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#9
- Buckland's Line
Picture or portrait of soldier |
Official Report of a Commander | Brigadier General Stephen A. Hurlbut (Hyperlink of a commander's name links to their name on the Official Order of Battle)
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Buckland's Line - stop #9 is not on the NPS Map
Quotes from Actual Battlefield Participants
| “We
made use of what little shelter the trees and logs afforded, and continued
to pour volley after volley into the rebel ranks.” Maj. John A. Bering, 48th Ohio |
| “The
Rebels raised their cornbread yelp, and making a desperate charge, captured
our camp; taking full possession of our tents, our blankets, knapsacks and
all of our love letters.” Pvt. Thomas W. Connelly, 70th Ohio. |
The
four regiments of Cleburne’s 
brigade that passed north of the morass came up to attack Sherman’s
line here, and along the ridge on either side, where it was held by the troops
of Col. Ralph P. Buckland’s brigade. Shortly thereafter, three other
Confederate brigades joined the assault. For two hours (or perhaps three—exact
times are difficult to calculate in Civil War battles) Buckland’s men stood
them off. The Union position was a strong one, and Confederate losses were high.
The 2nd Tennessee (commemorated by the monument with the soldier on top)
charged three separate times in this sector before losing its colonel, the aggressive
William B. Bate, badly wounded. Nearly a third of the regiment was down
as well. In another of Cleburne’s regiments, the 15th Arkansas, Maj.
J. T. Harris rushed up to “within pistol range of the enemy, and was shot
dead while firing on them with his revolver.” The other Confederate brigades
fared no better.
The
breakthrough here finally came as a result of the chain reaction that started
back in Rea Field. Once Hildebrand’s brigade collapsed and the
Confederates reached Shiloh Church, Buckland’s position here was doomed.
In order to cope with the threat to his flank, Col. Joseph Cockerill pulled
the 70th Ohio back to the vicinity of its camp, 120 yards to the rear,
and refused (bent back) its left companies. Buckland’s other regiments also
fell back toward their camps, but that only delayed the inevitable. Seeing that
the position near Shiloh Church could not hold, Sherman ordered Buckland to
retreat and take up a new line along the Hamburg-Purdy Road, 650 yards
farther back (northeast). With a chorus of Rebel Yells, the Confederate line
swept after them, overrunning yet another set of Union camps. The time was approximately
10:00 A.M.
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