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The rebel forces amounted to 80,000 effective troops,
of all grades – volunteers for the war, conscripts, and eight
day men. The latter are those who shouldered their muskets for
an immediate battle; they are generally pressed in. At the battle
of Shiloh many of these were found dead upon the field of battle,
who had the previous day been in our camps, and who were regarded
by us as good Union men. Some of them lived in the little town
where our regiment was stationed; many of these were taken prisoner
on their return home. The cavalry and infantry pressed the retreating
rebels, and gathered up several thousand stragglers, and captured
some of their camps. So closely were they pressed that our men
found a breakfast already cooked, the rebels not having time to
eat it, our men coming upon them so suddenly; blankets, muskets,
cartridge boxes, and other munitions of war were abandoned by
the rebels, and lay scattered in profusion along the roads.
ANECDOTE OF
THE FIGHT OF THE 28TH.
When our lines advanced on the 28th, a battery was
planted on an eminence commanding a considerable portion of the
country, but completely shrouded from view by a dense thicket.
Scouts were sent out to discover the exact position of the rebels,
and were but a short distance in advance, to give the signal as
to direction to fire if any were discovered. One of the rebel
commanders, unaware of our presence, called around him his men
and commenced addressing them in something like the following
strain:
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