Owing to the condition of the roads, General Buell moved very slowly, so that General Grant was in position at Pittsburg Landing several days before the former came up.  This was the situation at the beginning of April; Grant encamped on the bank of the Tennessee nearest the enemy, and Buell slowly approaching the opposite bank.  It was evidently the enemy’s opportunity to strike his blow before our two armies should be united.

On the 4th of April, the Rebels prepared to move from Corinth to attack General Grant’s camp, but, on account of rain, they delayed their advance till the morning of the 6th.  At daylight of the 6th our pickets were driven in, and were followed by the advance of the Rebel army.

The division whose camp was nearest to Corinth, and therefore the first to receive the onset of the enemy, was composed of the newest troops in the army.  Some of the regiments had received their arms less than two weeks before.  The outposts were not sufficiently far from camp to allow much time for getting under arms after the first encounter.  A portion of this division was attacked before it could form, but its commander, General Prentiss, promptly rallied his men, and made a vigorous fight.  He succeeded, for a time, in staying the progress of the enemy, but the odds against him were too great.  When his division was surrounded and fighting was no longer of use, he surrendered his command.  At the time of surrender he had little more than a thousand men remaining out of a division six thousand strong.  Five thousand were killed, wounded, or had fled to the rear.

General Grant had taken no precautions against attack.  The vedettes were but a few hundred yards from our front, and we had no breast-works of any kind behind which to fight.  The newest and least reliable soldiers were at the point where the enemy would make his first appearance.  The positions of the various brigades and divisions were taken, more with reference to securing a good camping-ground, than for purposes of strategy.  General Grant showed himself a soldier in the management of the army after the battle began, and he has since achieved a reputation as the greatest warrior of the age.  Like the oculist who spoiled a hatful of eyes in learning to operate for the cataract, he improved his military knowledge by his experience at Shiloh.  Never afterward did he place an army in the enemy’s country without making careful provision against assault.

One division, under General Wallace, was at Crump’s Landing, six miles below the battle-ground, and did not take part in the action till the following day.  The other divisions were in line to meet the enemy soon after the fighting commenced on General Prentiss’s front, and made a stubborn resistance to the Rebel advance.