tablished his line on the south side of the field in the edge of
the forest, determined to save his camp if possible. His men had seen
hard fighting at Fort Donelson, and so had General Wallace's men. They
were hardened to the scenes of battle, whereas Sherman's, Prentiss's,
and Hurlburt's men were having their first experience. Schwartz,
McAllister, and Dresser had confronted the Rebels at Donelson, and so
had Major Cavender with his eighteen pieces, commanded by Captains
Stone, Richardson, and Walker.

This is a long and intricate story, and I fear you will not be able to
understand it. The regiments at this hour were very much mixed up, and
as the battle continued they became more so. Later in the day there was
so much confusion that no correct account can ever be given of the
positions of the regiments. Thousands of you, I doubt not, had friends
in that battle, and you would like to know just where they stood. Let us
therefore walk the entire length of the line while the Rebels are
preparing for the second onset. Commencing on the extreme right, we find
Sherman reforming with his left flank a little in rear of McClernand's
right. There is McDowell's brigade on the right, the Sixth Iowa, Fourth
Illinois, and Forty-sixth Ohio. Buckland's brigade next, the
Forty-eighth, Seventieth, and Seventy-second Ohio. A few men of
Hildebrand's brigade, not five hundred in all, of the Fifty-third,
Fifty-seventh, and Seventy-sixth Ohio. Next the regiments of
McClernand's division, the Eleventh Iowa, Eleventh, Twentieth,
Forty-eighth, Forty-fifth, Seventeenth, Twenty-ninth, Forty-ninth,
Forty-third, Eighth, and Eighteenth Illinois. Next Wallace's division,
Seventh, Ninth, Twelfth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-second Illinois, the
Twelfth, Thirteenth Iowa, and the Twenty-fifth, Fifty-second, and
Fifty-sixth Indiana. I think that all of those regiments were there,
although it is possible that one or two of them had not arrived. These
are not all in the front line, but you see them in two lines. Some of
them lying down behind the ridges waiting the time when they can spring
up and confront the enemy.

Next in line you see Veatch's brigade of Hurlburt's division, the
Twenty-fifth Indiana, the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Forty-sixth
Illinois; then Williams's brigade, the Third Iowa, the Twenty-eighth,
Thirty-second, and Forty-first Illinois, by the log-huts of the
cotton-field on the Hamburg road. Here are Cavender's guns, eighteen of
them. Next