Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 1.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[544] o'clock. McClernand's left, somewhat exposed by the disorderly retreat of Hurlbut, is again violently attacked, and the assault of the Confederates, spreading more and more, once more strikes Sherman's division, already so terribly reduced by seven hours of incessant fighting. The right wing of the Federals is again driven in; but Sherman and McClernand, who are still united, yield their ground but slowly, and they stop upon two small hills separated by a small ravine, which cover the road from Crump's Landing as well as the bridge across the Snake Creek marshes. It is of the highest importance to keep this passage open; for it is through this that Lewis Wallace's division, so impatiently looked for by the Federal commanders, must make its appearance.

While the Confederates are thus once more directing their efforts upon the Federal right, which, after the first shock, finally keeps them in check, they allow the left one moment's respite. The latter, although considerably disorganized, succeeds nevertheless in re-forming along the last chain of hills, which still alone protects the wharves at Pittsburg Landing. At this critical moment they receive valuable assistance from two gunboats, whose large shells, fired against the flank and the rear of the Confederate columns, create astonishment and confusion in their ranks.

The strength of both parties is becoming exhausted, and general disorder is beginning to appear. The Confederates have lost their leader and several other generals. The more impetuous their first attacks, the more dearly has their success been bought. The weakness of some of the troops has been in striking contrast with the courage of the rest. The number of stragglers and plunderers increases the more rapidly that the camps captured from the Federals offer them a rich prize. The Confederates, improvident, like all young soldiers, have consumed their five days rations in forty-eight hours; they have moreover left their knapsacks behind them before going into battle, and they cannot resist the sight of the provisions abandoned by their adversaries. Finally, the divisions brought into action, regiment by regiment, along a front of considerable extent, are so disconnected that no bond exists between their different parts, and each fraction fights on its own account without any common direction.