[CHAP. XXII.

displayed upon the hill amid a shower of balls until he was ordered back to the new line.

I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

CHARLES CLARK,

Brigadier General, Comdg. 1st Div., 1st Corps, Army of the Mississippi.

Major GEORGE WILLIAMSON,

Asst. Adjt. Gen., First Corps, Army of the Mississippi.

Numbers 144. Report of Colonel R. M. Russell, Twelfth Tennessee Infantry, commanding First Brigade.

HEADQUARTERS FIRST BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION,
Corinth, Miss., April 18, 1862.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of the brigade under my command, consisting of the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Twenty-second Tennessee Regiments, the Eleventh Louisiana Regiment, and Captain Bankhead's battery of light artillery, in the battle which took place at Shiloh, near Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee River, on April 6 an 7:

On the morning of the 6th the First Army Corps, of which my brigade formed a part, was drawn up in columns of brigades a short distance in front of the enemy's encampment, near a ravine, covered with briers and brushwood, waiting for the order to advance.

Soon after daylight the attack had been made by the right of our army, under Major-General Hardee, and the First was held as supporting corps. While in this position the enemy opened fire upon us with solid shot and shell with field batteries posted in strong positions on the hills in front. The Second Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General Stewart, moved to the right.

Pending this movement I received orders to charge through the enemy's encampment and take it at all hazards. An Arkansas and a Louisiana regiment, which had gone before, had attempted to advance, and were drive through our lines. I immediately ordered the regiments on the left to charge, and started to advance those on the right, but was directed by General Clark to go forward with the left and he would give the order to the right wing. I placed myself at their head, and we moved rapidly forward until we had passed through a part of the first encampment, the enemy all the while pouring a shower of Minie and musket balls from the hills above, until suddenly he opened his batteries with grape and canister with such sure aim and terrible effect that the advancing line was forced to give way and retire behind the thicket and ravine, where I reformed it preparatory to a second advance. I found afterward that, instead of two regiments advancing, but seven companies had succeeded in passing the almost impenetrable undergrowth and joined in the first charge.

The line being reformed, the order was again given to charge through the camp, which was done in gallant style and with complete success.

At this point I sent my acting brigade adjutant to the right to see were the Twelfth and Thirteenth Regiments were, with a view to getting all the brigade together again; but he reported that three other regiments had forced their way between, and it would be impossible to accomplish this.