteen, entered a militia company in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the start of the Mexican War, the nineteen year old militiaman joined the First Indiana Volunteers, rising to the rank of first lieutenant, although unable to participate in any combat activities, much to his disappointment. A jack of all trades, Wallace left the army to study politics, history, and law, finally entering the state senate in 1856. The future author of Ben-Hur started his varied Civil War career as state adjutant general under Indiana’s famous war governor, Oliver Morton. Later commissioned colonel of the Eleventh Indiana Volunteers, the thirty-three year old Wallace took part in operations in western Virginia in the latter part of the year. He was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on September 3, 1861, and was advanced to the rank of major general on March 21, 1862, because of his services at Fort Donelson.29
Brigadier General John Alexander McClernand was born in Kentucky in 1812, but grew up in Illinois. Largely self-educated, he was admitted to the bar in 1832, but took time off from his legal duties to participate in the Black Hawk War. A good party Democrat, McClernand rose rapidly in the ranks of the state organization and in 1860 was an unsuccessful candidate for the speakership of the House of Representatives. To rally Democratic support for the war effort, President Lincoln appointed McClernand a brigadier general of volunteers, ranking from May 1861. A veteran of Belmont and Fort Donelson, the Illinoisan possessed the most combat experience of any of Grant’s officers; unfortunately he also possessed the greatest amount of conceit.30
With this choice collection of generals Grant set to work with Smith to fit out the proposed river expedition. As things worked out, Sherman’s division, now numbered the Fifth, was the first to head for the heart of enemy territory. The division was embarked on its transports on March 6, 7, and 8. The First Brigade, the Fortieth Illinois and the Forty-sixth Ohio, did not bother to wait for the rest of the expedition, but departed on their own loaded on the river boats Sallie List, Golden Gate, J. B. Adams, and the Lexington.31 The brigade, under Colonel S. G. Hicks, reached Savannah on March 8 and 9 after a speedy and quiet passage. The rest of the division, which was just then loading up, only arrived in Savannah late on March 11 and early March 12. Sherman castigated Colonel Hicks and Colonel Thomas Worthington of the Forty-sixth Ohio for going off on their own; but at least they had arrived safely.32
The passage of Sherman’s Second, Third, and Fourth brigades were fairly uneventful, but they did, however, get a baptism of fire. A Confederate bushwhacker fired a musket shot at the Forty-eighth Ohio’s steamer, and although the ball missed, there was a good deal of excitement.33
On March 12, General Smith arrived in Savannah with the advance elements of the rest of his army.34 Their pas sage had been little more exciting than that of Sherman’s division, although there were a few eventful moments. Three members of the Forty-sixth Illinois fell overboard from their steamer and were drowned in the swollen river before anyone could help them.35 One member of the Thirteenth Iowa fell overboard from the Hiawatha and sank be fore anyone could rescue him. The Eighth Iowa’s steamer was bushwhacked a short distance from Savannah, and one soldier was killed and another wounded.36 On board the steamer Argyle, the Fifty-seventh Illinois had one man wounded in the arm by a Southern partisan.37
The Fourteenth Iowa, on board the Autocrat, had a particularly trying experience. The soldiers heard a tremendous sound in the rear of their boat and confusion reigned for a moment, for the soldiers believed they were under fire. But finally the Iowans discovered that the commotion was caused by their paddle wheel be coming entangled with a tree. It took a great deal of chopping, and an even larger amount of swearing, be fore the civilian crew and the soldiers finally cut the tree loose.38
The Eighty-first Ohio shipped on board the steamer Meteor, one of the largest of the Mississippi River packets. A carnival atmosphere reigned on board the ship, for Governor Yates of Illinois was on board, besides numerous ladies belonging to the officers. There were horses and mules tied up on the main deck, and boxes of army supplies and fuel for the ship’s engines took up the extra space. The enlisted men dined on hardtack and raw pork, drinking Tennessee River water dipped up in buckets with ropes attached. Some of the privates broke open cases packed near the bow of the ship and found they contained crackers, cheese, bologna, and other eatables, property of an army sutler. The Eighty-first had one exhilarating moment when Confederate guerrillas opened fire on the boat immediately behind them, the Black Warrior. No one was killed, but several enlisted men were wounded, and the Federals retaliated by spraying the banks of the Tennessee with musket balls.39
On board the steamer Continental, the Twenty-fifth Missouri had a particularly bad time, although it failed to dampen their spirits. Sparks from the ship’s funnels burned the soldiers’ clothing, their blankets, and even their faces and hands. Their only rations were hard bread and hog jowls, plus a little coffee made from the rather muddy and frequently polluted Tennessee River water. The diet worked havoc with their intestines, but morale remained high and these soldiers made the river ring with strains of music, “We’ll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree” and other patriotic ditties.40
By regiments, brigades, and divisions, the Army of the Tennessee gradually assembled at Savannah, and on the morning of March 14, General Smith ordered Sherman to take his command up to Eastport, Mississippi, for the purpose of destroying the railroad there. As Sherman’s transports moved up the river, about eight miles from Savannah, perhaps the general’s eyes noticed a burned building atop a bluff about eight miles from his destination; and if he consulted his map, he learned the place was called Pittsburg Landing. The ruined structure was the remaining evidence of a sharp skirmish that occurred at Pittsburg about two weeks earlier on March 1. This engagement was brought on by Lieutenant William Gwin, commanding a small patrol force composed of his own gunboat, the Tyler, and Lieutenant James Shirk of the Lexington.41
Having learned that the Confederates were fortifying Pittsburg, Gwin decided to launch an attack on that place, and about noon, March 1, steamed up to Pittsburg. One or more Confederate field pieces commenced firing, but the two gunboats opened up with their 32-pounders and 8-inchers; and being heavily outweighed by the gunboats’ superior fire power, the Southerners soon broke off the action. For some reason Gwin decided to destroy a house on the hill near where the Confederates had fired from.42
Sailors and members of Company K, Thirty-second Illinois Volunteers, were quickly on board the gunboats’ launches. Rowing over to the Landing, the Illinoisans quickly landed and moved out and up to the top of the bluff, where they ran into a detachment from the Eighteenth Louisiana Infantry Regiment. Gwin’s sailors speedily went to work setting fire to the house, while the crew of the biggest launch opened up with shrapnel from their 12-pound boat howitzer. The gunboats continued using their big tubes to keep the Louisianans at bay, away from their landing party. Despite the artillery fire, the Louisiana soldiers swarmed over the bluff, raking the demolition party with heavy blasts of musketry. In danger of being overwhelmed, the landing party finally took to the boats and rowed vigorously back to the Lexington and Tyler. The Confederates peppered the two gunboats with strong blasts of musketry for some minutes before withdrawing. Federal losses for the brief engagement were two killed, six wounded, and three missing. Gwin established the Louisianans’ losses at twenty killed and one hundred wounded, although no Confederate account of the action mentions any Southern losses.43
Whatever Sherman’s observations were, his interest in Pittsburg greatly increased when Lieutenant Gwin gave him the full details of the March 1st affair. When the naval officer mentioned that Pittsburg was the usual landing place for the people going to Corinth, Mississippi, Sherman decided that Federal occupation of the point might be very useful.
Sending word back to General Smith about the desirability of posting a force at the Landing, General Sherman continued on up the river until he reached Eastport. Observing Confederate gun positions through his glasses, as well as troop movements, the general ordered his force to drop back down to Yellow Creek, several miles above the town.44
At 7:00 p.m. on the 14th, the Fifth Division began its disembarkation at the mouth of Yellow Creek. The plan was that part of the Fifth Ohio Cavalry, under Major E. G. Ricker, was to move overland to a point near Burnsville, Mississippi, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and cut the track there. The infantry and artillery was to follow on the 15th, and was to capture and destroy the Confederate railroad repair facilities in Burnsville.
The cavalry left about 11:00 p.m., amidst a heavy rainfall. About 3:00 a.m., Colonel Hicks’ First Brigade moved out along the route the cavalry had taken. By 4:00 a.m., Colonel David Stuart’s Second Brigade was unloaded and heading inland, while the two remaining brigades followed at daylight.
Almost immediately everything began going wrong for the Federals. The landscape was already very soggy from the heavy rainfall, and, instead of slacking off, the downpour merely increased. The temperature was below the freezing point, and horses and men alike were soon soaked through and through with icy water. The rain finally did stop for awhile, but then it began to snow. The soldiers were not only cold and miserable, but also had only the vaguest idea of what the expedition was all about.
About four and a half miles out from the landing point, the excursion was stopped by a badly flooded unnamed stream. Colonel Hicks and his men tried to put a temporary bridge across it at the shallowest point, but with little success. Then Major Ricker’s cavalry showed up on the opposite side of the target, forcing them to turn back. Using the very unstable Hicks’ bridge, the cavalry managed to rejoin the main body. The water was rising all around the little army, and General Sherman decided to return to the transports.
Half drowned and half frozen, the soldiers walked through three feet deep water to reach the boats. The guns of the Sixth Indiana Battery had to be disassembled and carried back to the transports piece by piece, so deep was the water. Finally by a little past noon, the whole division basked in the security and comparative warmth of the river steamers.45
Undismayed by the whole messy business, Sherman decided to try another landing at a point somewhere closer to Eastport, in the hope of finding higher and dryer land. The gunboats and transports moved on up the river to the mouth of Indian Creek, but the whole shore was submerged by high water. Try as he might, Sherman could find no suitable place to land.
Finally late in the afternoon of the 15th, Sherman decided to try and land at Pittsburg, but upon reaching that point he found General Hurlbut and part of the Fourth Division waiting off shore in their transports. During the night “Cump” steamed down to Savannah to report to General Smith. Having seen the river steadily rise, Smith under-stood why the expedition had failed, and he decided to try a new tact. Sherman was ordered to return to Pittsburg with his division and disembark there. Smith also issued orders for General Hurlbut to land there also. The army commander was to shortly follow in a few days, and then an advance could be made toward the enemy.46
Accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel McPherson, Sherman moved over to Pittsburg and began preparations to execute the railroad cutting order with his division. With the troops disembarked at the Landing, Sherman, McPherson, and a few harried staff officers rode out to Bethel, Tennessee, about three miles away. The 16th was Sunday, but there was to be little rest for Sherman and his busy staff. As soon as he returned from his personal reconnaissance to Bethel, Sherman decided to send a stronger party out to determine the local enemy strength, and if possible cut the railroad.
The Fifth Ohio Cavalry, now sturdy veterans of the soggy Eastport expedition, was again given the task of railroad bursting. About 6:00 Sunday evening, the regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Heath, set out, to be followed about six hours later by Sherman’s First Infantry Brigade, now led by its newly arrived colonel, John McDowell, brother of the ill-fated General Irvin McDowell of Manassas fame.47 For some reason Sherman was counting on the Confederates being completely asleep. His orders were not to pick a fight with any large enemy force, and he was reluctant to take any big chances until more troops arrived.
The other brigades were supposed to follow McDowell’s men, but the movement was canceled when the cavalry returned with a report that the Confederates were out in force across the proposed line of advance. At a cost of four wounded, Colonel Heath engaged Confederate pickets on the Corinth Road, capturing two enlisted men. Colonel Heath’s report, coming on top of a Sunday patrol report of enemy troop movements in the area, convinced Sherman that the element of surprise was completely gone. Sherman ordered the infantry and cavalry back to the Landing area, and there directed the whole division to encamp.
On Monday, Hurlbut’s division disembarked and also encamped in the Landing area.48 Meanwhile another Union force had landed near Sherman. This was the Third Division under the Indiana-born author-general, Lew Wallace. When the army arrived at Savannah on the 13th, Smith after securing the William Cherry House as headquarters, went over to the steamer John J. Roe, Wallace’s head quarters. Entering his subordinate’s cabin, General Smith quickly got down to business, explaining that he wanted the Third Division to occupy Crump’s Landing and cut the Mo bile and Ohio Railroad some fifteen miles distant. When the conference was over Smith walked out of the cabin, starting to enter the small boat or yawl that had brought him to the Roe. It was dark, and the white-haired general slipped, badly skinning one of his shins. General Wallace urged him to stay on the Roe and have the in jury tended to, but clenching his teeth against the pain, Smith groaned, “No—too much business.” The boat crew rowed him away, and the two men never met again, for the slight in jury to the white haired general would eventually prove fatal.49
Within a couple of hours the Third Division was steaming toward Crump’s Landing, and by midnight most of the division was safely landed. On the following day, Thursday, General Wallace sent the Third Battalion of the Fifth Ohio Cavalry, under Major Charles Hayes, to cut the railroad. By 10:00 a.m., the fast moving cavalry reached the railroad bridge at Beach Creek, between Bethel and Brown Station. Setting to work with great enthusiasm, the Ohioans promptly demolished the fifty foot span, plus an additional fifty foot section of track on each side of the swollen creek.
A small party of Confederate cavalry showed up during the destruction work, but the Ohioans quickly chased them away, taking two prisoners in the process. This work completed, the battalion returned to Crump’s, where they promptly went into camp along with the rest of the division.50 Seemingly by a process of gravitational at traction, the Army of the Tennessee was gradually collecting near Corinth, Mississippi.
Alarmed by the news of Wallace’s and Sherman’s landings, the local Confederate commanders began massing their own rather pitiful strength in the Purdy-Corinth area. If the Federals chose to move out in force from the landings, the Southerners would have to fight. Fortunately for the Confederates, Halleck’s orders to avoid a general engagement kept the Union army immobilized.51
Meanwhile the command of the expeditionary force changed hands. On Monday, March 17, General Grant arrived by steamer to assume command of the scattered Army of the Tennessee. Grant decided that although Savannah was useful as a headquarters, it would be better to move the main army to Pittsburg to expedite an advance on Corinth, once Buell’s army showed up.52 In part Grant’s decision to concentrate at Pittsburg was prompted by Sherman’s championing of the position. Impressed with the position for its strategic location, Sherman claimed that “the ground itself admits of easy defense by a small command, and yet affords admirable camping ground for a hundred thousand men.”53
About twenty-two miles by road from Corinth, Sherman’s choice of a camp spot was indeed excellent for defensive purposes. The place formed a broad uneven triangle, or funnel, which gradually widened from the base at the landing. Bounded on the east by the Tennessee River, the position was bordered on the northwest by Snake Creek and its branch, Owl Creek, and on the south by Lick Creek and its branch, Locust Grove Creek, as well as by a fairly sharp ravine, through which part of the creek ran. The various creeks and the resulting marshy land were a perfect protection against a flanking assault. An enemy army attacking Pittsburg Landing would have to push straight in and attempt to advance along the interior sides of the creeks in the funnel. The highest ground of the camp area was a ridge lying north of Locust Grove Creek and extending on toward the west. The extreme point of the ridge was about two hundred feet above the river at normal flood stage, and a number of Owl Creek branches zigzagged through the slopes of this ridge. Tilghman Creek was the most important of these branches, and it dissected the camp area into two main plateaus. The ground tended to be heavily wooded and uneven, except for a number of plowed cotton fields and several peach orchards.