andsome. He had been struck on
his right leg, above the knee, about mid-way the thigh, by a cannon
ball, which had cut off the limb, except a small strip of skin. He was
lying on his back, at full length, his right arm straight up in the air,
rigid as a stake, and his fist tightly clinched. His eyes were wide
open, but their expression was calm and natural. The shock and the loss
of blood doubtless brought death to his relief in a short time. As I
stood looking at the unfortunate boy, I thought of how some poor
mother's heart would be well-nigh broken when she heard of the sad,
untimely fate of her darling son. But, before the war was over,
doubtless thousands of similar cases occurred in both the Union and
Confederate armies.

I believe I will here speak of a notion of mine, to be considered for
whatever you may think it worth. As you know, I am not a religious man,
in the theological sense of the term, having never belonged to a church
in my life. Have just tried, to the best of my ability, to act according
to the Golden Rule, and let it go at that. But, from my earliest youth,
I have had a peculiar reverence for Sunday. I hunted much with a gun
when a boy, and so did the people generally of my neighborhood. Small
game in that backwoods region was very plentiful, and even deer were not
uncommon. Well, it was a settled conviction with us primitive people
that if one went hunting on Sunday, he would not only have bad luck in
that regard that day, but also all the rest of the week. So, when the
Confederates began the battle on Sunday, I would keep thinking,
throughout its entire progress, "You fellows started this on Sunday, and
you'll get licked." I'll admit that there were a few occasions when
things looked so awful bad that I became discouraged, but I quickly
rallied, and my Sunday superstition--or whatever it may be called--was
justified in the end. In addition to Shiloh, the battles of New Orleans
in 1815, Waterloo, and Bull Run were fought on a Sunday, and in each
case the attacking party was signally defeated. These results may have
been mere coincidences, but I don't think so. I have read somewhere an
authentic statement that President Lincoln entertained this same belief,
and always was opposed to aggressive movements on Sundays by the Union
troops.

The wildest possible rumors got into circulation at home, about some of
the results of the battle. I have now lying before me an old letter
from my father of date