Union Line of Defense

After finally realizing that large numbers of Confederates were marching on their camps, the Union Sixth Division formed its first line of defense along the ridge in front of this position. When his regiment tried to break through that line, Confederate infantryman Henry M. Stanley recalled seeing pearly smoke streaked with crimson burst from a long line of blue figures, followed by an appalling crash of repeated fusillades like a mountain upheaved with huge rocks rumbling and thundering down a slope and echoes receding through space. At this stage, twenty thousand muskets were firing, and although accurate aim was impossible because of laboring hearts, jarring, and excitement, many bullets struck soldiers on both sides.

Shiloh, Tennessee · United States